Škoda 14Tr


The Škoda 14Tr is a Czech trolleybus that was produced from 1981 to 1998. Prototypes were built in 1972 and 1974.
After the unsuccessful attempt to merge the Karosa ŠM 11 bus and the Škoda T 11 trolleybus and the cancelled Škoda 13Tr project, a new style of trolleybus was designed in the early 1970s, designated the 14Tr. Development was halted because of plans to replace trolleybuses by diesel buses, but the 1973 oil crisis led to a re-evaluation and work on the 14Tr resumed.
The Škoda 14Tr trolleybus, at least in the former USSR, became the successor to the Škoda 9Tr.

Description

The 14Tr is a two-axle trolleybus with unibody construction. Its structure consists of mutually welded elements: the frame, side walls, roof and ends. Each component is welded together from steel shapes and castings. The body is covered with a steel skin; the section below the windows is thermally insulated and soundproofed. The interior is surfaces with plastic paneling. Domestic buses have three twin-leaf folding doors on the right side, while export units only have two. Transverse passenger seats are covered in leatherette.
Electrical equipment uses the same thyristor pulse control as the 9Tr trolleybus.

Early history

One of the first modifications of 14Tr - two 14Tr0 cars arrived for testing in Kyiv in 1981. One of the cars had a RCSU, the second had a TISU which in the late 1970s was an innovation.
The difference from RCSU was that instead of a start-brake resistor, controlled by a rotating shaft with contacts, an electric motor was controlled by a thyristor control unit. Thyristor operation was controlled by a control regulator, so the trolleybus car started driving off more smoothly. The TISU made it possible to recover power - the return part of the electricity consumed by the trolleybus back to the trolleybus power network, which reduced operating cost.
Both Škoda 14Tr0 after testing in Kyiv were deployed to Crimea to be used in a long-distance trolleybus route. 001 was used in the Alushta trolleybus depot until it burned down in 1995. 002 was used in Simferopol trolleybus depot and in other depot, but only for training purposes. The prototype was decommissioned and scrapped in 2009.

Production and operation

Between 1972 and 1998, 3,263 14Tr trolleybuses were built, plus two bodies that were used for the prototype TV-14Tr trolley-train. The largest number of cars - 354 were sent to Kyiv. The capital favored Soviet-made trolleybuses and there were no large trolleybus systems in Czechoslovakia itself.

Electric Transit, Inc.

