Bucharest Lands €87.4 Million to Electrify Its Bus and Trolley Fleet

Bucharest’s public transport network is set for a substantial upgrade after the city unlocked €87.44 million in funding from the Modernisation Fund. Mayor Ciprian Ciucu confirmed that the money will go toward refreshing the fleet, with 40 battery-electric buses and 45 new trolleybuses on the shopping list.

The investment targets the Romanian capital’s surface transit, where aging vehicles have long been a source of complaints from riders and a drag on service reliability. Trolleybuses, which draw power from overhead wires, remain a core part of the network’s identity in Bucharest, and pairing them with battery-electric buses suggests the city is hedging its bets rather than betting everything on one technology.

That dual approach is far from unusual in Central and Eastern Europe. Cities that already operate trolleybus infrastructure often find it cheaper to modernise existing lines than to rip out catenary systems and install depot chargers everywhere. Battery buses, meanwhile, can fill the gaps on routes where overhead wiring was never practical.

The Modernisation Fund itself is a European Union instrument designed to help lower-income member states pay for energy transition projects, including cleaner transport. For Bucharest, that means the procurement can move forward without leaning entirely on local budgets, a significant factor given the scale of the order.

What comes next is the tendering process. Delivery timetables, supplier selection and depot charging arrangements have yet to be detailed, but the funding decision marks a clear signal that the city intends to keep pushing its fleet away from diesel.

Whether 85 new vehicles is enough to meaningfully shift the experience for daily commuters remains an open question, but it is a tangible step rather than a pledge, and that distinction matters for a network of Bucharest’s size.