Grup Plana presents 9 new coaches to reinforce Garraf and Costa Dorada services

• The 9 new coaches will serve Vilanova i la Geltrú-Barcelona express bus lines and Costa Dorada-Barcelona Airport-Barcelona bus line.
• At the presentation in Vilanova, councilor Ester Capella highlighted the efforts to improve public transport and the increase in passengers on the bus lines operated by Grup Plana.
• The 9 coaches presented today have the maximum environmental certification Euro6E, which entails a drastic reduction in polluting gases.

Grup Plana presented 9 new vehicles this morning in Vilanova i la Geltrú, renewing and expanding the current fleet and reinforcing Garraf and Costa Dorada bus lines. Plana has invested 2.5 million euros in these acquisitions, while contributing to the constant renewal of the fleet, which now consists of more than 600 vehicles.

The coaches are certified with Euro 6E environmental standards, the most demanding at present, which guarantees maximum limitation of emissions. Euro 6E results in an 80% reduction in nitrous oxides (NOx) and a 66% reduction in particulate pollutants (PM).

The 9 vehicles are adapted for people with limited mobility and have state-of-the-art active and passive safety systems.

During the bus presentation, the councilor for Territory, Ester Capella, highlighted the improvements represented by the new vehicles: "These 9 buses represent a significant improvement in service quality, passenger capacity, pollution reduction, safety and accessibility for people with limited mobility", she remarked.

Josep Albert Vallcorba, president of Grup Plana, emphasized that the 9 buses have maximum environmental efficiency and cutting-edge technology in terms of safety: "They have an automatic system to avoid the vehicle leaving the lane; if there is an obstacle they brake; they have anti roll-over protection. These are the latest in technology to provide maximum safety".

For his part, the Mayor of Vilanova i la Geltrú, Juan Luis López, referred to the increase in the number of passengers taking the bus every day to travel from Vilanova to Barcelona, Vilafranca, Tarragona and other towns: "This is the way forward and public administrations have to make it easier to reduce the use of the private vehicle, and this is an example of this commitment to improve the use of public transportation".

4 new vehicles for Garraf bus line and 5 for Costa Dorada-Barcelona Airport-Barcelona bus line

Of the coaches presented today, 4 of them will strengthen the existing routes of Garraf-Vilanova and Vilanova-Barcelona.

These are vehicles with a capacity for 63 seated passengers and 28 standing passengers. This is an increase of 15% in capacity than the buses currently serving this route. They have an adapted platform to facilitate access for people with limited mobility.

Plana has invested a total of 1 million euros for the four vehicles, at a cost of 250,000 euros per bus. The bus lines linking Vilanova and Barcelona carry 2 million passengers per year. In the last year, the e15.2 Vilanova - Barcelona bus line via Diagonal has doubled the number of passengers on weekdays, reaching 1,000 users a day, thanks to the extension of services that began in November 2022.

The other 5 coaches will replace vehicles on the Costa Dorada-Barcelona-Airport-Barcelona bus line, which has more than 500,000 passengers per year.

These vehicles have a capacity of 60 seats, all for seated passengers, and can provide up to 8 seats for people with limited mobility. The 5 vehicles have had a total cost of 1.5 million euros, as each coach has a cost of 300,000 euros.

The presentation was also attended by the Government Delegate in El Penedès, David Alquézar Claramunt; the Secretary of Mobility and Infrastructures, Marc Sanglas; the Director General of Transport and Mobility, Oriol Martori Gallissà; and the Director of Territorial Services in El Penedès, Raül Pérez Cobos.