November 17th is mostly known to Slovaks as the Day of the Fight for Freedom and Democracy. For Zilina, this date is also important for something else – a regular trolleybus transport was launched here on November 17, 1994.
Plans for launching a trolleybus transport accompanied the Zilina city transport practically since its origin in 1949. However, their implementation was repeatedly delayed for several reasons and trolleybuses thus found their way to the streets of the northern-Slovak metropolis after long 45 years.
The first trolleybus line from Kvacalova St. in Zavodie via the city center and Predmestska St. to the Matica Slovenska St. at the Vlcince housing estate was put in operation on November 17, 1994. Next sections followed soon – trolleybuses to Solinky via Hliny and to Vlcince via Vysokoskolakov St. have been operating since 1996, to Solinky via Borik and to Fatranska stop at Vlcince since 1998, to Carrefour since 2001, to Hajik since 2002 and finally to Velky Diel since 2004. The length of the trolleybus network has reached 35 kilometers.
The transport is ensured by trolleybuses of the 14 Tr, 15 Tr and 15 TrM types with forty-three of them being bought from Skoda Ostrov between 1993 and 2002. They were later followed by three older 15 Tr trolleybuses, bought from Zlin. The vehicle park will urgently need to be renewed in the future; however, the renewal is still being delayed for several years.