Uzbekistan, Tashkent, November 4 / Trend D. Azizov /
Uzbekistan has approved a program to reconstruct tram and trolleybus infrastructure in Tashkent.
The statement was disseminated in Uzbek press after the Cabinet of Ministers issued the degree, "Measures on the Improvement of Electric Urban Passenger Transport."
The document states that trolley buses will be used in Jizak from Jan. 1, and trolleybuses will no longer function in Namangan and Turakurgan.
Trolleybuses will also cease to operate in Tashkent in 2010.
A decision was made to purchase up to 20 modern trams for Tashkent and nine trolleybuses for the Khorezm region by 2011.
A specially created working group will determine within one month the suppliers of the electric transport to reduce the final cost of the rolling stock.
Electric transport will be purchased using loans of the Uzbek Reconstruction and Development Fund, which were allocated to Toshshahartransxizmat and Khorazm Trolleybus.
The loan will be granted for 10 years, including a three-year grace period with an interest rate of one percent per annum and 0.25 percent per annum of margin of Uzpromstroybank refinancing.
Imported electric transport, as well as spare parts and materials supplied during the warranty period of operation, are free of customs duties and VAT.
According to Toshshahartransxizmat, roughly 30 modern trams worth $5 million made by Ust-Katav Carriage Works in Russia have been bought in the last two years for Tashkent.
All trolleybuses will be replaced by Isuzu buses from the Samarkand Automobile Plant in Tashkent by late 2010.
Trolleybus lines will be dismantled, and the drivers will operate buses.
Toshshahartransxizmat operates 122 urban bus routes, 35 taxi, eight trams and four trolleybuses. There are three metro lines with 29 stations in the capital.
More than 1.5 million people use public transport in Tashkent daily.
As of 2008 the volume of passenger transport increased by 2.5 percent to 481.8 million passengers in Uzbekistan. About 360.9 million passengers were transported by urban buses, 73.4 million - metro, 41.7 million - trams and 5.9 million - trolleybuses.
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