Trolleybuses in Chișinău

The history of the trolleybus network in Chișinău goes back to 1949 when the city council took the decision to introduce it as a substitute for the tram network that was heavily damaged during World War II and could only be rebuilt to a limited extent. The first line connecting the Chişinău Railway Station with the University of Medicine ran along the Stephen the Great boulevard, where the former tram tracks were removed, and was served by six MTB-82D units. In 1959 the tram depot was transferred to serve the trolleybus system that comprised over 50 units at that time, and by 1961 trolleybuses had completely replaced the trams. The second and the third depots were introduced into service in 1966 and 1986, respectively.[1]

The trolleybus network consists of 22 lines covering all the city districts and the suburb of Durlești.[4]

Line	Route
02	bd. Traian – str. Pușkin	circular route
03	șos. Balcani – str. Miorița
04	Grădina Botanică – str. Constituţiei	connection with Chisinau railway station
05	Trolleybus depot 2 – str. Bariera Sculeni	connection with Chisinau railway station
07	A.B.A.-4 – str. 31 August 1989
08	bd. Traian – parcul "La izvor"	connection with Chisinau railway station
09	Schinoasa-2 – Autogara Nord	connection with Autogara Nord (North bus station) connection with Autogara Sud (South bus station)
10	str. Studenților – str. Miorița
11	str. Studenților – parcul "La izvor"
13	str. Ion Dumeniuc – str. Dokuceaev	connection with Autogara Nord (North bus station)
16	Uzina de frigidere – str. 31 August 1989
17	Schinoasa 2 – Gara	connection with Chisinau railway station connection with Autogara Sud (South bus station)
20	Trolleybus depot 2 – Autogara Nord	connection with Chisinau railway station connection with Autogara Nord (North bus station)
21	Uzina de frigidere – șos. Balcani
22	șos. Balcani – Grădina Botanică
23	str. Ion Dumeniuc – parcul "La izvor"
24	str. Ion Dumeniuc – str. Mioriţa
25	str. Ceucari – str. 31 August 1989
26	str. Ceucari – str. Ion Dumeniuc
27	str. Ceucari – str. Ion Creangă
28	or. Durlești – str. Sarmizegetusa	connection with Chisinau railway station
29	Universitatea Agrară – parcul "Ștefan cel Mare"
30	International Airport Chisinau – str. 31 August 1989	connection with International Airport Chisinau

AKSM-321 operating on the route 22.

The fleet consists mainly of the various modification of the Soviet-built ZiU-9 and the recently purchased low-floor vehicles AKSM-321 manufactured by Belkommunmash in Belarus (Chișinău is the third largest user of this model, after Minsk and Moscow). In addition, the network also operates a number of the Czech-produced Škoda 14Tr (popular with the drivers) and Ukrainian-built YuMZ-T2.[5]

Every vehicle has a fare collector who sells single-ride tickets valid for this particular ride only. Alternatively, once can purchase a monthly ticket, valid for a calendar month. A single-ride ticket costs 2 MDL, and the price of the monthly pass is 180 MDL. There are also: monthly ticket for scholars and students - 70 MDL, ticket for 15 days - 100 MDL, monthly ticket for students with social privilegies - 70 MDL, monthly ticket for economic agents - 320 MDL.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trolleybuses in Chișinău.

• "Trolleybus city: Chisinau (Moldavien)". Trolleymotion.
• Kishinev (Chişinău) database / photo gallery and Kishinev (Chişinău) trolleybus list at Urban Electric Transit – in various languages, including English.
• Regia Transport Electric Chisinau Facebook Page