NETWORK DESCRIPTION

[as of 09.2004]

The city is situated in the Far East of Russia, 7985 km. east of Moscow, yet 548 km. short of the Russian Pacific Coast. It sits on the boarder with China, on the northern bank of the Amur River. Chinese city of Heihe is located on the other side of the river. Blagoveschensk is not directly served by the Trans-Siberian railroad, but by a 131 km.-long branch.

Not long ago the neighboring Heihe was literally a large village. Upon getting rich off importing raw materials from Russia, converting those into functional products, and exporting the latter back to Russia, it evolved into a modern metropolis.

While its Chinese counterpart is busy making money, the city of Blagoveschensk is stuck in the dust of yesteryear, seemingly detached from civilization: the city appears to be straight out of the Soviet era. The streets are literally covered with dust. A sizeable portion of the city consists of low-rise private wooden houses. The rest of the city is a random clutter of monotonous apartment blocks. A few historic or architecturally significant buildings dating back to the Tsarist Russia, a reminder of the rich imperial past, are concentrated in the central-most area along the banks of the Amur River.

The city's transportation scheme is unsystematic, a mix of inefficient publicly owned services, and inept private operators. The bus fleet is still represented by older prehistoric Soviet LAZ and LIAZ models.

A trolleybus network saw a rather restrained development in the past, and is still somewhat inadequately developed. For instance, trolleybuses do not directly serve the heart of the city center. In recent years the system went through some expansion and some downsizing at the same time, making it hard to evaluate the actual progress. Yet, the undertaking does its best maintaining decent service that in many areas still constitutes the backbone of transportation system.

Even though the city streets are laid in a dull grid, the trolleybus network layout is rather odd and is based on two services following a sequence of confusing looping patterns. This is perhaps the most peculiar feature of local operation.

HISTORY OF NETWORK DEVELOPMENT

[10.2007]

22 Aug 1979 - The 18 km.-long initial loop (both ways) opens via Tenistaya Ul., 50 Let Oktyabrya Ul., Zeyskaya Ul., Kalinina Ul., with the Depot on Tenistaya Ul.; a circular Line 1 opened.

1980 - From Tenistaya Ul. / 50 Let Oktyabrya Ul. to Vokzal via 50 Let Oktyabrya Ul.; Line 1 extended to Vokzal.

1984 - From Tenistaya Ul. / Kalinina Ul. to 2-y Mikrorayon at Ignatyevskoe Shosse / Dyachenko Ul. via Kalinina Ul. and Ignatyevskoe Shosse; Line 2 introduced Vokzal - Zeyskaya Ul. - 2-y Mikrorayon.

1989 - From 50 Let Oktyabrya Ul. to Bolnitsa Nomer 1, via Gorkogo Ul. and a one-way loop via Zagorodnaya Ul., Krasnoarmeyskaya Ul., Bolnichnaya Ul. and Gorkogo Ul.; Line 3 introduced Vokzal - Gorkogo Ul. - Bolnitsa Nomer 1.

1990 - Line 3 suspended; Line 4 introduced Vokzal - Zeyskaya Ul. - Bolnitsa Nomer 1.

1991-1992 - Line 1 suspended; Line 4 rerouted via one-way loop Bolnitsa Nomer 1 - Tenistaya Ul. - Vokzal - Zeyskaya Ul. - Bolnitsa Nomer 1.

2000 - From 2-y Mikrorayon to Oblastnaya Bolnitsa via Ignatyevskoe Shosse, Studencheskaya Ul., and a one-way loop via Institutskaya Ul., Vasilenko Ul., Voronkova Ul. and Studencheskaya Ul. for a total of 5 km. (both ways); Line 2V routed Vokzal - Zeyskaya Ul. - Oblastnaya Bolnitsa - Tenistaya Ul. - Vokzal, and Line 2K routed Vokzal - Tenistaya Ul. - Oblastnaya Bolnitsa -Zeyskaya Ul. - Vokzal.

2002 - The Bolnitsa Nomer 1 extension closes; Line 4 suspended; wirework dismantled on Gorkogo Ul. between Kalinina Ul. and Bolnitsa Nomer 1 only (unused wirework remains on Gorkogo Ul. between 50 Let Oktyabrya Ul. and Kalinina Ul.).

