The Iveco CityClass is an urban, suburban and peri-urban bus launched by the

Iveco Iveco S.p.A., an acronym for Industrial Vehicles Corporation, is an Italian multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company with headquarters in Turin, Italy. It designs and builds light, medium, and heavy Commercial vehicle, commercial veh ...

bus division in 1997 and renamed

Irisbus Iveco Bus, formerly Irisbus, is a bus manufacturer with headquarters in Turin. Iveco Bus is now only a brand division of Iveco which is a company incorporated under Dutch law and listed on Borsa Italiana. History Iveco (1975–1999) In 1975 ...

in 2000. It is the equivalent of

Agora The agora (; , romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Ancient Greece, Greek polis, city-states. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center ...

in France. It succeeds the Iveco 490 TurboCity UR Green urban bus, later replaced by the

Irisbus Citelis The Irisbus Citelis is a low-floor city bus produced by Irisbus from 2005 to 2013 when it was replaced in production by the Iveco Urbanway. Production and operation It was introduced in 2005 to replace the Agora. It comes in three varietie ...

. As usual at Iveco, the CityClass is available in two versions: series 491 urban bus and series 591 suburban as well as in various lengths: 10.80 meters, 12 meters and 18 meters articulated.

History

The Iveco CityClass was presented to professionals and the general public in 1995 at the Paris Motor Show. It was marketed with the MY 1997. Renamed the Irisbus in 2000 when the

- RVI bus divisions merged, it remained in production until 2008. A total of 10,000 units were built, including over 7,000 in Italy. The CityClass project was created in the 90s by the Italian designer

Giorgetto Giugiaro Giorgetto Giugiaro (; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2002. He w ...

and was presented to the public in 1996 to replace the Iveco TurboCity. In 2001 ALTRA, in collaboration with Ansaldo Ricerche, Sapio, International Fuel Cells, Exide, T_V and Centro Ricerche Fiat and with the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Environment as well as

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, developed a version with electric traction powered by

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

put into service in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

on behalf of GTT, and also used for the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

. It was the first Italian

bus.

Brescia Trasporti Iveco CityClass 632 via Sardegna 20120828

;Under the Iveco brand (1997 - 1999) The Iveco 491 CityClass was manufactured and marketed between 1997 and 2000. ;Under the Irisbus brand (2000 - 2008) At the end of 1999, the

logo on the CityClass grille was replaced by the Irisbus dolphin and will remain so, in Europe, until 2008.

Operation

The CityClass model, of which more than 7,000 units have been produced in Italy, is undoubtedly the most distributed urban bus in Europe. In addition to the big Italian cities such as

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and

where its distribution is almost monopolistic, it is in service in all public (and private) transport services in Italy. The CityClass has also found wide outlets abroad:

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and above all

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. In most Spanish cities, the CityClass, bodied by Spanish companies Castrosua,

Hispano Carrocera Tata Hispano Motors Carrocera, S.A. (formerly Hispano Carrocera, S.A.), based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, was one of the largest manufacturers of bus and coach cabins in Europe. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of the India-based Tata Motors. Ta ...

and

Noge Nogebus was a Spain-based coachbuilder. The company builts bus and coach bodies on various possible chassis. Their products are sold throughout all of Western Europe. The company, originally named Noge, collapsed in January 2013. However, later t ...

, is the most widespread in the urban transport fleet.

Generations

* In 2001, the CityClass was fitted with a new Iveco engine called the Cursor that developed 290 horsepower for the 10 and 12 meter models. Previously, they received Fiat V.I. type 8360.46V that developed 220, 250 or 270 hp, depending on the chosen configuration. The articulated CityClass version will also feature a new 350 hp Iveco Cursor engine that replaces the previous 310 hp Fiat engine. * Starting in 2005, the Cursor engine, in a suitable version, will also equip the CNG versions that will develop 270 horsepower.

The different versions

;CityClass 491 ''(urban)'' CityClass urban model. Available in midibus (10.80 m), standard (12 m) and articulated (18 m) versions. The Italian versions of 12 meters with 4 double doors have 108 seats: 18 seated and 93 standing and 1 space for the disabled with a ramp at the 3rd access door. The CNG version has 88 seats: 24 seated, 63 standing and 1 PRM. The French version with only 2 double doors offers 114 and 95 seats respectively. The 18-meter articulated version has 140 seats, of which 33 are seated, 105 standing and 1 PRM with a ramp at the 2nd door. ;CityClass 591 ''(suburban)'' Urban and suburban model of the CityClass. It has more seats than the urban version. It also exists in midibus (10.80 m), standard (12 m) and articulated (18 m). The 12-meter version has 96 seats: 37 seated, 57 standing and 1 PRM with access ramp. The 18 meter articulated version has 113 places, including 71 seated, 41 standing and 1 PRM.

