Moscow, Russia--Moscow operates one of the largest trolleybus fleets in the world, with about 1,740 trolleybuses as part of its total fleet of about 5,700 buses, according to information obtained by Bill Luke, longtime transit advocate and editor of Buses International.
The size of the total fleet in the Russian capital has increased since the system encountered hard times along with the rest of the economy and was forced to abandon a number of routes. While the bus fleet was around 7,100 vehicles in 1990, at its lowest point, in 1995, the number of vehicles was down to about 4,200.
Although Hungarian-built articulated Ikarus model 280 buses continue to dominate the Moscow bus fleet, deliveries from Hungary have diminished considerably and there is now a much greater reliance on Russian-built LIAZ and LAZ buses.
One of the latest Russian-built bus models is the articulated AS-1 produced by the local Sokol'niki motor works, which accommodates 204 passengers, of whom 38 can be seated. The local Tushino plant also assembles Hungarian-built Ikarus models 280 and 435 from imported components.
At present, the Moscow urban system operates on 442 routes with an average route length of 6.5 miles, transporting in the range of 900 million passengers annually, representing nearly a third of all public transit patrons. Most of the rest are carried by Moscow's renowned subway network.
Now known as Mosgortrans, the Moscow bus system employs more than 35,000 people and operates 18 bus depots. The oldest of these facilities, which dates back to the 1920s when it provided service for Moscow's first fleet of British Leyland buses, is being converted to an urban transport museum. The depot itself is being moved to the city's northern outskirts.
A Swiss survey from the mid-1990s noted that western nations now operate 73 trolleybus systems totaling about 5,400 vehicles, while eastern countries--including China, Russia, and the successor states of the former Soviet Union--account for some 300 systems with an estimated 25,000 vehicles. Moscow operates the largest of these, whereas the largest in the western world is located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with some 480 trolleybuses.
Together, the nations of western Europe are responsible for 52 trolleybus systems with a combined total of 2,200 vehicles. North America has seven trolleybus systems with just over 1,000 vehicles.
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