- ■Vehicle fleet to operate on new scheduled routes throughout the German region of Franconia
- Largest single investment to date by the company Schmetterling Reise- und Verkehrslogistik GmbH
- Managing Director Elmar Singer: “The best vehicles on the market in terms of value retention”
Stuttgart/Neu-Ulm – The German travel operator Schmetterling Reise- und Verkehrslogistik GmbH has recently expanded its fleet with the addition of 16 new Setra low-floor buses, type S 415 NF.
This major order, for a total of 19 Setra MultiClass 400 rural-service buses – the biggest investment ever made by this small family-run business, based in the Franconian town of Geschwand – was triggered by the company winning the tender for a local public transport contract. From December 2012 on, the Schmetterling company will be operating new regular-service routes in the rural districts of Forchheim and Fürth with a total fleet of 60 buses. The decision to meet this new challenge with buses bearing the badge of the traditional Ulm brand was not a difficult one for joint Managing Directors Elmar and Daniela Singer, who took delivery of the vehicles at the Customer Centre in Neu-Ulm before an audience made up of company drivers and their families.
As Elmar Singer commented: “It was a very conscious decision in favour of Setra buses, the quality, functionality and reliability of which have never ceased to impress us over the last 30 years or more. We know that the low-floor buses will still show excellent value retention even after the eight-year term of our contract ends. There is no comparable vehicle on the market that retains its value as well as a Setra bus.”
As Heinz Friedrich, Head of Setra Sales Germany, commentedat the handover event for these regular-service buses, each of which is equipped with 40 seats and standing room for 45: “This contract just goes to show that, with a professional and committed approach, privately owned companies can still offer competitive solutions to rival those of the big companies.”
The S 415 NF Setra MultiClass 400 buses are fully adapted for the disabled with low-level door sills and a folding ramp for wheelchair users, and are also equipped with a computer-based central guidance system and event monitors, upon which passengers are able to track the bus’s route in graphic form.
Schmetterling Reise- und Verkehrslogistik GmbH has worked with Setra since 1980
The company Schmetterling Reise- und Verkehrs logistik GmbH currently employs 240 members of staff and is part of the Schmetterling group of companies, based in the town of Geschwand, in the Franconia region of Germany. The portfolio of the transport company, which operates throughout Germany, encompasses tourist travel and transport logistics, scheduled bus services, taxis, rental cars and tour operations. Established in 1976, the company currently runs a fleet of 127 vehicles, including around 80 tourist coaches and regular-service buses. The Franconian family-run business has been a partner of the Ulm-based brand since 1980, when the company bought its first Setra 100 series vehicle, an S 150.
