It all started in 1975 in a small, quiet place with a deep port on the Baltic coast, half an hour south of Kalmar, which lies directly on the well-known Kalmar Strait facing Sweden’s second largest island. Back then, Göran Mellström acquired, together with his brother and another partner, a small filling station including a business with one bus and two taxis. The place’s name – Bergkvara – also provided the name of the new company.

“As a telecommunications engineer, it was not such a big step for me to switch to the passenger transport business with Bergkvarabuss. It is about people who can stay in touch with the aid of technology,” explains Mellström, who still reaches for a spanner or grabs the steering wheel if need be, in his emphatically quiet manner.

What started as a small transport business is now a large mobility corporation. Today Mellström (68) combines another 25 companies with around 1,900 employees under the roof of the Mekka Traffic brand. Bergkvarabuss currently runs 1,350 buses, of which 530 are city buses – mostly Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses. Of the 30 bus depots, 20 also have their own garage, and a service vehicle also helps out on the road.

The close connection between Bergkvarabuss and the Mercedes-Benz brand started off in the early 1980s. “Back then, I had a big interest in the O 303 coaches that had just come out, but my Swedish bus dealer was not able to make me a suitable offer. So I simply drove to Mannheim in person, where they took me seriously straight away despite my young age, and I then ordered two high-deckers,” explains Mellström. The direct line to the Mannheim bus plant was established in this way and has remained to this day, and technical discussions are held several times a year with the German engineers.

The fleet list reads a bit like a Citaro sales brochure from Mannheim. Besides low-floor Citaro models in all lengths from 10 to 18 metres in the diesel and CNG versions – of which around 50 per cent are operated with biogas as is typical in Sweden – it is, above all, the low-entry versions of Europe’s biggest selling bus that are ordered. The lowentry buses are also a Swedish speciality: “We were the first customer for the new Citaro LE both in the diesel and CNG version. In Sweden, it comes down to plenty of seats, especially for cross-country travel, as very long distances are driven,” explains Andreas Holgersson (35), Fleet Manager, who together with Göran Mellström is responsible for the configuration of the buses. He sees, in the strategic decision for Mercedes-Benz products and the increased confidence in the brand and technology, the main reason for a “certain inner calmness among the 2,000 or so drivers.”

The technology at the company is also developing quickly with the Citaro. In February 2019, the first nine Citaro hybrids with 48-volt electrification joined the diesel and CNG fleet. Many of the buses are already being filled with hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) or synthetic diesel (XtL). “The next step will be about the electrification of the fleet,” says Mellström enthusiastically. “For urban transport in Ystad, we have already ordered five eCitaro buses with a particularly large battery pack for a range of at least 200 kilometres, and Trelleborg will be completely electrified by the end of 2019,” he declares. They will be the first eCitaro buses for Sweden, keeping up the tradition of the Mannheim–Kalmar line. “In five years, the Citaro – as an electric and gas bus – will continue to form the backbone of our fleet,” says Mellström, describing his vision for the company. The success ought to soon prove his vision right.