[as of 2015 ]

City

Founded: 1719
City as of: 1953
Population: 151 157 (2015)
Location: Almetyevsk

The city in the Republic of Tatarstan, mostly consists of Soviet-era apartment blocks built as satellite residential areas to the oil & gas-based industry.

Network Stats

Operator: MUP Almetyevskoe Trolleybusnoe Upravlenie (MUP-ATU)

System opened: 13.01.1976
Overhead length: 50,3 km. (one-way)
Number of routes: 6
Number of passenger vehicles: 49 (42 operable)

Network map: 2012 2015

Official timetable: 2015
Actual timetable: 2015

History of trolleybus development: 1976 - 2015

The Almetyevsk trolleybus system is notable for an 11-km.-long suburban / interurban line to Tatneftegazpererabotka (TNGP) to the south-east of the city, which spans over four different administrative entities. While predominantly rural in character, mostly passing through open fields and local villages, the line also covers Almetyevsk’s most oil and gas-related industrial installations. In addition, the 3,5 km.-long line to Alnas in the south of the city also boasts some interurban character, as well as superb vista views of the city from an elevated vintage point.

The trolleybus system was opened in 1976 by the suburban Minnibaevskiy gas-processing combine (nowadays TNGP) to transport workers from the main town. The trolleybus enterprise ownership was transferred as early as 01.07.1977, and was under either municipal or Tatarstan Republic central authority (or sometimes both) ever since. Consequently, the trolleybus depot is located at the outer end of the interurban line, near the TNGP combine, which nowadays provides for excessive depot runs. The RTS terminal, located in the middle of the long trolleybus corridor, acts as a supplement depot facility as far as supervision and midday vehicle layover.

The volume of trolleybus service is defined by a so-called “municipal order” – a predetermined level of service set by the municipal authorities. The officially published (however, hard to find) timetable is based on the municipal order, and during peak hours headways operated reflect these guidelines. During off peak hours, however, additional service is provided, in excess to the municipal order. For instance, headways on the Lines 1 and 6 are lower than those officially announced. Moreover, the Line 5 is not requested by the municipality, and is operated as per carrier’s initiative.

The Lines 1 and 6 cover the entire interurban line between Almetyevsk and TNGP, and operate a similar route except for two different small branches within the city of Almetyevsk itself. Both services follow a synchronized schedule on weekdays, operating with the combined headway as low as 5,5 min. during peak hours, 7,5 minutes off peak. This provides for an unusually abundant service via the interurban line on weekdays. The Line 6 does not operate on weekends, when the short version of the service, the Line 4 operates as far as the RTS Terminal within Almetyevsk proper only. The Line 5, the short version of the Line 1, also operates as far as the RTS only, but at all times. The Line 5, however, operates on headways longer than those of the Line 1, and the service between these two lines is not balanced out. The Line 3 serves the Alnas interurban line, and operates on the longest headways, which, again, are not synchronized with any other services operating via city's trolleybus corridor.

Trolleybuses cover the city’s entire single main transit corridor. Due to limited routing variety in the city, there is notable ever present diesel bus competition. In addition, many private bus carriers in the city operate full capacity buses on natural gas. Even though attempts are made to balance out operations between the Lines 1 and 6, runs via the Lines 3 and 5 fall out of sequence, making trolleybus service via the main trolleybus corridor in Almetyevsk proper somewhat uneven. In addition, due to drivers collecting payments, trolleybuses get delayed during peak hours, which often depends on whether a particular trolleybus trails a competing diesel bus or not. Furthermore, the schedule does not include layovers at western terminals with no dispatch posts, thus limiting service recovery options. All of the above makes peak hour trolleybus service increasingly unreliable, with diesel bus competitors providing notably more plentiful service. A peculiar local tradition calls for training trolleybuses to operate in revenue service outside of schedule, trailing regular revenue runs and thus getting lighter loads.

Rolling Stock

[ 2015 / total ]

BTZ-52763A : 10 / 10 (2013) Low floor
ZiU-682G-016.02 : 1 / 1 (2008)
BTZ-52761R : 4 / 4 (2007)
BTZ-5276-04 : 10 / 11 (2003-2006)
BTZ-5276-01 : 6 / 7 (2000, 2002)
AKSM-101 : 1 / 4 (1996)
ZiU-682G, -012, -014, -018 : 15 / 30 (1989-2001)
ZiU-682V, -012 : 2 / ? (1980s)
ZiU-682B : 0 / ? (1973+)

Photos

Last updated: 25-Oct-2015
© 2002 Author: Yury Maller - Usage of material found herein for public display is possible with authors' permission only.
Special thanks: Dmitriy Eysmond - maps; Evgeniy Leontyev - photos