25 years of Solaris

Exactly twenty-five years ago to the day Solaris produced its first low-floor city bus. Almost everything has changed at the company since then. European urban transport has, too, undergone a profound transformation, with the great help of Urbino buses. Today, Solaris is celebrating its anniversary, stressing that the unusual history of the company, and its spectacular development, are the result of, above all, the efforts of its employees who all share the same values.

22 March 1996 was the day the first bus rolled out of the Bolechowo factory. At that point, the company employed barely 36 people, and it produced 56 low-floor vehicles in a whole year. Today, some 2700 people work – in Poland and abroad – for the international success of Solaris, whereas the number of vehicles deployed to European cities in the past 12 months reached 1560 of which nearly 700 featured electric drives.

The exceptional experience of the past year, filled with unexpected challenges and difficulties caused by the pandemic, has proven that today Solaris is a mature and responsible company. Thanks to its greatly committed team the firm not only managed to secure its best results ever, but it also produced the biggest ever number of vehicles for its clients.

Innovation has been the key to the firm’s market success right from the start. Two decades ago Solaris put its money on electromobility and it has since been working on technologies reducing the impact on our natural environment. Nowadays, the zero-emission Urbino portfolio encompasses hydrogen buses, electric buses and trolleybuses, whereas Solaris has risen to a leading position in Europe in this respect – an award-winning expert in the sector and an active member of associations and consortia.

With the advantage of know-how gained from designing and building over 20,000 vehicles, Solaris can now look into the future with confidence, setting itself the ambitious goal of changing the image of public transport to a greener, more accessible and sustainable one - with each new contract it performs. Apart from offering its customers the best products and services, Solaris is determined, above all, to support public transport operators and city authorities in the process of transforming that transport into a clean, quiet and appealing service for residents. This goal arises from the conviction that modern public transport is the foundation of sustainable cities.

Photos:

• The first vehicle from the Urbino family had its premiere in 1999 (Photo: Grzegorz Muszyński)
• The first bus left the factory in Bolechowo on March 22, 1996. Until today, Solaris has delivered 20,000 buses to customers
• The first electric Solaris bus opened a new era in the company's history. Today, the manufacturer's order book includes 1,200 electric buses of various parameters
• Solaris Urbino 12 electric won the title of Bus Of The Year in 2016 as the first electric bus in the history of the competition
• Urbino 12 electric in Berlin. So far, Solaris has delivered 123 electric buses to the German metropolis
• Urbino 15 LE electric, the first Solaris intercity e-bus, had its premiere in 2020
• Urbino 18 electric in Brussels – apart from 20 electric buses, Solaris also delivered charging infrastructure
• Urbino 18 electric in Warsaw – one of 150 electric Solaris buses in the capital
• The Urbino 12 hydrogen bus is another emission-free drive in the Solaris portfolio
• Emission-free trolleybuses are one of the pillars of sustainable transport in cities for Solaris
• The longest 24-meter double-pole Solaris is an ideal solution for large metropolises, adapted primarily to electric drives