DUSHANBE (TCA) — The population of the Tajik capital Dushanbe will benefit from a more efficient trolleybus service following the implementation of the latest municipal transport project financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Bank said on October 2.
The EBRD is arranging a financing package of US$ 8 million for the rehabilitation of the trolleybus infrastructure in the city. It will cover the rehabilitation of existing power substations and the installation of feeder cables as well as trolleybus power transmission wires and poles. The package consists of a US$ 5.2 sovereign guaranteed loan and a US$ 2.8 million investment grant from the EBRD.
Dushanbe is the largest municipality in Tajikistan with a population of over 800,000. The state communal unitary enterprise ‘Trolleybus’ is serving 7 trolley bus routes, which annually transport over 11 million passengers. Less than half of the existing rolling stock is in use and only 28 per cent of trolleybuses offer low floor access.
The investment is addressing Dushanbe’s obsolete municipal trolleybus infrastructure and is designed to make it more sustainable. It continues the Bank’s efforts to revive trolleybus services in Dushanbe as a low carbon alternative to public transportation in the city.
To date, the EBRD has invested nearly €670 million (US$ 740 million equivalent) in various sectors of Tajikistan’s economy.
