No Smoke in the Moscow Streets
Page 30
Page 31
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Services in Russian Capital Being Rapidly Converted to Trolleybuses to Reduce Fumes and Incur Fewer Winter Breakdowns : Low Fares Charged By John F. Moon,
A.M.I.R.T.E.
ALTHOUGH some motorbus undertakings in different parts of the world (excluding Great Britain) are engaged in converting their services to trolleybus operation, few can be doing so for the prime purpose of reducing contamination caused by internalcombustion-engine fumes. This, however, is one of the principal motives behind such a change by Moscow City
Transport. .
No less a person than Mr. Krushchev himself is behind the scheme, as he fsowns upon fumes of any sort and is trying to make Moscow one of the cleanest and most beautiful cities in the world. Other reasons for the turn-over to trolleybuses are that electric power is cheap and trolleybuses have been found to be far less trouble than motorbuses in severe winter weather.
Apart from certain experimental models, every motorbus still operated in Moscow has a petrol engine, oiLengines being used only in coaches operating intercity services. It has always• been thought in Moscow that the unpleasant fumes generated by badly kept compression-ignition engines burning inferior grades of fuel are to be avoided at all costs, and apparently no consideration has been given to the theory that petrol-engine fumes are more injurious to health. '
Haste is being made to operate the majority of the city services with trolleybuses and City Transport engineers to whom I spoke were distressed to think that London, for example, was ridding itself of its last remaining electric passenger road vehicles.
Operating conditions in Moscow ate, however, somewhat different from those in London. There is plenty of room in the well-planned wide streets for trolleybuses to manceuvre, and extensive road repairs can be carried out without the need to susperid or divert •trolleybuses. Silence is another advantage of the trolleybus in a city with many tall buildings.• •
As a result of the record-breaking London-Moscow run made in a ThamesDuple coach (The Commercial Motor, October 16) I was afforded the opportunity to obtain some personal impressions of Moscow City Transport. Intourist, the Russian touring organization, had arranged a visit to Bus Depot No. 1, where 800 buses for services covering the south-west section of the city are housed.
Moscow city fleet at present stands at 3,000 motorbuses, more than 1,500 trolleybuses and over 2,000 trams. There are seven depots in Moscow city, employing a total staff of some 50,000, and there were 2,300 at the No. 1 depot.
The average number of passengers carried each year by the three types of road vehicle is in the region of 2,500m. This figure does not include the traffic carried by the underground railway. There are more than 125 motorbus routes. 100 tram routes and 50 trolleybus routes. Each motorbus averages 185 miles per day, each trolleybus 155 miles and each tram about 150 miles. Services begin at 5.30 a.m. and finish at 1 a.m.
A flat fare system is employed throughout the city, the cheapest method of transport being the tram. A journey of any distance costs only 30 kopeks (about 244. at the tourist rate of exchange), whilst trolleybus and motorbus fares cost 40 kopeks (31d.) and 45 kopeks (4d.) respectively. The flat' fare on the underground railway is 50 kopeks (41d.).
A Moscow motorbus driver is one of the more highly paid workers in the city, his basic monthly wage being 1,800 roubles (about £64 at the tourist rate of exchange). For this, he has to work 177 hours a month, an average week consisting of seven hours a day for six days. There are many women tram and trolleybus drivers in Moscow, as in other Russian cities, and they receive the same wage as male drivers.
Conductors receive about half the monthly wage of drivers, and uniforms are supplied free to both categories of worker. There is a good pension scheme, a driver retiring at 60 on about two-thirds of his monthly wage. Workers are not, however, compelled to retire at 60.
This scheme applies generally to all workers throughout the U.S.S.R. Normally, after 25 years' service, a pension of half the normal salary is given. A shorter period of service warrants a reduced pension.
Only two types of motorbus are used in Moscow, although first appearances would suggest that there were many more than this, because of the wide variety of colours of their livery. The colours are apparently chosen to brighten up the city and bear no relationship to either routes or garages.
The two types of bus employed are both of Zil manufacture and are 32-seaters. Larger models arc rated for 18 standing passengers and the others. which are only slightly smaller, for 13. In fact, many more standing passengers are carried and at times it is difficult to shut the doors.
The buses are powered by 109 b.h.p, petrol engines mounted conventionally at the front. They are of integral construction, have air-operated S-cam leading-and-trailing-shoe brakes (actuated through Russian copies of Bendix-Westinghouse slack adjusters), and conventional leaf-spring suspension with dampers at both axles. Disc transmission brakes are mounted on the propeller-shaft centre bearings. Standard tyres are 11.00-20 in.
Average fleet availability throughout the system is 90 per cent. Peak periods are longer than in Britain because staggering of hours is practised widely throughout the city. All the Moscow shops stay open until 8 p.m. to give workers time to shop on their way home.
Shop prices are high (a man's suit averages about £50 and a stylish pair ef woman's shoes about £15), but there are plenty of window-shoppers and buses are filled until well after 8 p.m.
All buses are washed daily in automatic washing plants and, every 625 miles, are generally checked and greased. At 6,000-mile intervals, vehicles are thoroughly inspected, engines and running units arc attended to, and paintwork is touched up.
These tasks are carried out at the depots, heavier repairs being dealt with at a central repair depot in Moscow and operating on the same principle as London Transport's Aldenham works. Major overhauls are carried out, on the average, at 125,000-mile intervals.
Generally, complete overhauls are repeated until the buses are completely out-dated, after which they are sent out into the country for use on collective farms. Despite the change-over to trolleybuses, nearly 1,000 new motorbuses have been put into operation in Moscow this year.
Average Consumption 8.2 m.p.g.
The average fuel-consumption rate of a motorbus in prime condition was stated to be 8.2 m.p,g. So far as the economics of the undertaking are concerned, I was told that the transport services are making a small profit for the State. '
My visit coincided with lunch hour, during which the workers were being shown . a " cultural " film. One of the repair sections was controlled by a woman, qualified women engineers being common in Russia. The repair shops appeared to be equipped with adequate machines, albeit somewhat dated. The running shed was rather gloomy and illequipped by British standards. The uneven floor was covered with pools of water and the full-length pit was completely unguarded.
Some oil-eneined double-deckers have been imported from East Germany for experimental purposes, obviously to assess their ability to cope with crush loads in preference to the somewhat diminutive single-deckers already in use. An articulated trolleybus is in service for the same reason.
The latest trolleybuses to be placed in service in Moscow have been built by Svarz and are modern in appearance, having particularly deep windows and windscreen, and large wrap-round rear windows. Like the others operating in Moscow, they are appreciably longer than the motorbuses at present in use. Large batteries allow them to travel fair distances without making use of the overhead wires.