Fuel cell Postbus

Expertise recognized around the world

PostBus is the first transport company in Switzerland to carry its passengers in fuel cell buses. Project manager Nikoletta Seraidou is involved with new vehicle technologies around Europe.

At least once a week, the engineer Nikoletta Seraidou visits Brugg in the canton of Aargau. On guided tours, she shows schoolchildren, students, politicians and journalists what she has helped to build here: the hydrogen filling station, the garage and the five fuel cell Postbuses that have been part of the PostBus fleet for two years and that carry passengers in and around Brugg.

The pioneering project, which she is in charge of for PostBus, is not just a theory on the drawing board, it is right there in front of you. From a technical standpoint, the five vehicles are somewhat exotic. But the passengers and the drivers have no fear. “For passengers, it's simply a Postbus that takes them from A to B”, says Nikoletta Seraidou. So, three years after the start of the project, her mission is already fulfilled: she is working to facilitate access to the technology for non-specialists. Her credo: we want to take a first step towards making ourselves somewhat less dependent on fossil fuels by generating energy from hydrogen – and remain mobile at the same time.

The 36-year-old is a German of Greek origin, and in addition to Switzerland, she has also lived and worked in Austria. Her geographical mobility stands her in good stead for the project, because PostBus is working with specialists in several European countries to develop fuel cell buses. If a technical problem crops up, Nikoletta Seraidou can't just go to the office next door at the headquarters in Berne, because for some questions there are only a few people across Europe working on the same development. Instead, she picks up the phone and calls, for instance, her colleague in Oslo, who also operates fuel cell vehicles. Some months, she makes several trips abroad to give talks to expert committees. As a woman, she is no longer an exception in her profession these days: four of the five European fuel cell projects are headed by women.