Kharkiv trolleybus turned 85 years old
Exactly 85 years ago, on 1 May 1939, the first 6.6 km long trolleybus line was opened in Kharkiv.
It ran from Radianska Square (now the Eternal Flame Square) along Universytetska Street, Spartakivskyi Lane, Tevelyeva Square (now Konstytutsii Square) and Karl Liebknecht Street (now Sumska Street) to Gorky Park (now Central Park).
To service the line, 10 trolleybuses were purchased. The first temporary trolleybus depot was built on the site of the Mirror Stream. A year later, the line was extended to the South Station, and the number of trolleybuses increased to 27.
In 1941, during the German offensive, the trolleybuses were seriously damaged. It was possible to resume their operation only in May 1944.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the length of the contact network almost tripled. At that time, trolleybus depots No. 2 and No. 3 were built, and they still serve the City today.
In 2019, a significant rolling stock renewal began: the City received more than 130 modern vehicles. Kharkiv ranks first in Ukraine in terms of the number of autonomous trolleybuses.
Due to the outbreak of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, trolleybuses operation was suspended. As a result of russia's armed aggression, some of the rolling stock was damaged. However, traffic resumed in May.
