Moscow’s 3,000th electric bus enters service

Mosgortrans (Мосгортранс), the company responsible for Moscow’s bus-based public transport, has reached another major milestone, ceremonially putting its 3,000th fully electric bus, a a brand-new KAMAZ-52222, into service on 30 July in the form. Procurement is not expected to stop in the future either: the transport operator expects to receive more than 2,300 additional new Russian-built battery-electric buses by 2030.

The electric bus fleet, outstanding even by European standards and comparable in size only to London’s, is currently shared between 12 Moscow depots, which are being continuously prepared to accommodate further vehicles. The Nagornaya and Konkovo bus garages are already capable of servicing the latest KAMAZ electric buses designed for inverted-pantograph fast charging. Smooth operation of the vehicles is supported by a total of 470 chargers at the depots and a further 59 ultra-fast charging stations at termini.

It is worth noting that every vehicle in Moscow’s electric bus fleet is a Russian product, with manufacturers specifying a planned service life of 15 years. The backbone of the fleet is made up of KAMAZ models, whose total number in the Mosgortrans fleet now exceeds 2,430. Since 2025, the manufacturer, known in our region mainly for its trucks, has been supplying members of its new-generation A5 series — in practice, this means the aforementioned KAMAZ-52222 rigid model — of which more than 540 units are already in service in the Russian capital. The 2026 model-year vehicles are prepared for inverted-pantograph fast charging; the commissioning of the 100th such example was announced in recent days, with a further 200 vehicles expected to arrive by the end of the year. According to reports, the transition to the new charging stations simplifies drivers’ work compared with the previous roof-mounted panto up solution, while the buses themselves are also easier to manufacture, as they have only special rails on their roof instead of a current collector (which also reduces their kerb weight to some extent – ed.). Alongside the KAMAZ models, more than 570 examples of the LiAZ-6274 type, which accounts for the smaller share of Moscow’s electric bus fleet, are also now running on local roads.

Mosgortrans operates just over 760 of Moscow public transport’s current total of more than 900 surface routes, carrying more than 3 million passenger journeys every day. According to the company, Moscow’s leadership regards the development of environmentally friendly transport as a priority, while modernising the fleet not only improves service standards but also facilitates the introduction of new Russian technologies. Electric buses can now be found in every district of the Russian capital, on more than 300 different routes — roughly one-third of all Moscow surface services. Incidentally, one day after putting the 3,000th battery-electric bus into service, on 31 July, Mosgortrans celebrated the 68th anniversary of its founding; to mark the occasion, a commemorative postcard and stamp series were also issued depicting an innovative KAMAZ A5 electric bus, recently treated as one of the symbols of the renewal of local bus transport.

“The number of routes served by electric buses in the capital is continuously growing. Mosgortrans is expanding its charging infrastructure and ensuring Moscow’s global leadership status in the development and use of electric transport. Since 2018, more than 1.1 billion passengers have already used electric buses. By decree of the President of Russia, Mosgortrans has received the Russian Federation’s state award ‘For Achievements in Labour’ for its outstanding performance, which was presented to the company’s team by Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin” – said Maxim Liksutov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow, at the ceremonial handover of the 3,000th electric bus.

Photos: Mosgortrans