Trolleybuses in Sofia
| Sofia trolleybus system | |
 | |
|---|---|
| A Škoda Solaris 26Tr trolleybus in Sofia, 2011. | |
| Operation | |
| Locale | Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Open | 1941 |
| Status | Open |
| Routes | 9 |
| Owner(s) | Metropolitan Municipality |
| Operator(s) | Sofia Public Electrical Transport Company JSC |
| Statistics | |
| Route length | 193 km (120 mi) |
| Overview | |
| Website | Sofia Public Electrical Transport Company JSC (English) |
The Sofia trolleybus system (Bulgarian: София Тролейбусен транспорт) forms part of the public transport network of Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria.
In operation since 1941, the system presently comprises nine routes.
History
Trolleybus transport was the last form of surface public transport to develop in Sofia, after buses and trams. The first Sofia trolleybus line opened on 14 February 1941. It was over 3 km (2 mi) long, and connected the city with the Gorna Banya quarter.[1]
In the 1950s and 1960s, massive development of trolleybus transport began in Sofia. At that time, the construction of new trolleybus routes proceeded especially rapidly, and two depots ("Stochna Gara" and "Nadezhda") were opened, with a total capacity of 160 trolleybuses. In 1951, the first Bulgarian made trolleybuses entered service.[1]
In 1987, a new depot, "Iskar", was opened with a capacity of 130 trolleybuses.[1]
Lines
As of October 2013, the following trolleybus lines in Sofia are in service:
| Line | Route |
|---|---|
| 1 | Levski-G Residential District — Fifth City Hospital |
| 2 | Hadji Dimitar Residential District — Buxton Residential District |
| 4 | Druzhba 2 Residential District — Hadji Dimitar Residential District |
| 5 | Mladost-1 Residential District — Nadezhda Overbridge |
| 6 | Lyulin 3 Residential District — Lyulin 1 Residential District — Stochna gara Square |
| 7 | Lyulin 3 Residential District — Lyulin 7 Residential District — Stochna gara Square |
| 8 | Regional Hospital — Gotse Delchev Residential District |
| 9 | Borovo Residential District — Stochna gara Square |
| 11 | Druzhba 1 Residential District — Stochna gara Square |
Trolleybus fleet
As at 2012, the Sofia trolleybus fleet had more than 150 trolleybuses.
The basis of the fleet was the Ikarus 280T (a trolleybus version of the Ikarus 280) with 108 units still in service.
The following models were also in the fleet, in small numbers:
- Škoda 26 TR.
30 units (more are expected to be added by the end of 2013)
- Škoda 27 TR.
50 units (delivery is expected in 2014)
- Gräf & Stift NGE152;
8 units
- Cobra GD 272 (body by the Turkish company Güleryüz, electrical systems by Sofia company Tramkar);
3 units
Depots
- Nadezhda - serving lines 1, 6, 7 and 9;
- Iskar - serving lines 2, 4, 5, 8 and 11.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "History of Trolleybus Transport". Urban Mobility Centre website. Urban Mobility Centre, Sofia. Retrieved 10 August 2011. (English)
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trolleybuses in Sofia. |
- Images of the Sofia trolleybus system, at railfaneurope.net
- Trolleybus city: Sofia (Bulgarien) at Trolleymotion (English)
- Sofia database / photo gallery and Sofia trolleybus list at Urban Electric Transit – in various languages, including English.
This article is based upon a translation of the Ukrainian language version as at August 2011.
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