Mykolaiv used trolleybuses as electric buses during the blackout

Battery trolleybuses PTS-12 in electric bus mode. Photo: Municipal enterprise Mykolaivelektrotrans

During the period of complete blackout that occurred in Mykolaiv on 28-30 November 2024, the municipal enterprise Mykolaivelectrotrans provided transportation for the city's residents using hybrid trolleybuses. The company operated 14 PTS battery trolleybuses, which can cover up to 20 kilometres without power from the grid.

To operate without power, the trolleybuses were charged at the depot using diesel generators. The trolleybuses ran on temporary routes and only during peak hours: from 6:30 to 8:30 am and from 4:30 to 7:00 pm.

Information about the temporary routes was promptly published on the official pages of Mykolaivelectrotrans and the city council. In total, the rolling stock operated in three directions.

Thanks to an innovative approach and high-capacity batteries on board the trolleybuses, more than 3,000 residents of Mykolaiv were able to use electric transport every day during the blackout.

‘We also reminded passengers that the new trolleybuses have the ability to recharge mobile devices thanks to USB outputs. Passengers could also charge their gadgets on the territory of the enterprise, as we opened an Unbreakable Point with Internet access,’ commented Yuriy Smetana, director of Mykolaivelectrotrans.

Despite the lack of electricity supply, the company also continued its programme of distributing clean water to the city's residents. During the blackout, the company did not use trams and trolleybuses as usual, but maintained the operation of stationary distribution points according to the schedule from 6:00 to 20:00, without a break. On the days without electricity, people were able to receive more than 20,000 litres of purified water from the company.

The process of charging trolleybus batteries in the absence of power. Photo: Municipal enterprise Mykolaivelectrotrans

Trams did not run on city routes for four days. They resumed running only on 2 December, after the situation with the power supply had relatively stabilised. At the same time, Mykolayivelectrotrans introduced a saving mode, limiting heating in transport to 30% of the maximum capacity.

In total, the city has already received 19 Ukrainian-made PTS-12 trolleybuses in 2022-2024 under a contract financed by an EBRD loan and grant support from the Danish government. The new vehicles made it possible to open route 10 to the Korabelnyi district, where about 1 km of the route has no overhead line. As of the end of November, 14 trolleybuses were put into operation, and the remaining five are in the process of being put into operation.

According to the company, PTS trolleybuses have already carried more than 3 million passengers. The exact number is provided by passenger counting sensors installed on each pair of doors of the new trolleybuses.