Karsan wins 110-bus Milan electric order worth around €76 million

Azienda Trasporti Milanesi (ATM), Milan's public transport operator, has awarded Turkish manufacturer Karsan a contract for 110 electric buses plus ten years of maintenance, with a total value of roughly €76 million. The deal stems from a tender the operator published this spring, which had been valued at over €100 million including delivery and long-term servicing.

The contract, processed through Karsan's Italian dealer Kmobility, covers two vehicle types. ATM will receive 80 twelve-metre low-floor urban buses with three doors, deployed directly in Milan. The remaining 30 twelve-metre vehicles, low-floor intercity variants with two doors, will go to ATM's subsidiary NET and are likely to be stationed in Monza. The €76 million figure reported by trade outlet Sustainable Bus covers not only the vehicles and maintenance but also future battery replacements.

How does the delivery roll out?

The first batch will comprise 34 vehicles: 22 bound for Milan and 12 for Monza. Karsan has not yet published a firm delivery timeline for the subsequent batches, so the launch schedule remains the number to confirm before treating this as settled production volume. Supplier-side announcements of this kind are claims; registration data will verify them as buses arrive.

The order continues a procurement acceleration in Milan. In late 2022, ATM tendered 340 electric buses, an award Iveco Bus and Solaris secured in 2023. Since then, operators in the city are said to have purchased around 600 electric buses in total.

What does this change for Milan's fleet plan?

ATM has committed to converting its entire bus fleet to electric drive by 2030, targeting 1,200 electric buses. The Karsan order moves the operator roughly a tenth of the way toward that figure and diversifies its supplier base beyond Iveco Bus and Solaris.

Fleet electrification at this scale demands infrastructure in parallel. ATM is successively converting depots at San Donato, Sarca, Giambellino and Palmanova to electric operations. The programme also includes building new depots designed specifically to accommodate electric buses — charging capacity, not vehicle count alone, will set the pace of deployment.

For Karsan, the win deepens its position in what has become Europe's most dynamic e-bus market. Italy already operates the largest bus market of any drive type in the EU, with only non-EU member the United Kingdom recording higher registration numbers. For externally chargeable buses, however, recently released ACEA statistics show Italy has overtaken the UK this year.

That shift matters for manufacturers planning capacity. A national market that now leads Europe in battery-electric registrations will keep attracting tender participation from incumbent European builders and challenger brands alike.

What to watch next: the arrival of the first 34-vehicle batch and its registration dates, which will convert Karsan's order from announced intention into operating fleet on Milan's streets.