Urgench trolleybus system | |||
---|---|---|---|
Operation | |||
Locale | Urgench, Uzbekistan | ||
Open | 1997 | ||
Status | Open | ||
Routes | 1 | ||
Infrastructure | |||
Depot(s) | 1 (Urganch) | ||
Stock | 9x Škoda 24Tr Irisbus nos 010 to 018 (8x on duty daily, 1x on service/reserve) | ||
Statistics | |||
Route length | 31.3 km | ||
|
The Urgench trolleybus system links Urgench, the capital city of Xorazm Region in western Uzbekistan, with the neighbouring city of Khiva. Since the closure of the Tashkent trolleybus system in 2010, it has been Uzbekistan's only trolleybus system.
The cross country line is 31.3 km (19.4 mi) long; a further urban line in Urgench has been abandoned.
On 20 October 1997, urban trolleybuses came to Urgench, with the inauguration of line 1 between Aeroport (Urgench Airport) and Temir Yul Vokzali (railway station). Urgench thereby became the last city in Uzbekistan in which a trolleybus system was opened. In 1998 came the overland line 2 to Khiva, near the border with Turkmenistan, to complete the expansion of the trolleybus system.
As early as 2002, the urban line 1 was closed. Since then, only the overland line 2 has remained. [1]
On 26 October 2009, the Government of Uzbekistan decided to close the remaining trolleybus systems in Jizzakh and Namangan at the end of 2009, and in the capital Tashkent during 2010. The Urgench system was the only one not slated for closure; instead of that, nine new trolleybuses were to be procured. [2]
Since then, a short extension section in Khiva, including a link to a depot, has been under construction, with commissioning scheduled for summer 2010.
The short section of the overhead wire from the city center to the railway station (Temir Yul Vokzali), previously served only by line 1 and section to the Urgench International Airport, have been dismantled.
Former Line 2 essentially follows the course of the Urgench–Khiva road, it is the only line nowadays. In the city centers of Urgench and Khiva, the route followed by this line is determined by one-way streets.
The Khiva terminus is on the northern edge of the Itchan Kala fortress (now a World Heritage Site), east of its north gate. West of the fortress is another, unused, short section of overhead wire, with a loop at the west gate. This section is not connected by switches with the regularly used section, but can be used to short cut the regular round trip.
Another, not yet operational section (not shown on the map), branches off immediately after the Khiva terminus, but is not yet connected with the rest of the system.
For the opening of the system in 1997, Škoda delivered six 14Tr trolleybuses with the numbers 001 to 006, and three more modern 14TrM trolleybuses numbered 007 to 009. They had been manufactured in the Škoda factory in Ostrov nad Ohri in the Czech Republic.
The primary external difference between the 14Trs and the 14TrMs is the matrix display on the latter model's front. In Urgench, this display is not used to show destinations.
As of 2010, all nine vehicles were still in service. [3] but as of 2023 all of them withdrawn and 5 chassis' remains are stored at the depot.
In 2013, 9 new Škoda 24Tr Irisbus trolleybuses entered service.
The system's depot is in Urgench. It is connected with the operating lines by a service line approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) long. However, there are no switches between the service line and the operating lines.
6.45 - 18.45 Daily
The Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) is the public transport agency for Hamilton, Ontario. The name is a legacy of the company's early period, when public transit in Hamilton was primarily served by streetcars. Although streetcars are no longer used in the city today, the HSR operates bus and paratransit services, with a ridership of 21 million passengers a year.
Urgench is a district-level city in western Uzbekistan. It is the capital of Xorazm Region. The estimated population of Urgench in 2021 was 145,000, an increase from 139,100 in 1999. It lies on the Amu Darya River and the Shavat canal. The city is situated 450 km (280 mi) west of Bukhara across the Kyzylkum Desert.
The Boston-area trolleybus system formed part of the public transportation network serving Greater Boston in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It opened on April 11, 1936, with a large network operating for the next quarter-century. Measured by fleet size, the Boston-area system was the second-largest trolleybus system in the United States at its peak, with only the Chicago system having more trolleybuses than Boston's 463. After 1963, the only remaining portion was a four-route cluster operating from the Harvard bus tunnel at Harvard station, running through Cambridge, Belmont, and Watertown. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority took over the routes in 1964.
A Warsaw trolleybus system formed part of the public transport network of Warsaw, the capital city of Poland, during two separate periods. The first trolleybus system was established in 1946 and lasted until 1973. It had a maximum of 10 routes. The second system, comprising only one route, was in operation from 1983 until 1995. Between 1992 and its closure, it was operated by Zarząd Transportu Miejskiego (ZTM), in English the Public Transport Authority (Warsaw).
Electric Transit, Inc. (ETI) was a joint venture between the Škoda group in the Czech Republic and AAI Corporation in the United States which made trolleybuses for the Dayton and San Francisco trolleybus systems, constructing a total of 330 trolleybuses. ETI was formed in 1994, and ownership was divided as 65% by Škoda and 35% by AAI. The latter was a wholly owned subsidiary of United Industrial Corporation. Up to that time, Škoda had built more than 12,000 trolleybuses since 1935, but none for cities outside Europe and Asia. The ETI joint venture was dissolved in 2004, shortly after an unsuccessful bid to supply trolleybuses to Vancouver.
