Trams and trolleybuses stand for hours due to power outages: «There is no way to organize a clear schedule»

"Mykolaiv Electrotrans» transport stands for hours waiting to be connected to electricity, photo: NikVesti

Trams and trolleybuses may not work for hours in Mykolaiv due to the lack of electricity supply when blackout schedules are introduced.

Yurii Smetana, the head of the utility company «Mykolaivelectrotrans» told about this in a comment to the correspondent of NikVesti.

Currently, the company has no opportunity to organize traffic during the hours when there is light, as was the case last year during long-term outages, says Yurii Smetana. In addition, the situation is further complicated by the fact that KP substations are located in different parts of Mykolaiv, for which different power outage schedules apply.

«In connection with scheduled and emergency power outages in Mykolaiv, the entire electric transport infrastructure is also subject to blackouts. Of course, this affects the operation of the company and the convenience of our passengers. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to organize shutdowns according to a schedule that is understandable for the citizens, as was the case last year. At that time, all electric transport did not work at certain hours, and people knew in advance what hours they should not expect to travel by tram or trolleybus. To date, unfortunately, we have not been confirmed to be able to work according to such schedules. Now we have to get out of the existing conditions, which are complicated by the fact that our traction substations are located in different parts of the city and are subject to blackouts at different time intervals. We have one route that can operate from three substations, therefore, in any case, one of them falls under disconnection and there is no possibility to continue the movement along the full route,» says Yurii Smetana.

Dispatchers of the enterprise have to change the route in manual mode in the event of an unplanned blackout, transferring the transport to a route where there is power. In KP, Mykolaiv residents are asked to focus on traffic tracking through the application in online map mode.

«We understand that the whole situation with outages creates inconvenience for passengers, but we inform people about traffic changes through informants on rolling stock units, through our hotline, which you can always contact. We also advise you to use applications for tracking the movement of electric vehicles online — the map shows vehicles that cannot continue moving due to a power outage,» the director of the KP addressed the citizens.

Why are the lights turned off again in Mykolaiv Oblast?

As you know, power outages across Ukraine have returned since mid-May. The main reason for this is the resumption of large-scale shelling of the energy sector by the Russians, which destroyed 9.2 GW of Ukrainian generation over the past three months.

The government explained that the outages will last until August-September. And in winter, a deficit in the energy system is predicted even at high temperatures.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the Ministry of Energy and «Ukrenergo» should develop a resolution that would regulate «fair schedules of turning off the lights for consumers.»

In Mykolaiv and the region, outages occur according to the queues to which the region is divided according to the «Mykolaivoblenergo» schedule — there are 6 of them in total. The list of addresses by queues can be viewed at the link.

Also, «Mykolaivoblenergo» presented a search system that should help consumers more easily navigate schedules and power outages.

It is also worth noting that almost all this time the lights were turned off according to hourly schedules for 2 hours in a row, but yesterday, June 4, special emergency shutdown schedules were introduced in Mykolaiv and the region. Consumers were without light for 5-6 hours.