– It is not a choice of technology that has led to certain routes having problems. It is a choice of bus type, says Oslo’s transport council Marit Vea (V). Wednesday was the first meeting of the year in the transport committee in Oslo city council. There, Ruter explained the bus chaos that has characterized the capital so far this year. Low temperatures have meant that several of the electric buses struggle with battery capacity. And on Wednesday, all buses in Oslo and Bærum were canceled for several hours. Before Wednesday’s snow chaos, the worst day was 8 January, when almost 1,000 departures were canceled – most of them in Oslo. – The situation was considered so serious that we put crisis staff in Ruter’s management, says Ruter’s managing director Bernt Reitan Jenssen. Fears problems all year round But Ruter’s research suggests that it is not the electric buses themselves that are the problem. – All our operators have been driving electric buses since 2018, he points out. Nevertheless, it is primarily this winter that there have been problems. The main reason is two specific contracts, one of them from December and the other from April. This applies to bus contracts in Oslo’s northeast and Oslo’s inner city. Both are operated by Unibuss. There are buses delivered from two specific subcontractors that have had problems, according to Unibuss. – They simply use more electricity per kilometer than they are promised they will, says Reitan. CEO Bernt Reitan Jenssen says there are electric buses from certain suppliers that are struggling with capacity. Photo: Heidi Fjørtoft Klokk / news And the problems can, in the worst case, last year round. – Routes are concerned that the problems are linked to the buses they have bought, and may persist beyond the winter season, says Reitan. But there have also been problems with some of the chargers this winter, says Reitan. For example, single chargers that had software errors that interpreted -12 degrees as overheating, and turned off the charger. – Problems with individual chargers have been discovered and rectified, he says. – Breach of contract Reitan believes that the problems with the buses in Ruter’s view are a breach of contract. They have not received the offer they ordered, he says. Several politicians wondered what requirements had been set in the tender, and how well it had been checked that they could be fulfilled. Full buses and canceled departures have marked the last few weeks in Oslo. On Wednesday, Ruter had to answer about the case. Photo: Mariam Eltervåg Cissé Reitan says it stops by checking which specifications the buses to be used have. – But checking whether they have provided correct data about their buses would be a very large and comprehensive process, he says. Reitan emphasizes that the bus suppliers are large and serious suppliers, whose information they trusted. – So it seems that what they have stated now is not correct. Laws timeline At the meeting, transport councilor Marit Vea (V) was asked whether she would intervene and demand sanctions. – I do not enter into contractual relations between two actors under private law. Not even into which sanctions are relevant, replied Vea. But she says that the city council has been in close contact with Ruter about the bus contracts and the technical problems. And alerts a review. – We will go through what has happened and come up with a timeline. It is natural that it goes back to before the contracts were entered into, she says.
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Ruter answers about public transport chaos in Oslo in the New Year – Greater Oslo
