Ten battery-powered trolleybuses are already in operation in the streets of Ostrava

The Ostrava Transport Company (DPO) has received ten new battery-powered trolleybuses. Since the beginning of the year, the number of these trolleybuses going around the city has been gradually increasing; now, all ten have been delivered. They are easily noticeable due to the new colour design, and exceptional in that they can travel up to a third of their route without the overhead trolley lines.

The DPO announced a public contract for the new trolleybuses in September 2016. The contract was awarded to Škoda Electric, which has supplied ten Škoda 26Tr battery-powered trolleybuses. The first one arrived in Ostrava at the end of 2017 and was first available for passengers this January. The rest of the trolleybuses were being delivered gradually, and now the delivery is complete.

Battery-powered trolleybuses are equipped with a powerful electric heating, air conditioning, LCD monitors with an information system and a CCTV system. Their biggest advantage is their ability to run on electric batteries that are continuously recharged from the overhead trolley lines. Without the overhead trolley lines, they are able to travel up to 12 km. They are currently used as trolleybus lines 101 and 106, making full use of having doors on both sides.

All ten battery-powered trolleybuses have a new colour design – turquoise blue with a thin white strip under the windows and three exclamation marks above the middle door. “The colour design was chosen by the people of Ostrava for the new Stadler nOVA trams. We then decided to use a similar design for all new vehicles, including the battery-powered trolleybuses”, says Daniel Morys, the managing director of DPO.

The latest delivery of new trolleybuses also includes two pieces of Škoda 27Tr – conventional articulated trolleybuses from the same supplier. The 160 million-dollar contract marked the beginning of an extensive upgrade of the DPO’s fleet. This year, the people of Ostrava can also look forward to the new Stadler nOVA trams, fifty new CNG-powered buses, ten minibuses and two “double-decker” buses.