When was the last time a trolleybus drove through Košice (Košice)? Soon this question will become rhetorical: by the end of September, the city expects 11 new 18-meter articulated electric buses with pantographs, which will visually resemble trolleybuses, reports Košicak.sk. For those living in Sídlisko KVP or Myslava, these are new air-conditioned vehicles replacing the outdated fleet and reducing emissions in the city air.
What exactly the city is buying
The local carrier DPMK (Dopravný podnik mesta Košice, city transport company) ordered from the Czech manufacturer SOR Libchavy 11 articulated electric buses model SOR NS 18 Electric with electric equipment from Škoda Electric. One bus costs €812,500 without VAT, for all eleven — about €11 million with VAT.
The vehicles are low-floor, fully air-conditioned, with automatic passenger counting and video surveillance cameras. Passenger capacity is 110 people, with 45 seats. If you regularly use city and intercity transport in Košice (Košice), you will notice the difference immediately: quiet, cool in summer, and no diesel smell.
How they will be charged and where they will run
The buses are charged via pantograph — a technology familiar to Košice (Košice) residents from trolleybuses. Upon arriving at the final stop, the bus automatically connects to the charging station and replenishes the charge during the break for the next round. So the vehicle can operate on the route all day without returning to the depot. The idea was borrowed from Prague, where 12-meter electric buses are charged this way. But 18-meter buses with pantographs do not run anywhere yet — neither in Slovakia nor in the Czech Republic.
The city is currently completing the construction of two charging locations:
- Final stop KVP Kláštor (Jána Pavla II street) — 8 points for fast charging during breaks;
- Depot on Hornádska street — 12 points for slow night charging.
The company ELZA is responsible for building the infrastructure; it costs over €4.2 million, writes Bleskovky.sk.
The new electric buses will run on former trolleybus routes:
- route No. 71: Lingov – KVP Kláštor;
- route No. 72: Lingov – Myslava, Grunt;
- later, according to the mayor, also line No. 19.
“We can calmly say that ‘trolleybuses’ — but of a modern type — will return to Košice (Košice),” said the city mayor Jaroslav Polaček.
How much it costs and who pays
The first phase of the project “Public passenger transport with zero emissions in the city of Košice (Košice)” costs almost €13.9 million. The money came from European funds through the “Slovakia” Program and the Just Transition Fund, so it is not paid by the local budget but by Brussels.
The project is part of a larger modernization of Košice’s (Košice) MHD (public transport). At the same time, trams are being updated (the first of nine modernized electric trams is already on its way from the Czech Republic), card payment and automatic passenger counting are being introduced.
When to expect them on the streets
The buses are already manufactured — DPMK representatives even saw the first one live. But before going on the line, the vehicles must pass homologation, as this is the first generation of this type. “That is why we do not have the electric bus yet — it is made, we saw it, but it must pass homologation,” explained the authorized general director of DPMK Roman Danko.
According to the schedule, the supplier has up to 12 months for delivery, and up to 15 months for building the charging infrastructure. The buses are expected to arrive by the end of September 2026. If everything goes according to plan, residents of KVP and Myslava will see “new generation trolleybuses” at their stops this fall.
