Irkutsk Tram Track Cleaning Slammed Over Tram Breakdowns
A transport blogger in Irkutsk reports that poor snow clearing on tram tracks is leading to frequent tram breakdowns, with only 13 to 18 of 35 trams currently in service.
Jan 26, 2026 0
Snow accumulation on Irkutsk«s tram tracks is causing mechanical failures and reducing the number of operational vehicles.
Source:
Nikita Skachkov, author of the «Irkutsk Transport» blog, criticized the cleaning of tram tracks in Irkutsk. Because snow is poorly cleared, trams are breaking down. In his public page, he described how this happens.
Video footage shows trams laboring to move along tracks that have not been adequately cleared of snow.
Источник:
«Due to this snow ridge along the rails, there is always fine snow powder and thin snow plates in the rail grooves. These plates, saturated with vehicle emissions (almost like oil), cause the trams to slip everywhere. No amount of sand can help cover 20 kilometers of such tracks,» wrote Nikita Skachkov.
Since the trams constantly slip, their wheel pairs and cardan shafts fail, but first and foremost — the traction electric motors.
«Over the past week, according to our data, up to 20 motors have been disabled. Accordingly, about 15–20 cars have gone in for repair, which can be quite lengthy,» added the blog author, emphasizing that out of 35 trams, only 13 to 18 are operating on the line.
In cities where tram tracks are separated from the main road, there are almost no cleaning problems, as special snow-clearing trams handle the track cleaning themselves. But in Irkutsk, the situation is different, so other measures are needed. In particular, it is necessary to «urgently go and break up the snow.»
«Technical difficulties are solved simply — you take a grader and a crowd of people. The crowd of people with crowbars and shovels, as well as the grader, break up the compacted snow. Then this snow needs to be removed,» Skachkov is sure.
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