500th Setra for PostBus

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Stuttgart/Neu-Ulm, Germany, Feb 27, 2009

* Milestone vehicle is a S412 UL slated for service on mountainous roads

* Setra delivered its first bus to Swiss Post in 1976 � an S 120 A

* A partnership based on trust and always shaped by mutual respect

The Swiss company PostBus has accepted delivery of its 500th Setra bus. The delivery of the milestone vehicle, an S 412 UL of the MultiClass 400 series, is a high point of a partnership between the Swiss bus service operator and the Ulm-based bus brand that has proven its strength for more than 30 years.


At a festive ceremony in the Setra Customer Center in Neu-Ulm to mark the official handover, Holger Suffel, Managing Director of Sales at Daimler Buses, emphasized that the two companies are linked not only by a long tradition but also by the same philosophy: �This refusal to compromise our standards for quality, safety, efficiency, comfort, and environmental awareness benefits you and your passengers and ensures success and competitiveness for the long term.�

Werner Blatter, the member of the PostBus management team responsible for logistics, also has always valued Setra as a loyal and innovative partner: �The great foundation of trust and mutual respect is also the basis for a good working relationship in the future.�

The �cornerstone� for this solid basis was put in place in 1976 with the delivery of two 2.30-meter-wide S 120 A models and one S 140 ES model of the Setra 100 series.

Swiss Post: serving more than 97 million passengers a year

The good cooperation with Swiss Post has even led to Setra�s development of the S 213 UL, an 11.30-meter-long, high-floor bus that was perfectly suited for use on narrow alpine roads. Since 1987 a total of 155 units of this special vehicle type alone have been delivered.

And thanks to its relatively short wheelbase and compact dimensions, the 10.80-meter-long milestone S 412 UL bus also is an attractive alternative for operators of bus lines in the Swiss mountains, where the roads often allow little leeway for traffic.

Three years ago PostBus celebrated its centennial. Over these decades, the yellow buses have become almost a symbol of the Swiss confederation to people from around the world. About 230 private bus operators provide service on an extensive network of routes for the long-established Swiss company. PostBus transports more than 97 million passengers a year between locations in this network, which covers a total of 10,000 kilometers.

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