Brno donates six trolleybuses and two trams to Kharkiv, Fikacek gifts trolleybus
The city of Brno has decided to donate a total of eight trams and trolleybuses to its twin town in Ukraine.
Two T3 trams and six 14Tr trolleybuses are to head to Kharkiv. According to the Brno City Transport Company (DPMB) CEO Mr Havranek, the vehicles are fully operational and commonly used in Ukraine.
According to the head of Gepard Express, Albert Fikacek, the vehicles will travel to the Ukrainian town of Mostyska, 12 kilometers from the Polish border and about 60 kilometers from Lviv, where they will be reloaded onto broad-gauge wagons. The trams will then have their gauge changed so that they can be used in Kharkiv. They will be transported to the city when there is no threat of destruction in the fighting; the vehicles may be temporarily deployed in Kiev.
New foundation to help Ukrainian transport companies
A new Czech foundation will help with the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine’s transport infrastructure. The fund will mainly aim to coordinate the needs of Ukrainian transport companies and to mediate offers from the Czech and European side. Its founder, Albert Fikacek, is putting the Solaris Trollino 12 trolleybus he wanted to use to travel around the world into the fund. The first negotiations have been successful in today’s symbolic handover of the trams and trolleybuses donated to Kharkiv by Brno.
Earlier, the Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) announced its plan to donate some trams and buses to Ukraine. The Ostrava public transport company (DPO) has earmarked some of its operational trams for aid to Ukraine as well.