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. Tallinn is the capital of Estonia and is situated on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, just an 82km sea crossing from Helsinki, Finland. It has a well-preserved walled old town with a charming atmosphere, but the trams and trolleybuses operate outside of this area. Tallinn’s horse-drawn tramway opened in 1888 and in 1915 steam trams were introduced. Electrification of the network began in 1925. Trolleybuses began operating in 1965.
Our filming took place in May 2017 and shows the current tram fleet consisting of Tatra KT4 vehicles manufactured by ?KD, including a number that have been acquired second hand from the east German cities of Cottbus, Frankfurt (Oder), Gera and Erfurt. There are also some Tatra KT6 variants, but we see only one Tatra KT6 tram in service - 98, still in the older blue livery. These trams have had a low-floor section added. The newest trams are CAF Urbos AXL vehicles that operate on Line 4.
The trolleybus fleet at the time of filming consists of modern Solaris Trollino buses, both rigid (Type T12, T12B and T12AC) and articulated (Type T18 and T18AC). The trolleybuses wear a white and blue livery whereas the trams are in a white and dark orange colour scheme. Hybrid buses are also being introduced and they are in a white and turquoise livery, with normal diesel buses wearing a green and white livery. They are all operated by the city municipality and are known as Tallinna Linnatranspordi AS with the fleet logo of ‘tlt’.
Our filming begins at the busy junction of Viru väljak and Mere puiestee. We then continue along to Narva maantee and Maneeži filming as we go. Here we board tram 167, a Tatra KT4 for a ride on line 2 to Balti jaam. Due to major works, both line 1 & 2 now have a temporary terminus here, so we see the trams turning on the temporary loop line. Balti jaam also has a trolleybus terminus, so we now board trolleybus 333, a Solaris T12 Trollino, and ride on route 5 to Mustamäe, a busy interchange. Here we also see the new Volvo hybrid buses passing through. We then ride trolleybus 443, an articulated T18 Solaris Trollino to Taksopark on route 3. From here we ride on trolleybus 439, also on route 3 to Vabaduse väljak, a busy crossing where we see the trolleybuses crossing the tramlines. A ride on tram 516, a CAF Urbos AXL on line 4 takes us to Tartu maantee for further filming before joining Tatra KT4, tram 147 as we travel to the terminus of line 2 at Suur-Paala. A further tram ride on tram 178 takes us back to the city centre at Viru väljak and then on CAF tram 511 to the terminus of line 3 & 4 in the suburb of Tondi. Tram 179, a Tatra KT4 then takes us to L. Koidula, thus giving you a good tour of this very nice Baltic States tram and trolleybus system. Our filming concludes in the early evening as we see the trolleybuses and trams in action at Balti jaam, Mere puiestee and Estonia puiestee.
This programme concludes with some photographs taken by Steve Kelly in Tallinn during a visit he made in 2004. Enjoy!
Produced by - Independent Transport Videos
Running time - 65 minutes (approx)
Format - 16:9 Widescreen
DVD only
Release date - November 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.
