The joint venture made up by Grupo Julià and Moventis, both leading companies in sustainable mobility in Spain, has been awarded the contract to provide the sightseeing bus service in Barcelona following a tender launched by AMB (Metropolitan Area of Barcelona) in April. This joint venture will manage the service for the next 12 years.
The two companies made a significant commitment to meeting the electrification requirement in the tender specifications, which has led to an initial investment of 42 million euros. The 44 new buses that will be used to provide the service are 100% electric, zero emissions. This will lead to a saving of up to 1,600 tonnes of CO2 per year and noise levels will be reduced to practically nothing. Furthermore, they will undertake the construction, maintenance and operation of the necessary infrastructure (electricity substation, charging points and electric panels, hoses, etc.) to guarantee the supply of renewable energy to the new fleet. All the electricity consumed will also come from the purchase of 100% green power with a guarantee of origin. The support and maintenance vehicles will also be electric.
All the buses will be adapted to the Environmental Sustainability Plan that implies, on the one hand, regular audits to reduce consumption, emissions and noise pollution from the vehicles and, on the other hand, compliance with instructions from AMB during any episodes of high atmospheric pollution.
The bid submitted by Grupo Julià and Moventis will substantially improve the star tourist service the city has been enjoying until now and will facilitate the decentralisation of its users and stimulation of locally-sourced economic activity beyond the city’s historic city centre. Furthermore, the joint venture will pay a fixed and minimum annual fee to AMB of 3.85 million euros and a variable fee of 16.14% of revenue. Ownership of the electric buses will also pass to AMB when the tender expires.
The new service will be launched in early 2025 and will have two routes in operation (Orange and Green), as well as two more seasonal routes (Night and Christmas Lights). With 19 stops over 23 kilometres and an approximate duration of 150 minutes, the Orange Route starts at the World Trade Center and ends at Passeig de Colom. With 14 stops over 19 kilometres and an approximate duration of 120 minutes, the Green Route starts at Pla de Palau and ends at Passeig Picasso. The 17.4 kilometre Night Route with no stops and an approximate duration of 90 minutes will allow passengers to enjoy the most iconic locations in the city at night.
With an approximate duration of 90 minutes, the Christmas Lights Route will show passengers the various light displays to be enjoyed around the city at Christmas.
The 82-seater (61 upstairs and 21 downstairs) open-top double-decker buses are fitted with access ramps for persons with reduced mobility and wheelchair users. They also have an on-board operations support and information system (OSIS) enabling them to be tracked from a control centre, a video surveillance system with at least three cameras, a driver assist, efficiency and safety system, individualised audio guides in up to 16 languages, a Wi-Fi system, USB connections, individual headphones, etc.