The Spanish CityClass

In Spain, most CityClass 491 had bodies from Castrosua, Noge and Hispano. File:Irisbus_bustransit.JPG, Irisbus CityClass bodied by Castrosua (Castrosua City Versus) File:EMT Madrid 6715.jpg, Irisbus CityClass bodied by Noge (Noge Cittour) File:EMT Madrid 8407.jpg, Irisbus CityClass bodied by Hispano Carrocera (Hispano Habit) File:610 TUSSAM Iveco Cityclass Hispano(mar07) - Flickr - antoniovera1.jpg, Iveco CityClass bodied by Hispano Carrocera (Hispano V.O.V)

The ecologic CityClass

The

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

group and its truck and bus division,

, have paid attention to protecting the environment with cutting-edge research on consumption reduction, exhaust gas filtration, the first equipment of which dates back to 1980. In February 1999, the city of Turin launched the "hydrogen bus" project. In November of that same year, the Italian Ministry of the Environment approved this project as well as the Temporary Association of Companies (ATI) that would be in charge of carrying out the project. ATI was made up of six companies: GTT (former ATM - municipal authority for urban transport of the Piedmontese capital),

(second largest bus manufacturer in the world), Sapio (one of the main Italian producers of technical and medical gases), CVA - Compagnia Valdostana delle Acque SpA (producer of renewable electricity), ENEA - Ente per le Nuove tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente (Public Research Center for Innovation and Sustainable Development), Ansaldo Ricerche (Department of investigation of the Ansaldo group). The project was financed by the Italian Ministry of the Environment and the Fiat Ricerche Center financed its implementation in one of its bus models. With the creation of

in 1999,

launched an ambitious project on a

-powered

city bus A transit bus (also big bus, commuter bus, city bus, town bus, urban bus, stage bus, public bus, public transit bus, or simply bus) is a type of bus used in public transport bus services. Several configurations are used, including low-fl ...

, a system called Fuel Cell. A prototype was built and tested in 2002 with VIN code ZGA482.E0E0E0.00001. The tests, supervised by the Italian Ministry of Transport and the Environment, lasted 2 years. During this time, three 12 meter CityClass Fuel Cell buses were manufactured. After the approval of the prototype in Italy, these buses were delivered to urban transport companies in Turin, Barcelona and Germany (Munich) on November 1, 2004. The Turin CityClass could be seen in service during the 2006 Winter Olympics. Its autonomy was 12 hours at a speed of 60 km/h. It could accommodate 73 passengers including 21 seated, 51 standing and 1 PRM wheelchair. It had 9 bottles of hydrogen for a total of 1,260 liters at 200 bar. A prototype CityClass with a

hybrid engine A hybrid vehicle is one that uses two or more distinct types of power, such as submarines that use diesel when surfaced and batteries when submerged. Other means to store energy include pressurized fluid in hydraulic hybrids. Hybrid powertrai ...

was also successfully tested.

Characteristic

The Iveco CityClass was available in three different lengths (10.8 m, 12 m or 18 m) and was 2.50 wide. It could carry from 88 to 108 people in its standard version or 140 people in the articulated version. All CityClass models are equipped with 2, 3 or 4 side doors, front and side travel signal display, ABS and ASR, stereo, microphone and radio installation,

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

. Access on board for the disabled is facilitated thanks to the body's lateral tilting system, Kneeling. A wheelchair ramp is provided.

Dimensions

Engines

Gallery photos

File:ACFT 9.jpg, Irisbus CityClass GNV of the late Acft Ferrara, now TPER File:Livorno CTT Nord Iveco CityClass bus A5024 01.JPG, Iveco CityClass diesel File:Irisbus IVECO 491E.12.27 CityClass ACTV Venice, Linea 12L.jpg, Rear view File:Public bus in Milan, Italy.JPG, Articulated Irisbus CityClass File:Iveco CityClass Cursor 2 - Interior.jpg, CityClass 491.12's interior File:Autobús urbano de Sevilla.JPG, Articulated Spanish CityClass phase I 18m File:Irisbus L77.JPG, Standard Spanish CityClass phase II 12m File:Seoul City Bus470.jpg, Irisbus CityClass 18m in Seoul, South Korea. File:Irisbus IVECO CityClass LPP 186.jpg, Irisbus CityClass in Slovenia. File:Cruscotto Irisbus Cityclass Cursor CNG n.11 Actv 08-06-2020.jpg, The instrument board of the Italian CityClass. File:CityClass Thessaloniki.jpg, CityClass 491 int Thessaloniki, Greece. File:Iveco CityClass 11.jpg, CityClass 491 in Chartres, France. File:Normal IRISBUS CITYCLASS 2D P4060029.jpg, 2-door CityClass 491 in Thessaloniki, Greece. File:Cityclass lucerna.jpg, 2-door CityClass 491 in Lucerne, Switzerland.

References

External links

Site officiel d'Irisbus

Listing parc autobus GTT - transports publics de Turin - fiches techniques

{{Irisbus Irisbus vehicles Iveco buses Vehicles introduced in 1997