Prague will welcome a new fleet of trolleybuses starting the following year. The Prague Transport Company (DPP) is optimistic that the manufacturer will deliver the commissioned fifteen trolley buses SOR TNS 18 by the end of this year. The trolley buses were supposed to be on the roads a few months ago, but a shortage of electronic components and chips due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine caused a delay in the delivery.
The trolley bus line 58 between Palmovka, Čakovice, and Miškovice is expected to be fully operational by the start of the following year. It is going to replace the current bus line 140. A total of fifteen articulated battery trolley buses, SOR TNS 18, worth 220.4 million crowns, were commissioned by the transport company at the start of last year, and the manufacturer, SOR Libchavy, had 14 months to deliver the vehicles.
“We firmly believe that the manufacturer will manage to complete all the processes they need to do and deliver all 15 vehicles to us by the end of this year so that we can accept and take them over,” said Daniel Šabík, head of the DPP communication department.
Three trolley buses are already on the route of the future line 58 between Palmovka, Čakovice, and Miškovice as part of the so-called homologation. This process is necessary to test a new product to launch it into the entire operation and meet all safety and technical standards arising from Czech laws.
The manufacturer also guarantees the delivery of trolleybuses by the end of this year, the company SOR Libchavy. “The vast majority of trolleybuses are already finished, and the completion of a few last vehicles is underway. Some of the finished vehicles are already at the customer’s, where the necessary tests are being carried out. The SOR company expects the complete delivery of trolleybuses by the end of this year,” said Jan Nápravník, spokesperson.