There was good news today from the port of San Antonio. Transport authorities received the first shipment of 95 electric buses, which will be added to Santiago’s RED public transport system.
Transport and Telecommunications Minister Juan Carlos Muñoz, Transport Undersecretary Cristóbal Pineda, and Director of Metropolitan Public Transport, Paola Tapia, were in the port to welcome these first 95 units of a total 1,000, which will double the fleet of electric vehicles in the RED system.
The buses have a 90-passenger capacity, 34 of them seated. They also have a Low Entry access system for people with reduced mobility, air conditioning, USB ports, digital displays, Wi-Fi, security cameras and information screens.
All of the buses will also be equipped with a driver assistance system to detect blind spots and nearby objects, as well as cameras to monitor the immediate environment. The new buses will be integrated into different services that cover 12 of Santiago’s municipalities, among them Renca, Conchalí, Peñalolén, Puente Alto, Lo Barnechea and Vitacura.
Manufacture and arrival
Production of these electric buses took place in Foton’s Beijing factory, a complex that has the most up-to-date technology and productive capacity.
Production began in March of this year, when the supply order was sent by Chile’s Transport and Telecommunications Ministry. The 95 buses that have just arrived were loaded for shipment during the last week of July. Shipment of the next 100 buses then left Chinese waters on August 15.
A new consignment of 100 buses will embark during the first week of September. We will continue confirming shipment of the remaining units in the coming days, until the 992 buses included in the tender have arrived.