Old trolleybuses return to Moscow for 80th anniversary parade

  • 11 years ago
The Russian trolley bus marked its 80th birthday on Saturday with a parade in Moscow.

The display of retro buses dating back to the 1950s attracted a small crowd at the square outside the Bolshoi Theatre.

Relics of a bygone era crawled along the Russian capital’s main streets as the city transportation system marked the anniversary with a procession of vintage vehicles.

Georgy, a visitor to Moscow, told euronews: “I came to see these old vehicles. When you see machinery that doesn’t work, it’s still interesting – but when it’s fully operational, it is amazing.”

Another visitor, Julia Korytsina, was looking for a specific bus: “I came to see one of the double-decker trolley buses that I used to ride, a very long time ago. I don’t see it, though. Oh well, its great fun anyway.”

One bus carried a destination sign for Dzerzhinsky Square — named after the founder of the Soviet secret police, but rechristened since the collapse of the USSR.

Another sported a shiny emblem of the famed statue of a heroic tractor driver and collective-farm woman erected in the Stalin era.

Trolley buses are still a major part of Moscow’s public transport system.