From 1994 to 2004, Electric Transit, Inc. assembled 297 14Tr-based trolleybuses for the transit operators in two cities of the United States: Dayton, Ohio and San Francisco, designated 14TrE/E2 and 14TrSF, respectively. To meet "Buy America" requirements for federally-subsidized transit vehicle purchases, incomplete "shells" were manufactured at the Škoda plant in the Czech Republic and shipped to an American facility in Hunt Valley, Maryland for initial fitting-out. Final fitting-out was performed at leased facilities in the client cities.
CountryCityModelDeliveredQtyFleet numbers
Notes and references
ArmeniaGyumri14Tr49
ArmeniaYerevan14Tr123
AzerbaijanBaku14Tr208
AzerbaijanGanja14Tr19875211-215
Bosnia and HerzegovinaSarajevo14Tr79
BulgariaSliven14Tr15
BulgariaSofia14Tr52
BulgariaVarna14Tr1985-1986, 1999, 200734002-298, 001, 172001: Delivered from Hradec Králové in 1999; 172: Delivered from Prešov in 2007
ChinaBeijing14Tr1
ChinaShenyang14Tr1
Czechoslovakia/Czech RepublicBrno14Tr1982–19951233164-3286
Czechoslovakia/Czech RepublicHradec Králové14Tr1983–19903004-30, 57-59
Czechoslovakia/Czech RepublicJihlava14Tr1983–19912420-43
Czechoslovakia/Czech RepublicMariánské Lázně14Tr1974–19942022-23, 33-5022 & 23: 1st and 2nd prototypes; 33: 7th prototype
Czechoslovakia/Czech RepublicOpava14Tr1982–19912449-72
Czechoslovakia/Czech RepublicOstrava14Tr1984–1992393123-3141, 3242-3261
Czechoslovakia/Czech RepublicPardubice14Tr1983–199448see summary
Czechoslovakia/Czech RepublicPlzeň14Tr1982–1991115340; 346-413; 415-460
Czechoslovakia/Czech RepublicOstrov 14Tr198014th prototype
Czechoslovakia/Czech RepublicOstrov TV-14Tr19851constructed from two 14Tr bodies
Czechoslovakia/Czech RepublicTeplice14Tr1982–199338101/03-05/20-53Skoda references indicate 37 units
Czechoslovakia/Czech RepublicÚstí nad Labem14Tr19885401-405
Czechoslovakia/Czech RepublicZlín-Otrokovice14Tr1982–199141see summary26 : 3rd prototype
Czechoslovakia/SlovakiaKošice14Tr72001-2007
Czechoslovakia/SlovakiaBanská Bystrica14Tr1988–198971001-10071001: 750 V prototype
Czechoslovakia/SlovakiaBratislava 14Tr1982–199111561-78, 6219-6315
Czechoslovakia/SlovakiaPrešov14Tr1982–19913945-65, 69-81, 87-91Skoda references indicate 36 units
Czechoslovakia/SlovakiaŽilina14Tr1994–199615211-225
EstoniaTallinn14Tr1982–19891210-308
GeorgiaBatumi14Tr19892100-101
GeorgiaGori14Tr1985-?338; 40-41
GeorgiaKutaisi14Tr2
GeorgiaOzurgeti14Tr1989-?224 & ?
GeorgiaPoti14Tr2018 & ?
GeorgiaRustavi14Tr181
GeorgiaSamtredia14Tr2
GeorgiaSukhumi14Tr1987297-98
GeorgiaTbilisi14Tr1983–1990226123-347316 used twice
GeorgiaZugdidi14Tr13
KazakhstanAlmaty14Tr1997121001-10/30/32Skoda references indicate 5 units
LithuaniaKaunas14Tr1982–1998125see summary
LithuaniaVilnius14Tr1982–1997228see summary
LatviaRiga14Tr1982–1997254see summarySkoda references indicate 253 units
HungarySzeged14Tr19931T-700
MoldovaChișinău14Tr011997-2004392140-2179
GermanyEberswalde14Tr198331-3
GermanyPotsdam14Tr19835401-405
GermanyWeimar14Tr1982–1983128000-8011
RussiaVologda14Tr6
UkraineChernivtsi14Tr1983–1990102217-318
UkraineDonetsk14Tr5
UkraineIvano-Frankivsk14Tr1986–198831126-156
UkraineKyiv14Tr1980–1989354see summary
UkraineLuhansk14Tr1983–199055201-245221-230 used twice
UkraineLviv14Tr1984–199091500-590
UkraineMariupol14Tr1983–1990761401-1476
UkraineRivne14Tr198915101-115
UkraineSimferopol-Alushta-Yalta14Tr1981–1990160see summary002/001: 5th & 6th prototypes Skoda references indicate 162 units
UkraineTernopil14Tr1984–198930086-115
United StatesDayton, Ohio14TrE1995–9639601–9603
United StatesDayton, Ohio14TrE21998–99549801–9854
United StatesSan Francisco14TrSF1999; 2001–042405401–5640
UzbekistanTashkent14Tr145
CountryCityModelDeliveredQtyFleet numbers
Notes and references

Summary
CityFleet numbers
Kaunas215-302, 305-326, 336-351
Kyiv101–199, 201-299, 301-398, 401-417, 1000-03/06/08/09, 2001-2034
Pardubice301/03/05/06/09/10/13-34/36-49/51/55-57/61/62
Riga1-101–1-130/1-132, 1-1100–1-1122/1-1133–1-1199, 2-200–2-233, 2-1001–2-1099
Simferopol - Alusta - Yalta001/002, 1021, 1801-25/50-66, 1900-04/50/52-56/59-61, 2000-10/50-52, 2100-06/50-55, 3900, 5850-53, 5950-53, 6000-05/50-57, 6100-06/50-56, 7850-53, 7900-03/50-53, 8000-07/50-53, 8100-05/50-56
Vilnius1400-1567, 1585-1599, 1605–2649 Note: The first digit indicates the allocation; the fleet number is the last three digits.
Zlín - Otrokovice4/12/18-21/24-26/34/35/37/43/58/68/69/145-168 Note: Number 26 used twice.

14TrM production started in 1995 and continued until 2002. A planned order for Gatchina, Russia was cancelled when construction of the trolleybus system stopped in 2005.
CountryIn serviceCities
AzerbaijanNoBaku
BulgariaYesSliven ; Ruse, Varna ; Sofia, Pazardzhik, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Haskovo
ChinaNoBeijing; Shanghai
Czech RepublicYes
HungaryYesSzeged
RussiaYesVologda; Velikiy Novgorod; Yalta and Simferopol ; cancelled order to Gatchina
UkraineYes
United StatesNoHistoric vehicles preserved in Dayton, OH and San Francisco, CA
EstoniaNoTallinn
LatviaYesRiga
MoldovaYes
LithuaniaYesVilnius