Holland Oto 1:87 VDL Citea LLE Transit Bus: Amsterdam / Arriva

The mirrors for this model are in the box

The VDL Citea is a city bus built by VDL Bus & Coach. It was released at the UITP Mobility and City Transport Exhibition 2007 in Helsinki. The series received a facelift in 2010 and further overhaul in 2020.

The Citea is sold in three different variants, as low entry bus (CLE, Citea Low Entry), as a light-weight low-entry bus (LLE, Light Low Entry), and as a low-floor bus with tower engine (CLF, Citea Low Floor). A double-deck variant (DLF, Double Deck Low Floor) exists as a prototype and is in trial with Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) since August 2015

The first 10 Citeas were ordered in 2008 by Connexxion. In November 2008, 518 were ordered by the Roads and Transport Authority (Dubai), the first Citea were delivered to Dubai on June 29, 2009. In June / July, a Citea CLF 120 was handed over to the first customer in Germany, the HEAG mobiBus from Darmstadt, another model has been in private ownership since 2011 in Bayreuth / Upper Franconia and operates on the city network.

In April 2011, GVB, Amsterdam ordered 70 Citea.

In January 2013, VDL received an order for 60 Citea LLEs from Rheinbahn. The two test vehicles of the lightweight model previously achieved higher fuel savings in a two-year test than a hybrid vehicle, which was also tested by the Rheinbahn in the same period.

In 2014, the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) signed a supply contract with VDL for up to 236 VDL Citea, which was to modernise the fleet of Berlin's public transport companies by 2019. The first 40 vehicles were delivered in 2015, until 2016, the delivery of another 70 vehicles. In October 2016, the BVG announced not to retrieve all 236 vehicles from the contract. It remains with the 110 previously delivered vehicles. A justification why not all vehicles are retrieved from the supply contract has not been formally named.

The Citea SLE and LLE variants are a common sight in the Copenhagen bus traffic scene, used on routes 3A, 9A, 12, 14, 141, 149, 166 and 250S.

Due to its cost effectiveness and environmental friendliness, the Citea was named Bus of the Year 2011 at the IAA in Hanover on 23 September 2010.