The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg has directly awarded its bus services to vhh.mobility for another 10 years. The contract starts on Dec. 13, 2026 and runs to the end of 2036.
What the contract covers
- More than 70 bus lines commissioned by Hamburg, running from the outer districts into the city centre.
- Four XpressBus and eight MetroBus lines, plus StadtBus and night routes.
- About 25 million km a year in Hamburg alone, and nearly twice that across the whole hvv transit area, according to vhh.mobility.
Why it matters for electrification
electrive.net reports that vhh.mobility sees the 10-year term as important for electrifying its fleet and plans more depot upgrades for electric operation. Managing director Lorenz Kasch called the award an important basis for expanding electric mobility. Transport senator Anjes Tjarks described the operator as a key partner, particularly for linking the outer districts and surrounding region to the centre. Both remarks are paraphrased here from the German.
electrive.net adds that in September vhh.mobility put 10 more MAN electric buses into service in Kreis Segeberg. That doubled the local e-bus fleet to 20, and about half of the service there now runs electric. The expansion was made possible by the Norderstedt depot, which now has 49 charging points.
More awards pending
Both sources say further negotiations are under way this year for services in Südstormarn and Kreis Segeberg.