"We are canceling the trolleybuses run by GSP in order to introduce electric buses owned by a private citizen from Obrenovac, 'Strela', and we are paying 1.1 billion euros for that over the next 20 years," said Nikola Jovanović, director of the Center for Local Self-Government, in an interview with "Vreme"
In the last days of the previous year the city government in Belgrade made a very important decision. Namely, the councilors of the City of Belgrade Assembly decided by a majority that trolleybuses in the capital's public transport should be replaced by electric buses. In the explanation of that decision, it was stated that trolleybus transportation in Belgrade has a rich history, but also big problems: obsolescence of vehicles and equipment and low efficiency.
It was assessed that many trolleybus lines are in poor condition, with outdated poles and wires that have not been replaced for years, which often causes technical problems and slows down and disrupts transportation, and that the rolling stock is old and inefficient.
GSP Belgrade has 92 trolleybuses with an average age of 15 years, and the newest ones were purchased 13 years ago.
That is why the mayor of Belgrade, Aleksandar Šapić, announced the purchase of 100 new trolleybuses. Nothing will come of all that, because the trolleybuses will be replaced by electric buses.
Why throw away 50 kilometers of catenary?
The director of the Center for Local Self-Government (CLS) Nikola Jovanović evaluates this decision for "Vreme" as "harmful and senseless" and points out that the existing contact network will practically be thrown away.
"It is senseless to abolish trolleybuses in order to replace them with electric buses. Electric buses should replace older diesels, not vehicles that are already electric. It is true that we have old trolleybuses, but we also have 50 kilometers of catenary network in which a lot has been invested and which is in good condition. Why throw it away? "The best solution is to buy new trolleybuses with a 'green' favorable loan, and gradually replace the old diesel buses with electric buses," said Jovanović.
He emphasizes that the main question after this decision of the government is - who pays for the announced public-private partnership?
"We are abolishing the trolleybuses run by GSP in order to introduce electric buses owned by a private citizen from Obrenovac, 'Strela', and pay him 1.1 billion euros over the next 20 years." It's mind-boggling. Neither will Strela invest in the infrastructure that remains in the city, nor have they ever operated a system of electric vehicles. If it wasn't tragic, it would be funny. By the way, for those 1.1 billion euros, the City could have bought as many as 1833 new, modern trolleybuses," notes Jovanović.
He explains that the service life of electric buses is half that of trolleybuses, that buses use a battery that must be replaced after seven years of use, and that a new investment is needed in chargers for electric buses that trolleybuses do not need.
Sometimes one, sometimes another
He points out that this is another in a series of bad decisions by the city authorities regarding public transport, and to what extent public money is not taken into account, he cites the example of the purchase of new software and validators for reading tickets in GSP vehicles, in order to after that a decision was made that city transport will be free.
"At the beginning of his mandate, Aleksandar Šapić claimed that his main goal was better ticket collection." He spent a lot of our money terminating the contract with Kentkart and purchasing new equipment and software. Now he claims that we don't need ticket collection, but everything will be transferred to the city budget. That's why we have price increases for all utility services and property taxes," says Jovanović.
He asks rhetorically whether Šapić will compensate the expenses he incurred by introducing "his" ticket collection system from the previous year, and whether he will now abolish his parasitic company PUC 'Transport Charges'".
Throwing away tens of millions of euros
Ivan Banković, the president of the Trade Union Center in the City Transport Company (GSP), agrees with Jovanovic. He recently told "Vreme" that on the list of needs in the improvement of public transport, trolleybuses are ahead of electric buses.
"Trolleybuses are not an advanced technology at all, the only problem with that sub-system of urban transport that we have are vehicles, and that is the cheapest part of trolleybus transport," Banković said.
He explains that in the last twenty years several tens of millions of euros have been invested in the development of trolleybus infrastructure, i.e. in rectification stations, contact network, wires, poles and technological and technical capacities for maintenance.
He presented that the "least problem" is to acquire vehicles after investing so much money from the budget of the City of Belgrade in the trolleybus infrastructure, especially because trolleybuses have a much longer service life compared to electric buses.
"The trolleybus can work without problems for 15 years. On the other hand, the capacity of electric buses is much smaller, and on average they can accommodate 15 to 20 percent fewer passengers than trolleybuses," said Banković.
This can be seen on the already existing lines of electric buses Eko 1 and Eko 2. Due to the battery and other components, those buses have such a chassis that they can accommodate fewer passengers.
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