The only rural trolleybus in Europe: Moldova's Solonceni (1992-1994)

I am sure that each of us in our younger years had our own hit dream, which repeated itself from time to time. Someone simply flew, another - cut through the native streets on the steepest the car etc. In general, it was an epic event, memorable and uplifting.


I will share my own feelings. I often dreamed that in my native railway village they launched… a trolleybus! Well, so that you understand better, its population did not exceed one and a half thousand people even during the years of the Soviet heyday.


There really was a regular train from the neighboring small town of Solyaniki bus ("Pazik" or "Gazelle"). So, in my dream it miraculously transformed into a roomy "horned vehicle". And this invariably evoked a feeling of satisfaction and pride for my small homeland.

How to Make Someone Else's Dream Come True

Of course, in real life, all this was an unfeasible project. I will say more, trolleybus service in the neighboring regional center was organized with considerable difficulty. In Brezhnev's times, its population fluctuated between 80 and 90 thousand people. And for the project to be profitable, at least 100 were needed.

Therefore, local officials decided to resort to trickery, annexing two small neighboring towns to the district center. From that moment on, they became part of the local council, the population of which artificially increased to 120 thousand. This opened the green light for the launch of the trolleybus in the late 60s.


But by the end of the 80s, the rules of the game began to change little by little. Then they looked more at the financial capabilities of the subject wishing to lay the coveted trolleys in their settlement rather than at the number of the existing population. Thus, not only rich municipalities of small settlements could think about urban electric transport, but even millionaire collective farms.



Another name for the village is considered to be Solonceni. It is located in the Rezina district of Moldova. The village council (today – commune) also included the small neighboring Tarasovo. The population at the present time is estimated at 1,15 thousand people. The emergence of the idea of ​​the odious project in the mid-80s was facilitated by:

✅ the presence of a thriving state farm on the territory of the commune
✅ ambitious plans and patriotism of the local leader
✅ noticeable remoteness of production facilities from the settlement

All these factors, having come together, led to the emergence of an adventurous project – the construction of a trolleybus line in the village. The chairman of the agricultural enterprise was the first to express the idea of ​​the possibility of launching this type of communication for transporting state farm workers to their work places and back.

Rural trolleybus is coming!

Surprisingly, the idea was supported in the capital Chisinau. Even local specialists developed a project to lay a line between the "sleeping area" of the villagers and their place of employment. But the material costs were taken on by the state farm "Solonchensky", having acquired:

✅ contact wires for the future line
✅ required number of supports
✅ measuring equipment for substation

When all the components were delivered to the village, preparatory work began. It cost the millionaire enterprise a huge sum for that time – 400 thousand Soviet rubles. The future route stretched for 2,44 km, from the residential sector of Solonchen to the fields and dairy farm. It passed by:

✅ government buildings
✅ local school
✅ village club and cemetery

A team of experienced repairmen from the Moldovan capital (technical university) was brought in to carry out the work. They were able to competently and in compliance with all safety requirements install the supports of the overhead power line along the entire length of the route. Later, they also installed equipment for the local substation that supplies power to the entire structure.

Eventually, an extended route with open end turning rings appeared on the main rural road, which was determined by the principle of the chosen electrical circuit. After that, it was time to think about where to get the only machine needed to work on the newly built line.


As a result, electric transport was rented from the Chisinau trolleybus depot No. 2. A ZiU-682V model with the side number 2049 was chosen. The bilateral agreement cost the Solonchians 50 thousand rubles annually, after which the equipment was delivered to the site.

Outlandish transport towed to the state farm garage, where it shared space with the locals by trucks. Later, it was handed over for testing to the most experienced driver of the enterprise, who had previously undergone training for the operation of electric transport. And then the following layout followed:

✅ cruising along a nearly 5-kilometer section (there and back)
✅ six flights per day
✅ completely free travel

The last factor showed that the acquired electrical equipment was more of a service rather than a passenger one. Nevertheless, each of the trolleybus routes was intended for a certain category of clients, and four stops on demand were provided on the almost 2,5-kilometer route.

Short term project

Of course, the preparatory work was not limited to training the driver, installing the substation and laying the line. Something else was required for the successful operation of the rural trolleybus. The thing is that the specificity of this transport is that with strong unevenness there is a high probability of breaking the contact of the current-carrying rods with the line. And the result will be the stop of the equipment and the manipulation of the driver with the fallen elements.


In such conditions, his work would have turned into hard labor. Therefore, the management of the state farm had to take care of laying a new ideal asphalt surface on the entire section of the trolleybus route. After that, it was possible to safely launch a machine, unusual for the countryside, with the following characteristics:

✅ length - 11,9 m
✅ number of seats - 30
✅ maximum capacity – 126 people
✅ gross weight - 16,5 tons
✅ nominal speed – 55 km/h

It seemed that there was every reason for joy and pride. After all, this project has forever gone down in history as the only rural trolleybus in Europe! There were even plans to extend the line to the neighboring city of Rezina, located 13 km from Solonceni. But it is worth recalling that the preparatory work lasted until the early 90s, and the first trip of the machine took place on May 1, 1992.

Only four months have passed since the great country fell apart. All the now independent republics plunged into the abyss of hyperinflation and widespread non-payment of earned funds. This process did not bypass tiny Moldova.

For some time, the once rich state farm was able to maintain an expensive farm by inertia, but everything indicated that this project would not last long. Even the fact that it existed for almost two years was an unequivocal merit of the former director of the state farm "Solonchensky" - the main enthusiast of the odious project. After his resignation, it became clear: the cancellation of trolleybus service is a matter of the near future.


This is what happened in early 1994. The operating company no longer had the means to pay for the much more expensive energy, nor the need for an exotic machine. The contact line was simply dismantled and sold to an interested party, and the trolleybus was "registered" for some time in the state farm machine yard, next to the company's other equipment. Later, it was returned to Chisinau, where it continued to be used for its intended purpose until 2006.