The Yerevan

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

system () forms part of the

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

network in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

, the

capital city A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. Since the closure of the

Gyumri Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th centur ...

trolleybus system in 2005, it has been Armenia’s only trolleybus system.

History

Opened on 16 August 1949, the system was once much more extensive than it is today. At its greatest extent, the system had 20 lines, operated by a total of 300 trolleybuses, the vast majority of which were either Czech made

Škoda 9Tr Škoda means "pity" in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to: Czech brands and enterprises * Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav ** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto responsi ...

or 14Tr units, or Soviet made

ZiU-682 ZiU-9, or ZIU-9 (Cyrillic: ЗиУ-9) is a Soviet (and later Russian) trolleybus. Other names for the ZiU-9 are ZiU-682 and HTI-682 (Cyrillic: ЗиУ-682 and ХТИ-682). The ZiU acronym stands for "Zavod imeni Uritskogo", which means a factory ...

models. In recent years, the system has shrunk, and most of the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

era trolleybuses have been replaced by newer vehicles.

Lines and routes

As of December 2024, the Yerevan trolleybus network consists of 5 routes:
Nr 1 Garegin Nzhdeh Square - Dzhrvezh;
Nr 2 City station of aeration - Nubarashen road;
Nr 9 Circus - Avan;
Nr 10 Nor Nork (Mikoyan street, 15) - Davtashen (4th block);
Nr 15 Erebuni airport - Block 15.
In July 2023, two new lines were introduced as new trolleybuses arrived to the fleet. Lines 2A and 10A were extended versions of lines 2 and 10, the lines continue without wires which was made possible with the new buses. In December 2024, routes 2A and 10A were closed, and routes 2 and 10 were extended.

Fleet

The Yerevan trolleybus fleet mostly consists of new Chinese trolleybuses Yutong ZK6128BEVG (15 vehicles) and Zhongtong LCK6126E (15 vehicles). There are also more than 30 Russian-made trolleybuses LiAZ-5280 in the fleet. A significant number of

Škoda 14Tr The Škoda 14Tr is a Czech Republic, Czech trolleybus that was produced from 1981 to 1998. Prototypes were built in 1972 and 1974. After the unsuccessful attempt to merge the Karosa ŠM 11 bus and the Škoda T 11 trolleybus and the cancelled Š ...

vehicles were replaced by 30 new Chinese trolleybuses in December 2024. The second hand Berliet ER100 trolleybuses originally used on the Lyon trolleybus system ended in 2023. Older trolleybus models such as the Škoda 9Tr and ZiU-682 have all been withdrawn from operation and decommissioned. In 2019, it was announced that daily ridership of the system was 14,500. Former deputy Mayor of Yerevan, Hrachya Sargsyan, stated that 101 new trolleybuses for new routes is planned. In 2023, 15 new

Yutong Yutong (officially Zhengzhou Yutong Group Co., Ltd.) is a Chinese manufacturer of commercial vehicles, especially electric buses, headquartered in Zhengzhou, Henan. Yutong also has businesses in construction machinery, real estate, and other in ...

trolleybuses joined the system and there are plans to buy an additional 15 new units.

Accident

On 16 September 1976, a trolleybus operating alongside

Yerevan Lake Yerevan Lake ( (''Yerevanyan lich'')) is an artificial reservoir located in the capital of Armenia in Yerevan. It was formed between 1963 and 1966, to be opened in 1967. 1976 bus accident On September 16, 1976 Shavarsh Karapetyan training with h ...

went out of control and fell from the

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

wall into the lake. The sound of this accident was heard by Shavarsh Karapetyan, a multi-champion finswimmer, who was training with his brother Kamo, also a finswimmer, by running alongside the lake. The trolleybus lay at the bottom of the reservoir some 25 meters (80 ft) off the shore at a depth of 10 meters (33 ft). Karapetyan swam to it and, under conditions of almost zero visibility due to the

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...

rising from the bottom, broke the back window with his legs. The trolleybus was crowded, it carried 92 passengers and Karapetyan knew he had little time, spending some 30 to 35 seconds for each person he saved. Karapetyan managed to rescue 20 people, but the combined effect of cold water and the multiple wounds he received left him lying unconscious for 45 days, with subsequent sepsis (due to the presence of raw sewage in the lake water) and lung complications.

References

Books

External links

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The trolley-bus and Shavarsh Karapetyan
{{Armenia transit Transport in Yerevan

Transport disasters in 1976 Transport disasters in Armenia 1940s establishments in Armenia