'It's a Disgrace': Passengers Blacklist Yekaterinburg Transport Routes
It«s not easy to even board some buses
Public transport in Yekaterinburg is the city«s pain point and its weakest link. Trams that are half a century old, leaky trolleybuses falling apart on the go, and buses that are often impossible to board — this is the picture city residents have seen for many years.
Alina took these photos on bus No. 86
Recently, the city transport fleet has been updated. Trolleybuses with autonomous running, new three-section trams, «Lyvyata» (Lion Cubs), and even a five-section giant «Kastor» have appeared. But the overall picture is still far from ideal.
City residents are ashamed of such a sight
We asked E1.RU readers which routes currently have the most issues: where is it crowded, where is it dirty, which areas can«t be reached from the center in the evening? We received about 500 responses! After studying them all, we compiled an anti-rating of buses, trams, and trolleybuses in Yekaterinburg. We publish it below.
Buses
Route 52 — large intervals (up to 40–50 minutes off-peak), small and overcrowded buses, unstable service.
Route 56 — dirty and old buses, severe overcrowding, waits of up to 40–50 minutes, schedule not adhered to.
Route 62 — runs rarely, some trips were removed from usual stops, forcing passengers to crowd onto other routes.
Route 70 — small buses, run rarely, always packed full, effectively the only transport on the route after the change in trolleybus No. 37«s route.
Route 74 — minibuses on a very popular route, impossible to board during peak hours.
Route 76 — complaints about infrequent service and non-compliance with the schedule (while some residents think that too large empty buses are assigned to it).
Route 82 — constant overcrowding in both directions, especially from Vtuzgorodok and Sortirovka.
Route 83 — old and cramped buses, high load, lack of large capacity vehicles.
Trams
Routes 3 and 21 (circular) — extremely low number of cars (2–5 for the entire route), intervals over an hour, routes called «ghosts».
Routes 12 and 23 — run in «bunches»: first two trams with a couple of minutes interval, then a wait of up to 40–45 minutes; at the same time, single cars are overcrowded.
Route 13 — old cold trams, heavy load, people stand crowded along the entire route length.
Route 18 — large intervals (20–30 minutes), especially on VIZ when traveling to the center.
Trolleybuses
Route 32 — old cold trolleybuses, riding in winter is «like on an ice floe», while the route is long and in demand.
Route 37 — redirected from Akademitcheskaya to Bibliotechnaya, effectively cutting off direct connection with the Southwest district.
All complaints from city residents have been forwarded to the Yekaterinburg administration, where they promised to study the problem and take measures. Some carriers have already been fined multiple times for violations. For example, companies «Pegas» (routes No. 40, 70, 72, 78, 98), «Dekar-Bas» (No. 45, 054, 63, 79, 86), and «UralTrade» (043, 46, 51, 52, 55) last year were fined from 300 to 500 thousand rubles (approximately $3,000 to $5,000 at current rates) for the absence of buses on the line.
Starting February 1, 2025, the city introduced a new system for working with carriers — the so-called gross model. Now enterprises receive money not for the number of passengers carried, but per kilometer traveled. At the same time, they are required to strictly adhere to the schedule.
We discussed the problems and prospects of public transport in Yekaterinburg in a live broadcast with Vice Mayor Rustam Galiyev. Watch the full recording of the broadcast.
