The three Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were once part of the former Soviet Union, gaining independence in 1991 and joining the E.U. in 2004. In January 2014 Latvia adopted the Euro as their currency. Riga is the capital of Latvia and is located almost in the centre of the country near to the Daugava River, which flows into the Gulf of Riga. It is an important port and industrial city with an attractive city centre in Hanseatic style. Horse-drawn trams began operating in Riga in 1882 and the system was electrified in 1901. Trolleybuses began operating in 1947 and they are interconnected with the tram system. Today the trolleybus network is one and a half times larger than the tram network and is extensively used.
Our filming took place in May 2017 and shows the current tram fleet, which consists of a good number of Tatra T3SU trams now modernised as Tatra T3A trams, some modernised Tatra T6B5 trams now T3M trams as well as modernised Tatra T6B5SU trams converted to T3MR vehicles. The latest trams are low-floor three-section Skoda 15T ForCity trams and four-section Skoda 15T1 ForCity trams. Older trams still use a trolley pole, and all are painted in a smart white and dark blue livery, whereas a number of the low-floor trams are adorned with overall advertisements. The trolleybus fleet at the time of filming consisted of 150 Skoda/Irisbus Citelis 24Tr trolleybuses of which 112 can operate with an auxiliary motor for routes 9 and 27 that travel over the Daugava Bridge without the use of wires. There is also a large fleet of Solaris Trollino 18 trolleybuses. The trolleybuses also carry the same dark blue and white livery as the trams. Both trams and trolleybuses are operated by ‘Rigas satiksme’ and proudly carry the city’s coat of arms on their front panels.
Our filming begins in the city centre near to the railway and coach station where we see both the trams and trolleybuses in action. Locations include Sateklas iela, Gogo?a iela, Pr?gas iela, Centr?ltirgus, Maskavas iela, 13. janv?ra iela, Aspazijas bulv?ris and Krišj??a Barona iela. In order to give you a good view of the city we take a number of tram and trolleybus rides and film at each location. Rides include trolleybus 19563 on route 13 to Bikernieku iela, tram 58066 on line 6 to Brivibas iela where we see tram depot number 5. Tram 58022 on line 6 takes us back to the city centre. We witness a trolleybus changing from its auxiliary motor to wires at Uzvaras bulbaris. Then a ride on tram 30743+30754 to the line 5 terminus at I??uciems. A return ride on line 5 onboard tram 30569+30591 takes us to Marti?a iela. Further tram rides are taken on line 7 on different Tatra T3MR trams and we also get a brief look at tram depot number 4. Our filming concludes at Gaizi?a iela, the small trolleybus station in the city centre. This programme concludes with some photographs taken by Steve Kelly in Riga during visits he made in 2004, 2007 & 2008. We hope that you enjoy your visit with us!
Produced by - Independent Transport Videos
Running time - 82 minutes (approx)
Format - 16:9 Widescreen
DVD only
Release date - December 2017
Brighton & Hove Buses 2017
It is some six years since the independent transport videos cameras visited the Sussex coastal resort of Brighton to record the bus scene. A good deal has changed making the contemporary bus scene just as enjoyable in 2017 as it was in 2011. In 2017 the bus services are still chiefly in the hands of the Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company which is part of the GoAhead group. We also see buses from Stagecoach, Compass Bus, The Big Lemon and Metrobus, as each company operate services into and out of the city. This programme covers two visits our cameras made to the city, the first in April and the second in July 2017. We begin filming at Old Steine where we see the spectacular lime green and mid-blue liveried, Wrightbus StreetDeck double-deckers operating the frequent route 12 group of services that run along the coast connecting Brighton with Eastbourne. We continue filming around Old Steine and view most types of the contemporary Brighton & Hove fleet as well as the Enviro400 double-deckers of Stagecoach on the frequent 700 Coastliner service that links Brighton with Portsmouth to the west. Our cameras then move to Castle Square, North Street and the busy Churchill Square. Look out for the new low-height Wrightbus StreetDeck double-deckers on service 1 and the silver liveried Wrightbus StreetDeck demonstrator, numbered 293 (SN64 CTU). We also see the Volvo B9TL Wrightbus Gemini 2 double-deckers in the smart purple/maroon and buff livery that operate on the Regency route linking Tunbridge Wells with the city. Filming continues along Queens Road and York Place to the Railway Station to catch up with the action at this busy interchange. St George’s Place, Gloucester Place and Grand Parade are our next locations where we view the buses as they go about their business. Further filming along Pavilion Parade and Old Steine takes us to Marine Parade where we catch up with the action here. We see the Coasters running alongside the red and cream liveried buses in the Brighton & Hove fleet. Our April visit concludes with filming on Eastern Road and Edward Street as well as catching up with the evening rush at Old Steine, North Street and Churchill Square. Look out for the former GHA Coaches Volvo B7RLE, a Wrightbus Eclipse Urban, registered BA58 GHA now with Compass Bus. Our cameras return to the city on a hot day in July 2017. Again our locations are similar to the April visit taking in Old Steine, Castle Square, North Street, the Railway Station area and Churchill Square. Now it is time to sample the Coaster service! We board 940 (BX15 ONS) a Wrightbus StreetDeck with a H81F body for a ride along the coast to Seaford Library on service 12X. We pass a number of similar vehicles as they head towards Brighton. At Seaford we film the action on Sutton Park Road, Station Approach and Clinton Place. Our cameras then return to Brighton on board 925 (BX15 OMY) arriving at Marine Parade. Our final scenes are at Old Steine where we also see the solar powered Optare Solo of the Big Lemon company, YK55 ENM, together with buses from Stagecoach and of course Brighton & Hove buses. We hope you enjoy your visit.
