Trolza (), formerly known as the Uritsky factory or simply Uritsky,Bushell, Chris; and Stonham, Peter (eds.) (1987). ''Jane's Urban Transport Systems 1987'', pp. 603–605. London: Jane's Publishing Company. . was a
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 ...
manufacturer in
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
Saratov oblast
Saratov Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Saratov. As of the 2021 Russian cens ...
.
In 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 it was known as ZiU (, Zavod imeni Uritskogo, plant named after Moisei Uritskiy) or Uritsky factory (plant).
ZiU/Trolza has built over 65,000 trolleybuses. Historically, the most numerous models of ZiU production were the MTB-82, the ZiU-5 and the ZiU-9 (also known as the ZiU-682). The ZiU-9 is the most widely produced trolleybus in history. The factory has exported its production to various countries, including
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
,
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
,
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
,
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
,
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
,
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
''etc''.
History
The enterprise was founded in
Imperial Russia
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* ...
in 1868, but it began producing trolleybuses in 1951.Semyonov, Nikolai (March–April 1994). "Russian and Soviet Trolleybus Production". ''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 194, pp. 30–44. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .
Trolleybus production by the Uritsky factory (ZiU) began in 1951, but the company's first model, the MTB-82d, was a refinement of a design first developed several years earlier, by the national government in Moscow in 1945–46, the MTB-82m (where MTB stood for Moscow Trolleybus). A prototype MTB-82m was built in February 1946 at a military factory. Following the construction of 77 additional MTB-82 trolleybuses in 1946–47, improvements in the design led to the introduction of the MTB-82d. Production of the improved model continued at military factories as well as at MTRZ, a small trolleybus repair plant in Moscow, until 1951, when the Uritsky factory was established in Engels to take over all trolleybus production from the various smaller facilities. ZiU's production of the MTB-82d lasted from 1951 to 1961, and a total of 3,746 were built (or more than 5,000 when counting the ones built elsewhere, before ZiU was established).Sorokin, Anatol (July–August 2008). "A Trolleybus 'For all Times': MTB-82". ''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 280, pp. 74–77.
In the 1980s, ZiU was building more than 2,000 trolleybuses per year, mostly for domestic use (in the then Soviet Union) but up to 160 per year for export outside the USSR. For many years until at least the early 1990s, ZiU was the world's largest manufacturer of trolleybuses.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 204 (November–December 1995), p. 161. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . Around 1996, it was renamed Trolza, short for AO Trolleybusnyi Zavod (Trolleybus Factory).''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 216 (November–December 1997), p. 151.
In 2016, Trolza announced that it would begin production of trolleybuses and electric buses in Juárez Celman, Córdoba Province, Argentina. The company intends to supply and modernise existing systems in
Rosario
Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...
, Córdoba and Mendoza while also supplying new potential networks.
On February 20, 2020, it was announced that the production of trolleybuses and electric buses at Trolza would be discontinued due to financial difficulties. The former facilities in Engels were rented out to PC Transport Systems.