SEE: Trolleybuses are returning to Prague, they will be recharged by driving downhill
“During the steep climb of Prosecká Street, our buses use about 52 liters of diesel per 100 km. That’s an awful lot of noise and emissions. We are replacing the existing public lighting poles with new modern ones, which will be able to shine and will also be used for traction lines, “said Adam Scheinherr, Prague’s deputy for transport.
SEE: Friends and family said goodbye to Pavel Chrastina for the last time
Modern trolleybuses can be recharged while driving down Prosecká Street. “On the test track, the trolleys are also stretched downwards. We have calculated that despite the investment, it pays off, the car going down supplies energy to the person going up. Alternatively, the energy can be used in other ways, “said the director of the transport company Petr Witowski.
It stands approximately in the middle of its route connected to the electricity from the trolleys and they manage the rest on the battery, and then partially recharge it at the battery station in Čakovice. There will be 18 charging stations for them in the garage of the Klíčov transport company.
It is necessary to add that the transport company does not yet have vehicles in the garages. For the purchase of 15 battery articulated trolleybuses
announced a public contract last April, its winner will be announced later this week. “Exact battery life is a subject of competition, it is a evaluated criterion. We entered at least five years, but it should be longer, the supplier must also ensure its replacement as part of maintenance at least once during the life of the vehicle, which is 15 years, “said Jan Barchánek, head of the bus department of the transport company.
The entire investment, including the construction of infrastructure for the operation of the line, will require only less than 284 million crowns, but it will not endanger the city budget, 85 percent of which will be covered by subsidies from European funds.
VIDEO: The little grandson was interested in graffiti, the grandmother spray-painted him on the street
The project was started by the previous city management, led by Mayor Adriana Krnáčová (YES). “Jiří Vintiška was the first current mayor of Čakovice to come up with the idea that a trolleybus would run from Prague 8 via Prague 9 and Letňany to Čakovice. At the time, I looked at him a little like a fool. We started in 2015 in Prosecká Street and today is a satisfaction for all those who have believed in this project all the time, “said the mayor of Prague 9, Tomáš Portlík (ODS).
“A revolutionary year awaits us in the development of Prague’s public transport. We are solving a historical mistake made in 1972 by the then communist leadership of the city, when it decided to completely stop trolleybus traffic, “said Scheinherr. Electrified line No. 58 ran from Libno from the locality near Kříž via Prosek, Letňany and Čakovice in the years 1952 to 1965 with an interval of two minutes.
“This year is really a turning point for us in terms of electrification, we have several projects planned. In a few days, we will start operating our first electric bus on lines 154 and 213. By the end of January, we will also announce the winners of public contracts for the purchase of articulated trolleybuses for line 58 and three-section trolleybuses for line 119 (in the future 59) at the Airport Prague. In addition, we would like to test the first hydrogen bus in Prague this year, “said Witowski. By 2030, three-quarters of the transport company’s bus fleet is to be replaced by emission-free electric buses, battery trolleybuses and low-emission buses.
Where will trolleybuses run in Prague?
Projects for the introduction of trolleybuses on six other bus lines were gradually added to the electrification of bus line No. 140:
C. 119 Veleslavín Railway Station – Prague Airport (future trolleybus line 59)
C. 131 Borislavka – Hradcanska (51)
C. 137 Na Knížecí – U Waltrovky (52)
C. 176 Strahov Stadium – Charles Square (53)
C. 191 Prague – Na Knížecí Airport (56)
C. 201 Nádraží Holešovice – Černý Most (61)