According to the results of 2024, only 15% of cities under Ukrainian control renewed their rolling stock. They received 34 trolleybuses - 10 times less than the level of supply in 2020. The result of 2024 is the worst in the last 15 years, and significantly lower even than in the previous two years.
This is reported by the public organization “Vision Zero” with reference to data from the public transport portal Alltransua .
In total, four cities out of 27 received a replenishment of the park, which is 15%. These are Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Vinnytsia and Ivano-Frankivsk.
The undisputed leader in 2024 was Mykolaiv , where 19 battery-powered PTS T123 trolleybuses went on the streets. They were purchased thanks to a loan from the EBRD and a grant from the Danish government. Thanks to this, “Mykolaivelectrotrans” opened a new trolleybus route to the remote and densely populated Korabelny district without building a contact network. The trolleybuses serve it in electric bus mode, thanks to powerful traction batteries.
Four battery-powered trolleybuses of the local manufacturer “Etalon” T122 , purchased with the city budget, have been put into operation in Chernihiv . This purchase allowed the opening of a new “hybrid” route No. 1, which provided a connection between the city center and remote neighborhoods.
Vinnytsia has taken delivery of five units of PTS T123 ("VinLine"). These battery-powered trolleybuses were built by the forces and means of the municipal enterprise "Vinnytsia Transport Company" together with "Politechnoservice" LLC on the basis of a body from a Turkish manufacturer.
PTS T123 ("VinLine") trolleybus in Vinnytsia. Photo: Vinnytsia Mayor Serhiy Morgunov's page
Ivano-Frankivsk received six used Škoda 24Tr trolleybuses from the Czech city of Jihlava, donated to the city as humanitarian aid.
“34 trolleybuses per year is extremely small. This is approximately 1% of the entire trolleybus fleet. The life cycle of a trolleybus in the EU is 20 years, and in Ukraine it is even less. Therefore, just to maintain the situation at the current level, it is necessary to annually update at least 5-7% – this is approximately 140-150 units per year.” – comments on the results of the year Viktor Zagreba , Chairman of the Board of the NGO “Vision Zero”. “If we want to see not only the survival, but also the development of electric transport, in accordance with the climate and transport goals of Ukraine – then we consider a sufficient renewal rate of at least 350 units per year and not only in a few cities, but in all.”
New hybrid trolleybuses in Mykolaiv in 2024. Photo: KP “Mykolaivelectrotrans”
As of January 2024, according to the calculations of the NGO “Vision Zero” based on data from the Corporation “Ukrelectrotrans”, the total number of trolleybuses registered in transport utilities in the territories controlled by Ukraine (27 cities) was 2842 units. Ukraine has the largest number of trolleybus systems in Europe. Ukraine is followed by Italy (17 cities with trolleybuses), the Czech Republic (14) and Switzerland (13).