Israel bus companies Metropoline and Egged have ordered a total of 173 MAN bus chassis for domestic passenger transport from MAN importer AET Automotive Equipment and Trucks L.P.

The Metropoline order comprises 110 bus chassis, 90 of which are coach chassis. With independent wheel suspension on the front axle, they offer a very high level of ride comfort. Propulsion is by means of the eco-friendly EEV-compliant D20 engine. The other 20 chassis in this order are the low-entry variant and are equipped with D08 engines, also in compliance with the EEV emission standard. Metropoline has signed eight- and ten-year service contracts respectively for all these vehicles. Bodywork will be done by local builder Ha‘argaz.

The delivery to the Egged company comprises 63 city-bus chassis in the low-floor version. Powerful, EEV-compliant D20 engines ensure that operation in local public transport is both clean and efficient. Ten of the chassis in this order are planned for utilisation as articulated buses.

Both orders will be delivered to the local body builders by August 2013. MAN buses have a good thirty percent of the market in Israel.

Egged is the biggest bus operator in Israel: with a fleet of around 3,000 vehicles it transports nearly a million people a day. The company has more than 6,000 employees and its fleet contains over 1,400 MAN vehicles.

Metropoline transports around 23 million passengers annually with a fleet totalling more than 360 buses. With 20 urban routes in Beer Sheva and approximately 200 employees, the annual number of trips carried out by the company tops 600,000.

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