2003 - Between Ignatyevskoe Shosse and Studencheskaya Ul. via Dyachenko Ul. and Institutskaya Ul. for a total of 2.5 km. (both ways); inbound Line 2V and outbound Line 2K rerouted via Dyachenko Ul.

Upon the opening of the line to Bolnitsa Nomer 1 in 1989, trolleybuses of Line 3 used the direct route via Gorkogo Ul. between Vokzal and Bolnitsa Nomer 1, avoiding the city center. Such routing proved insufficient, and later the new Line 4 appeared, connecting Vokzal and Bolnitsa Nomer1 via Zeyskaya Ul., through the city center. The new line was then altered to compensate for the suspended Line 1, and continued to operate via a one-way loop Bolnitsa Nomer 1 - Tenistaya Ul. - Vokzal - Zeyskaya Ul. - Bolnitsa Nomer 1.

In 2002 Bolnitsa Nomer 1 line was closed due to absence of adequate capacity at the power station, apparently sacrificed for the opening of the more promising extension toward massive developments of apartment blocks in the northwestern part of the city. Upon building additional power stations in the future, the Bolnitsa Nomer 1 line is to come back.

ROUTES

[10.2007]

2V Vokzal - Zeyskaya Ul. - Studencheskaya Ul. - Oblastnaya Bolnitsa - Dyachenko Ul. - Tenistaya Ul. - Vokzal
2K Vokzal - Tenistaya Ul. - Dyachenko Ul. - Oblastnaya Bolnitsa - Studencheskaya Ul . - Zeyskaya Ul. - Vokzal

Two trolleybus services operated in the city are numbered 2V and 2K. Both lines follow complicated circular patterns via three consecutive loops. Letter "V" (looks like "B" in Russian) stands for "vnutrenniy", or "inner-loop", implying a clockwise pattern. Letter "K" stands for "koltsevoy", or "circular", traditionally identifying a counterclockwise pattern.

SERVICE

[09.2004]

Trolleybuses operate between approximately 6:00-22:30. Trolleybuses run on notably short, but rather irregular headways. Officially stated headways are 12-18 min. between 6:00-7:00, and 19:00-22:30, and 6-12 min. between 7:00-19:00. Rush hours are not recognized.

Due to a continuous-loop route structure that does not involve adequate dwell times at terminals, there is notably a higher proportion of scheduled mid-shift relief runs to the depot.

Trolleybuses run one sizeable city block short of reaching the main street in the heart of the city center. When the trolleybus system opened during the Soviet era, the line serving the city center was built via Zeyskaya Ul., one block away from the central-most Lenina Ul. This worked fine under the socialist economic arrangement, when public services were in short supply and people were forced to walk to where trolleybuses were. Nowadays unfortunately, the majority of passengers opt for private buses and minibuses that serve the main Lenina Ul. directly.

ROLLING STOCK

[09.2005]

A total of 31 trolleybuses.

ZIU-682V and ZIU-682G:
32 (1986)
33-35 (1989)
36-40 (1990)
41-45* (1991)
46-50* (1992)
51-54* (1993)
55 (1995)
56, 57 (1997)
* - 2 unidentified vehicles delivered between 1991-1993 are scrapped 09.2005.

VMZ-170:
01, 02 (2001)
02, 03 (2002)
05 (01.2003)

VMZ-5298:
06 (08.2005)
07 (09.2005)

Trolleybuses 06 and 07 are equipped with drivers' side doors. Trolleybus 07 is equipped with drivers' airconditioning.

NETWROK FUTURE

[02.2005]

Trolleybus operation is rather unassuming, but stable. New vehicle deliveries continue at slow pace. The recently approved ambitious urban development plan incorporates three stages of aggressive development of trolleybus lines that are to cover the entire city. It also includes 2 additional power stations to be built, and 21 new vehicles to be bought.

[08.2007]

Two new trolleybuses only are bought during two years since the approval of the above mentioned grand urban development plan. Subsequently two older vehicles are scrapped. Trolleybus undertaking is infinitely in debt, there are threats of power shut downs.

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