Solaris Urbino 15 LE is a series of low-entry buses from the

Solaris Urbino Solaris Urbino is a series of low-floor buses and low-entry doorway intercity buses, powered by diesel drive engines and alternative fuel ( CNG, gas and biogas, hybrid and electric), produced by the Polish company Solaris Bus & Coach in ...

series, designed for transport, produced since 2008 by the Polish company

Solaris Bus & Coach Solaris Bus & Coach is a Polish producer of public transport vehicles (buses, trolleybuses and trams), with its headquarters in Bolechowo-Osiedle near Poznań. It is a subsidiary of Spanish CAF. Solaris owns four production sites: its main facto ...

in Bolechowo near

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

. In 2010 the company began manufacturing the bus with the engine powered by

CNG Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in cyl ...

History

Solaris Urbino 15 LE was put into production since the spring of 2008. It was based on a model of the

Solaris Urbino 15 Solaris Urbino 15, Solaris Urbino 15 CNG is a low floor tri-axle single-decker bus from the Solaris Urbino series, for public transportation vehicles. In 1999–2001, the company ''Neoplan Polska'' manufactured the bus. It is the successor of the ...

which was built to be used primarily for

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

n countries. The bus is also popular in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

. The first customer, who contributed to production of the model by placing an order for three types of

low-entry bus A low-floor bus is a bus or trolleybus that has no steps between the ground and the floor of the bus at one or more entrances, and low floor for part or all of the passenger cabin. A bus with a partial low floor may also be referred to as a low- ...

es, is a Ledermair company in the city

Schwaz Schwaz () is a city in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative center of the Schwaz district. Schwaz is located in the lower Inn valley. Location Schwaz lies in the middle of the Lower Inn Valley at the foot of the Kellerjoch a ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. The first official information about the bus, including photographs, appeared in June 2008 during the AUTOTEC Trade Fair in Brno, that is, after the delivery to Austria. The official debut took place at IAA Nutzfahrzeuge Trade Fair in

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

and the Transexpo Trade Fair in

Kielce Kielce (, yi, קעלץ, Keltz) is a city in southern Poland, and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the ba ...

in autumn in 2008. It is one of the few buses with a length of 15 metres produced in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

and the world. Thanks to the high floor in the rear of the vehicle, the engine and gearbox are placed in the centre for the third axle. It works with the SCR technology using

AdBlue Diesel exhaust fluid (DEF; also known as AUS 32 and marketed as AdBlue) is a liquid used to reduce the amount of air pollution created by a diesel engine. Specifically, DEF is an aqueous urea solution made with 32.5% urea and 67.5% deionized ...

. All axles are from ZF. Due to the use of larger wheel size 295/70 tires the bus has an extended wheel arch. Behind the front axle there is a storage possibly for snow chains. Two illuminated steps provide access to the higher floor level at the rear. All seats are located on the raised floor and are equipped with safety belts, while those located on the side of the stairs have additional armrests and handles. Above the seats in the low floor part of the bus there are shelves for luggage on the ceiling. The higher door has wheelchair access. Optionally, in place of the wheelchair bay the space can be transformed for four additional passenger seats. The ventilation of the interior of the bus has side windows and two electric

sunroof A sunroof is a movable panel that opens to uncover a window in an automobile roof, allowing light and fresh air to enter the passenger compartment. Sunroofs can be manually operated or motor driven, and are available in many shapes, sizes and sty ...

s. Instead of tilting windows there can be installed an

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

system. There are several versions of the cab: open (open door), semi-closed (with glass door) and closed (fully built cabin). Doors used in Solaris Urbino 15 LE all open to the outside.

References

{{Reflist Solaris Bus & Coach Low-entry buses Hybrid electric buses