The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is arranging a financing package of 8 million U.S. dollars for the rehabilitation of the trolleybus infrastructure in Dushanbe.
The package, consisting of a US$ 5.2 sovereign guaranteed loan and a US$ 2.8 million investment grant from the EBRD, will cover the rehabilitation of existing power substations and the installation of feeder cables as well as trolleybus power transmission wires and poles.
Dushanbe is the largest municipality in Tajikistan with a population of over 800,000. The state communal unitary enterprise ‘Trolleybus’ is serving 7 trolleybus routes, which annually transport over 11 million passengers. Less than half of the existing rolling stock is in use and only 28 percent of trolleybuses offer low floor access.
The EBRD notes that the population of the Tajik capital will benefit from a more efficient trolleybus service following the implementation of the latest municipal transport project financed by the EBRD.
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.
