A NORTH-EAST engine maker is powering Europe’s drive to cut bus emissions.

Cummins, in Darlington, has supplied cleaner engines to manufacturer VDL for vehicles in Germany, Belgium and Finland.

Bosses say its greener Euro 6 engines, which deliver better fuel economy, will be used in more than 200 buses by Germany’s largest operator, Berlin Transport Authority.

Cummins’ engines are also powering 120 De Lijn hybrid buses in Belgium, which switch off the engine at stops, with 19 engines running Pohjolan Liikenne buses in Helsinki, which are the country’s first Euro 6 buses.

The deals come after the firm earlier this year reported record annual sales to the European bus market, helped by rising demand from customers in Turkey.

More than 6,500 engines were made, with almost half supplied to leading Turkish bus makers, such as Otokar and Temsa.

Ashley Watton, Cummins’ European bus engine sales leader, said: “VDL were very pro-active in their Euro 6 development, and our engineers worked closely with them to meet their needs.

“It has helped them deliver a very competitive Euro 6 vehicle, and our products are proving successful in the market place.

“Pohjolan Liikenne is one of the largest Finnish bus companies and operates a fleet of 470 buses and coaches, which carry 30 million passengers every year.

“De Lijn’s hybrid buses use a Siemens system with Cummins’ Euro 6 engines, which are equipped with a start-stop system to turn off the diesel engine at bus stops.

“They are able to drive off under purely electric power, generating no emissions and much lower noise.

“The lightweight vehicles are also more than proving their worth in Berlin, with BVG, which operates more than 1,300 buses, saying they consume 20 per cent less fuel than equivalent buses and reduce running costs.”

Earlier this year, The Northern Echo revealed Cummins will lead a £4.9m project in stop-start technology, which aims to reduce engine noise and vibration, as well as cut fuel consumption.

Innovation agency the Technology Strategy Board has awarded the funding for a Cummins-led consortium to introduce the technology.

It supports a wider drive by the Government to make the UK a world leader in the manufacture of low-carbon vehicles.

Named FIRST, which stands for Frequent Integrated Soft Stop Start Technology, the 36-month project is a collaboration of engineers from Cummins’ UK businesses, including experts from its Darlington plant.