Trolleybuses in Naples provide a portion of the public transport service in the city and comune of Naples, in the region of Campania, southern Italy. From 1964 to 2015, two independent trolleybus systems were in operation, both publicly owned, but only that of Azienda Napoletana Mobilità (ANM) remains in operation. The ANM system opened in 1940, whereas the smaller trolleybus network of Compagnia Trasporti Pubblici di Napoli (CTP) opened in 1964.
The Rome trolleybus system forms part of the public transport network of the city and comune of Rome, Italy. In operation since 2005, the current system comprises three routes.
The San Francisco trolleybus system forms part of the public transportation network serving San Francisco, in the state of California, United States. Opened on October 6, 1935, it presently comprises 15 lines and is operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway, commonly known as Muni, with around 300 trolleybuses. In San Francisco, these vehicles are also known as "trolley coaches", a term that was the most common name for trolleybuses in the United States in the middle decades of the 20th century. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 42,240,000, or about 142,700 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.
The Dayton trolleybus system forms part of the public transportation network serving Dayton, in the state of Ohio, United States. Opened on April 23, 1933, it presently comprises five lines, and is operated by the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority, with a fleet of 45 trolleybuses. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 2,163,400, or about 6,100 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.
The Ashgabat trolleybus system formed part of the public transport network in Ashgabat, the capital city of Turkmenistan. It was the only trolleybus system ever in that country.
The Coimbra trolleybus system formed part of the public transport network in the city of Coimbra, Portugal. Opened in 1947, it supplemented, and then eventually replaced, the Coimbra tramway network. Service was suspended in March 2021 because of road construction, and officials stated that the suspension was temporary, but in late 2022 the mayor indicated that any resumption of trolleybus service would not occur until after completion of construction of a new Bus Rapid Transit line, around late 2024. However, in July 2024, the city council voted not to resume service – to make the suspension a permanent closure – albeit with a proposal floated for a future tourist trolleybus operation along the banks of the Mondego River, without further detail given.
The Córdoba trolleybus system is part of the public transport network in Córdoba, the capital city of Córdoba Province, Argentina.
The Guadalajara trolleybus system serves Guadalajara, the capital city of the state of Jalisco in Mexico.
The Tehran trolleybus system serves Tehran, the capital city of Iran. Opened in 1992, it is the only trolleybus system ever to have existed in Iran. At its maximum extent, the system had five routes, served by at least 65 trolleybuses. The system closed in 2013, but reopened in 2016 with one route and a fleet of around 30 modernised Škoda 15Tr.
As of 2012 there were around 300 cities or metropolitan areas where trolleybuses were operated, and more than 500 additional trolleybus systems have existed in the past. For complete lists of trolleybus systems by location, with dates of opening and closure, see List of trolleybus systems and the related lists indexed there.
The Sumqayit trolleybus system was a system of trolleybuses forming part of the public transport service in Sumqayit, the third most populous city in Azerbaijan, for most of the second half of the 20th century.
The Ganja trolleybus system was a system of trolleybuses forming part of the public transport arrangements in Ganja, the second most populous city in Azerbaijan, for most of the second half of the 20th century.
The Chișinău trolleybus system forms an important part of the public transport network in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova. The system was created shortly after the end of the World War II to replace the old electric tram system that suffered extensive damage during the war. Along with the network of minibuses known as rutierele, it forms the backbone of the Chișinău transport system, with the average daily ridership reaching 250,000 passengers per day.
The Tashkent trolleybus system is a closed trolleybus system in Tashkent. Having existed for nearly 63 years, what was once Central Asia's largest trolleybus system was shut down on May 1, 2010.
The Avellino trolleybus system forms part of the public transport network of the city of Avellino and the province of Avellino, in the region of Campania. Trolleybuses originally served the city from 1947 to 1973, on a route that also extended outside the city to the neighbouring towns of Atripalda and Mercogliano, and then the system closed. However, in the 2000s work to build a new trolleybus system got under way and new vehicles were purchased for it in 2007, and were delivered in 2014. The project experienced several delays after the start of construction in 2009, but most issues had been resolved by 2020 and construction was largely completed by 2021. Throughout its planning and construction, it was inaccurately referred to as the "metropolitana leggera", when in fact it was never planned to be a rail line, and always planned to be a trolleybus line. The last round of testing took place in December 2022 and January 2023, and the new trolleybus system opened for service on 3 April 2023.
{{cite web}}
: External link in |work=
(help)Haseldine, Peter (2007). "Trolleynews". Trolleybus Magazine No. 267, p. 72. National Trolleybus Association (UK). ISSN 0266-7452.
Media related to Trolleybuses in Urgench at Wikimedia Commons