New trolleybuses for Bucharest will be delivered in 2024, they will have an autonomy of 20 kilometers

The first new trolleybus will be delivered by the Solaris company in 15 months, and the next 99 will be delivered within seven months, announced the general mayor of the Capital, Nicusor Dan, Agerpres informs.

The mayor signed, on Thursday, together with the general manager of Solaris, Eugen Daniel Ciolan, at the headquarters of the Capital City Hall (PMB), the contract for the purchase of 100 trolleybuses with non-refundable funds from the Environmental Fund Agency, in a total amount of 290 million RON plus VAT.

Nicusor Dan specified that it is about 12-meter trolleybuses, with a completely lowered floor, access for people with disabilities, GPS monitoring system. The warranty is granted for five years or 300,000 kilometers. The trolleybuses will have an autonomy of 20 kilometers, recharging when they reconnect to the network.

The general mayor emphasized that the purchase aims to improve conditions in public transport. The City Hall's actions in this regard also refer to: the purchase of 100 trams (of which 17 have been delivered, so far), 100 electric buses (where the purchase was awarded, but two appeals were filed), 22 trolleybuses (for which financing was approved through PNRR and the acquisition procedure is to be carried out), but also other electric buses for which PMB submitted a request for financing through Romania's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).

Eugen Daniel Ciolan stated that the Solaris company is also present in other cities in Romania (Ploiesti, Medias, Brasov), and trolleybuses similar to those to be delivered to Bucharest are already running in Targu Jiu. He emphasized that until now the Polish company had no delays in deliveries and that most of the suppliers it relies on are European.

"The trolleybuses have Wi-Fi, USB charging, are constantly monitored, have video cameras, internal monitors. The factory constantly monitors the proper functioning of each car. (...) (The trolleybus, ed. n) is practically approved. We already have delivered to Târgu Jiu some similar trolleybuses, also 20 kilometers of autonomy, also 12 meters. So, practically, we will only make a small extension for what is very specific to the Bucharest trolleybus. But the homologation itself already exists," he explained.

The representative of the company mentioned that the autonomy of 20 kilometers will allow the trolleybus, in case the line is blocked or the electricity supply is interrupted, to continue its journey on another route.

The general director of the Bucharest Transport Society (STB), Adrian Crit, stated that the trolleybuses will be distributed in all four depots (Bujoreni, Berceni, Bucharest Noi and Vatra Luminoasa) and will run on all existing lines.

"Given that they are provided with that 20 kilometer autonomy, we will have the opportunity to transit the center of the Capital and connect the four existing networks, so that we can create diagonals, which allows us in the future to bring a degree of satisfaction superior to travelers," he said.

The new trolleybuses will replace the Astra Ikarus models, which were supplied in 1996-1997. At the same time, the traction systems for the new trolleybuses will allow a consumption reduction of approximately 25%.