Location: 460 km. southeast of Moscow
Founded: 1636
Population: 280 400 (2011)

The name of the town is traditionally used in the Russian language as an idiom for backwardness and provinciality. The city, however, has cleaned up considerably in the recent years, and consecutively went through an impressive image facelift.

The trolleybus network covers most major passenger generating corridors in the city. Some viable outlying corridors lack trolleybus service, as trolleybus expansion projects folded with the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Formerly an important player in the city’s transit scheme, the trolleybus undertaking has seen a dramatic decline through the last 20 years as the number of vehicles subsided from 185 in 1989 to 73 in 2011 (even fewer are operable). The trolleybus route network is heavily duplicated by multiple private bus and minibus services. The municipal diesel bus and trolleybus operations are under the same management. Consequently, bus substitutions via trolleybus routes are common. Trolleybuses lost ground and popularity. The routes 1 and 6 are the only ones that boast plentiful and predictable service. The routes 5 and 9 operate less often, but are still reliable. All other routes see only occasional service, with some routes routinely served with 1-2 vehicles. Hourly headways are common. The percentage of newer vehicles is high if compared to many other Russian operations. There are also 16 low-floor vehicles. There is, however, still a notable shortage of trolleybuses. Three trolleybus routes had to be dieselized due to equipment and personnel shortages in 2010/2011. The trend was reversed and the service was restored via two of the routes with the arrival of a few additional vehicles in the beginning of 2011.

Trolleybus operation commenced 06.11.1955.

Further network developments:

1955-1968 1968-1980 1980-1989
1995 1997 1999
2001 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

The Depot 2, opened in 1985, is not used for trolleybus storage since 1995. Overhead access was removed in 2010.

The trolleybus undertaking was merged with the diesel bus undertaking in 1995. The diesel bus arm of the municipal undertaking, however, was loosing the battle to private carriers, and pulled the trolleybus arm downward economically. A brief unsuccessful flirtation with privatization took place between 2007-2009 when the undertaking was operated by the Vologda Holding Company, a private trolleybus manufacturer and operator out of the city of Vologda.

In 12.2010 the routes 5, 7 and 13 were dieselized: the routes 5, 13 were now served with diesel buses of the same route designation, while the route 7 succumbed to the diesel bus route 31.

Trolleybuses returned to the routes 5 and 13 with the arrival of a few new vehicles in 04.2011. Moreover, the service on the route 5 was increased two-fold.

Length: 94.2 km (one way).

The overhead is in fair state of repair. Dewirements are infrequent.

System map:
2011

Daily vehicles’ usage and intervals by line:

* - Operates on weekdays only.
** - One vehicle gets reassigned from the routes 1 or 6.

Real time GPS-based transit vehicle tracking is possible on line. The timetable is not, however, publicized via traditional means. Consequently, public awareness regarding operating schedules is low. The service is somewhat unreliable. Deviations from the timetable are widespread. Run cancellations due to equipment unavailability are rampant. Equipment breakdowns are common with no immediate substitutions provided. This means that toward the end of the day the service is thinned out even further, while routes served with a single vehicle are simply not operated. In addition, the service is impacted by traffic jams.

Diesel bus substitutions are mostly prearranged: specific routes are officially designated as electric, mixed diesel-electric or diesel operation. Substitutions based on daily operational needs are rare, but possible. Moreover, due to chronic shortage of diesel buses, the diesel bus route 31 that is covered by the trolleybus overhead in it’s entirety, is sometimes operated with trolleybuses.

Diesel bus routes and trolleybus routes traditionally have separate route numbering systems, both starting with 1 (e.g. there exist both the diesel bus route 1 and the trolleybus route 1, etc.). Consequently, there is a certain degree of confusion with route numbers when diesel bus substitutions occur.

185 trolleybuses:

ZiU-9 (ZiU-682V)

[1998]

98 trolleybuses:

ZiU-9 (ZiU-682V and ZiU-682G): 93
ZiU-10 (ZiU-683V) articulated: 5 (1991)

[11.2011]

The former fleet:

MTB-82: 61 trolleybuses (operated 1955 - 1970s)
ZiU-5: 114 trolleybuses (operated early 1960s - late 1980s)
ZiU-682V: more than 200 trolleybuses (operated early 1980s – 2010)
ZiU-683V articulated: 5 trolleybuses (operated 1991 – 2010)

The current fleet - 72 trolleybuses:

ZiU-682G; ZiU-682G-012; ZiU-682G-014: 32 (1990-1993, 1999-2001)
ZiU-682G-016.04: 19 (2010)
VMZ-5298.00 (VMZ-375): 1 (2001)
BTZ-52761R: 1 (2004)
VMZ-5298.01-50 Avangard low floor: 14 (2009, 2010)
TrolZa-5275.07 Optima: 3 (2011)
TrolZa-5265.00 Megapolis low floor: 2 (2011)

11 ZiU-682G and 2 VMZ-5298.01-50 Avangard trolleybuses are out of order. Thus, 59 trolleybuses are operable.

High-capacity articulated ZiU-683V vehicles are written off as of 2010.

7 Vologda-built VMZ-375 trolleybuses were brought in 2007 by the private operator Vologda Holding Company with privatization of the trolleybus enterprise, but were sent back to Vologda with that operator pulling out of the city in 2009. One other such vehicle was delivered in 2001 and was fully paid by the city, and thus, stayed behind.

All newer vehicles are maintained in good order, both mechanically and cosmetically. Most older trolleybuses, delivered in the 1990s, are in dire state of poor maintenance.