The first passenger gasoline-powered buses appeared in Kazan

(KZN.RU, September 26, Ksenia Shvetsova). Today, Kazan motor transport enterprises received the first batch of 30 buses operating on methane. By the end of the year, 104 gas-powered buses will run the city routes. Today, Alexey Pesoshin, the prime minister of the RT, and Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, assessed new eco-friendly buses and also talked with participants of the international motor rally “Gas to Motors”, which will travel through the territories of China, Kazakhstan, and Russia. The presentation was held near the Family Center “Kazan”.

New buses will run the city roads in a couple of days as soon as the preparation of all documents and obtaining license plates is completed. In total, this year Kazan carriers will buy 82 low-floor buses of big capacity of the brand “NefAZ 5299-40-57” and 22 low-floor buses of average capacity by “Lotos-206”, working on compressed natural gas (methane). The equipment is purchased under the state program of the Russian Federation “Expanding the use of natural gas as a gas engine fuel”. A subsidy in the amount of 290 million rubles was allocated to the carriers of Kazan from the republic's budget. Co-financing is 3 million for the purchase of one “NefAZ” and 2 million rubles for the purchase of “Lotos”. These funds were used as an initial payment for the purchase of buses for leasing.

By the end of the year, the MUP PATP-2, the MUP PATP-4, the OOO KPAP-7, and the OOO Republican Bus Station, the OOO Bailyk №3, the IP Umarov, the OOO “Agromir” will renew their vehicles. These enterprises serve a total of 81% of the city's bus routes, carrying 147 million passengers a year.

“We allocate funds for buses, for communal equipment. Also, I recall that there is a program of federal subsidies”, explained Alexey Pesoshin. “With the subsidies that we issue, these buses do not exceed the cost of diesel for a price”.

The Mayor of Kazan noted that 75% of ambient air pollution is made by usual cars. And this is a very pressing problem for the capital of Tatarstan as the city is among the Russian leaders in terms of motorization.

“We have updated 45% of the bus fleet in Kazan, including these buses, which are acquired through subsidies. For that, I am grateful to the leadership of the republic”, marked Ilsur Metshin. “I am very glad that we have moved on. If earlier, our prior were standards of Euro-3, Euro-4, Euro-5, now it’s gasoline fuel”, said the Mayor of Kazan. “This is only the first step, we would like to transfer both communal equipment and taxis to gas engine fuel”.

The Prime Minister of the RT and the Mayor of the city also inspected the cleaning machinery that runs on gas engine fuel. Aidar Abdulkhakov, the chairman of the Committee on Transport, noted that today there are about 100 units of such special equipment in Kazan.

The city needs new gas stations for the development of a fleet of gas-powered vehicles. According to Mikhail Likhachev, the chairman of the board, the general director of OOO “Gazprom gas-engine fuel”, the Kazan gas refueling facility since 2016 is loaded for 40%. “According to our calculations, at least one gas station is needed per 100000 people. Not less than 10 gas stations are needed for the development of the network in a city with a million population”, said M. Likhachev.

In addition to the fact that gas-powered buses cause less damage to the environment than usual ones, they are also more convenient for both passengers and drivers. “At our request, manufacturers have finalized some items. For example, we made more windows, put additional heating appliances”, said Aidar Abdulkhakov, the chairman of the Committee on Transport. “The NefAZes look completely different: a very nice view, the driver's cabin is finalized inside, the partition interfering with the review removed. We have tried to do everything for the safety and comfort of carriers and passengers. "

“The bus has more comfortable seats, a convenient instrument panel of a new design that shows everything clearly and clearly. Additional mirrors installed in the cabin, the driver's seat is much better”, one of the drivers shared his impressions on a new bus.

The service life of new buses is at least 10 years. Maximum passenger capacity of “NefAZ” is 110 people, “Lotos” – 72 people. A. Abdulkhakov explained that buses of lower capacity are needed for Kazan to serve routes with a small passenger traffic. In addition, the buses provide folding ramps for passengers with disabilities. The volume of gas in the cylinders of “NefAZ” is 984 liters, “Lotos” – 615 liters. All buses are equipped with CCTV cameras.

Today the participants of the international motor rally “Gas in Motors” arrived in Kazan. The start of the rally was held on September 4 in China, and the column overcame 8231 km in the territories of China, Kazakhstan, and Russia. The motor rally, which will finish in St. Petersburg on October 4, is designed to prove the economy, environmental friendliness, and safety of using natural gas as motor fuel, as well as to demonstrate the diversity of the range of gas engine technology.

Ildar Shakirov, deputy head of the Executive Committee, Timur Alibaev, the head of the Aviastroitelny and Novo-Savinovsky districts’ administration, and others also attended the event.