First Solaris buses in Finland are hybrids for Tampere

The new Solaris Urbino 12.9 Hybrid in Tampere show their environmental benefits with a unique livery designed by Timo Huusko.

Two Solaris Urbino 12.9 Hybrid have recently been delivered to the city of Tampere. Buses carry evocative livery designed by local artist Timo Huusko. Solaris started activities on the Finnish market at the beginning of the year.

The new Solaris Urbino 12.9 Hybrid in Tampere show their environmental benefits with a unique livery designed by Timo Huusko.

Two Urbino 12.9 Hybrid are the first Solaris buses to have been delivered to a customer in Finland, Tampereen Kaupunkiliikenne (TKL) of Tampere. These eco-friendly vehicles are distinguished not only by their efficiency – fuel consumption is reduced by up to 30% when compared to their diesel-engined counterparts – but also by their unique colour scheme. Timo Huusko won a contest for the decoration of the buses, which had been organised by TKL, Tampere’s local bus operator. In his work “BlueBlob”, the winner takes up the colours of water drops and green grass.

“Until now, Finland had been one of the last Nordic countries without Solaris buses. I am glad that we were able to change this. We hope that this is a good sign and that very soon, Finnish passengers will discover all the advantages of Solaris buses as their counterparts in Sweden, Norway and Denmark already have,” says Małgorzata Olszewska, member of the Solaris management board for Sales and Marketing.

The southern Finnish city of Tampere is the second-largest urban area and third most populous municipality in the country. As the home of the Finnish textile industry, it is often called the “Manchester of Finland”. The agglomeration of 300,000 inhabitants is served by 135 buses, running on 30 lines. The services are provided by TKL. Finland is one of 26 countries where Solaris vehicles have been sold.