A parade of retro trolleybuses was held on Saturday in Moscow. The event commemorated the 81st anniversary of the launch of the first Moscow trolley line. All the vehicles from the motorcade are museum showpieces. Trolleybuses from the 1950-60s, other retro cars and special vehicles took part in the parade.
A parade of retro trolleybuses was held on Saturday in Moscow. The event commemorated the 81st anniversary of the launch of the first Moscow trolley line.
Above: a retro trolleybus during the parade in Moscow.
Above: a retro trolleybus during the parade in Moscow.
All vehicles taking part in the parade carried passengers on the streets of Moscow in their days. Now they are museum showpieces.
The parade started at 12:00 p.m. Moscow Time from Belorusskaya railway station. The vehicles drove through some famous areas of Downtown Moscow, including Teatralnaya Square, Tverskaya street, Kremlin quay, New Arbat Venue and Kutuzovsky Avenue.
The trolleybus service started operating in Moscow on November 15, 1933 and it is sixth-oldest among currently operating systems. The first lines were constructed in the north-western part of the city.
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© Sputnik / Vladimir Astapkovich
Trolleybuses started to replace trams in Moscow; however, later some trolley routes were cancelled.
Rapid development of the Moscow trolleybus service came in the 1950-60s, its contemporary configuration in the central part of the city was created in 1960.
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© Sputnik / Vladimir Astapkovich
Besides retro trolleybuses, some modern vehicles took part in the parade.
Above: driver’s seat inside a cabin of a retro trolleybus.
Above: driver’s seat inside a cabin of a retro trolleybus.
Currently, the Moscow trolleybus service has a total of 1655 vehicles running on 100 routes. The total length of the trolley line is 600 kilometers.
This 2014 event was the fourth in its history. From this year, the retro trolleybuses parade in Moscow will be annual.
A photo contest for visitors was announced. During the parade participants took pictures which will be published on the event’s page on Facebook. Participants will be competing in three nominations – best picture of the parade, best selfie and best fancy-dress picture. The winners will be announced on December 1.
