Buses in Vilnius explained

Vilnius Buses
Founded:1945
Headquarters:52 Verkių gatvė
Locale:Vilnius, Lithuania
Service Type:Bus service
Routes:81
Ridership:275,380
Website:vilniausviesasistransportas.lt

The Vilnius bus network operates bus lines in Lithuanian capital city Vilnius. Up to 420 buses are working on working-days, 250 - on weekends.

History

On November 18, 1945, the Vilnius Bus Company, which buspark was succeeded by 17 old German and Soviet military buses. On March 13, the new regular bus line Žvėrynas - Railway Station, after all, other two lines were opened.

In 1964, the new depot of the existing bus fleet was built in Verkių street.

In 1995, the company was registered as a limited liability company Vilniaus autobusų parkas.

In 2003, company was renamed to Vilniaus autobusai.

In 2004, 90 new Volvo 7700 and Volvo 7700A buses were bought.

In 2011 Vilniaus Autobusai was joined with the trolleybus company Vilniaus Troleibusai and reorganised to Vilniaus viešasis transportas.

After the 2013 bus and trolleybus route reform, selected buses were stored at the second trolleybus depot in Viršuliškės. Also, due to lack of minibuses after the said reform, 12 Koch minibuses were purchased second-hand from Jelgava.

In 2013 and 2014, 19 Solaris Urbino 12 III CNG, 18 MAN A21 Lion's City NL273 CNG and 20 Castrosua City Versus CNG buses were bought.

From 2014 to 2017, several bus routes were handed out to private operators Transrevis, Ridvija which operated minibus routes and Meteorit Turas.

In 2017, a bus renewal period started, which lasted until the end of 2020. Many old buses were scrapped, some older buses were repainted and many new ones were purchased. These include:

The private operators Ridvija and Meteorit Turas no longer operated any routes though Transrevis was given even more of them and replaced its buses with new ones:

List of operated buses

List of currently operated buses!Units!Bus model!Built in!Used since!Notes
100Solaris Urbino 12 IV20182018
57Volvo 770020042004
50MAN A23 Lion's City G NG313 CNG20202020
50Solaris Urbino 18 IV20182018
30Volvo 7700A20042004
20Castrosua City Versus CNG20142014
19Solaris Urbino 12 III CNG20132013
18MAN A21 Lion's City NL273 CNG20132013
15MAN A21 Lion's City NL27320082017Second-hand
15MAN A23 Lion's City GL NG31320082017Second-hand
10Anadolu Isuzu Novo Citi Life20192019
9Neoplan N4421/3 Centroliner20002014Second-hand
8MAN A23 NG31320002015Second-hand
6Fiat Ducato Maxi ALTAS20112011
5Karsan Jest Electric20192019Electric
3Mercedes-Benz Sprinter NOGE20062013Second-hand, currently not operating
2Neoplan N4407 Centroliner20002011Second-hand
1Castrosua Tempus Hybrid20142014Currently not operating
List of service buses!Units!Bus model!Built in!Notes
2Citroen Jumper2011Used for transporting bus drivers, rarely carries passengers
2VanHool A5081988Purpose not known
1Daewoo Lublin 35142000Purpose not known
1DAF MB200 HORTEN1985Used for towing broken-down vehicles
1Mercedes-Benz O405N21995The bus has mounted trolleybus connectors, they're used for removing snow from trolleybuses wires[1]
1Peugeot Boxer2001Used for transporting bus drivers, rarely carries passengers
List of formerly operated buses (Note: this list doesn't contain some old buses which were scrapped a long time ago)!Bus model!Built in!Used until!Notes
Berkhof Jonckheer-G20002018Second-hand, now operated as Vilnius Airport service buses.
Carrus K204 City L19972018Second-hand
Castrosua CS4019952020Second-hand
Mercedes-Benz 1117L Ernst Auwärter Clubstar19862020Second-hand, mainly service bus, rarely carried passengers
Heuliez GX217 CNG19982015Second-hand
Heuliez GX417 CNG19992019Second-hand
Karosa B73219972018
Karosa B74119952018
Karosa B84119992018One bus (the world's last Karosa B841) was transported to the Karosa museum in Prague
MAN A11 NG26219972020Second-hand
MAN A11 NG27219942018Second-hand
MAN A11 NG31219982020Second-hand
MAN A15 NL232 CNG19972014Second-hand
MAN A18 NG232 CNG19962017Second-hand
MAN A23 NG26320002019Second-hand
MAN A23 NG313 CNG19982019Second-hand
Mercedes-Benz O40519862019Second-hand
Mercedes-Benz O405G19902020Second-hand
Mercedes-Benz O405GN19932020Second-hand
Mercedes-Benz O405GN219952016Second-hand
Mercedes-Benz O405GN2 CNG19952016Second-hand
Mercedes-Benz O405N2 CNG19982016Second-hand
Mercedes-Benz O405N2Ü CNG19962016Second-hand
Mercedes-Benz O520 Cito19992017
Mercedes-Benz O530 Citaro20032020
Neoplan N4021/3NF19942018Second-hand
Mercedes-Benz O405 Ramseier & Jenzer19872018Second-hand
Säffle 500019962018Second-hand
Säffle System 200019962018Second-hand
Karosa B83219982018Bus #302 stood in the depot until May 2022, when it was sold to a scrap metal company

[2]

Night bus

The night bus route network in Vilnius was designed in 2006 to allow a safe journey from the city centre to the most densely populated neighbourhoods.[3] At first the routes operates on all nights, however due to financial crisis, they were discontinued. At first, all tickets were valid on night buses, but starting from December 2006, night tickets were introduced, which could be purchased on the bus and no discounts were valid. In 2015 night buses were brought back on Friday to Saturday and Saturday to Sunday nights. In 2018, route 88N was introduced to transport passengers between Vilnius airport and the city center. In 2020, due to COVID-19 pandemic, all night routes were discontinued, but 88N would be brought back the Summer of the same year. Other night routes were brought back in July 2022, it was an experiment to see if the ridership was big enough to resume operation, the final day of operation was September 4th. No further announcements were made regarding the change and the only regular night bus route in Vilnius is 88N. Rest of the night routes are only brought back for special events.

Night bus routes in Vilnius!Number!Route!Notes
88NAirport–Center–Europe squareIntroduced in 2018
101NSaulėtekis–Žygimantų st.–Savanorių av.–Laisvės av.–Fabijoniškės
102NPilaitė–Žvėrynas–Žygimantų st.–Maironio st.–Bus station
103NSantariškės–Didlaukio st.–Kalvarijų st.–Pylimo st.–Bus station–Gerosios Vilties st
104NAteities st.–Žirmūnų st.–Pylimo st.–Naujininkai
105NPašilaičiai–Šeškinė–Konstitucijos av.–Žygimantų st.–Olandų st.–Pavilnys–Parko st
106NLiepkalnis–Bus station–Pylimo st.–Green bridge (Žaliasis tiltas)Only operated on 2014/07/04-05 and 2018/07/04-05

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2020-12-08. Žiemą šaltis nebeparalyžiuos troleibusų judėjimo – pristatyta pirmoji Lietuvoje kontaktinio tinklo valymo technika. 2020-12-30. lrt.lt. lt.
  2. Web site: Vilniaus viešasis transportas — Vehicle Statistics. 2020-12-30. fotobus.msk.ru.
  3. Web site: En. Elta. 2015-08-14. Vilnius reintroducing night bus service. 2022-05-17. Lithuania Tribune. en.