Trolleybuses from the future and new trams in Minsk. And then I went to Moscow on a Chinese bus!

Trolleybuses from the future and new trams in Minsk. And then I went to Moscow on a Chinese bus!

Watch the previous part of the video at the link in the description. This is an amazing Belarusian freight-passenger train! It carries both cargo and passengers. I’m Captain Obvious. This is an interesting phenomenon. You won’t find trains like this in Russia. Apparently, Belarus won’t have any trains like this anytime soon either. Belarus, don’t copy Russia’s experience with commuter trains; Russian railways have messed things up a lot. We’re going to Minsk. Thanks to anytime carsharing for being available in Belarus and to this car for taking us for a ride. Here’s a promo code for my viewers. First, we’ll grab something to eat, and then we’ll go take pictures of all these buses and trolleybuses! First, I’ll try to get to that bus stop and take a picture of the Mercedes O405 and Setra S215HD buses there. I don’t yet understand how to get there, because there’s no zebra crossing, but there is a long fence. While I’m walking, I’m looking at the Minsk buses, which are all modern, yellow, and low-floor. This is a MAZ-203 with an old front end. I want to see the most interesting bus in Minsk, the MAZ-107. It’s a 15-meter, three-axle bus. I showed you a bus like this in a video about Novgorod. This is a Hello carsharing vehicle, whose app didn’t even open for me. Thumbs down for Hello carsharing. A suburban MAZ-203 without a back door. Oh yeah, baby! What a long and beautiful MAZ-215 bus! What makes it different from other buses is that it has 5 doors. I was lucky to see a MAZ-107, a beautiful 15-meter, three-axle bus. It was a MAZ-107, a long version of the MAZ-103 bus. My friends refused to go with me to the Mercedes O405 bus (by the way, here’s my photo). My friends went to a cafe, leaving me completely alone in a strange city, what a horror! (no). Now I’ll take a photo of this MAZ-203 and go look for my friends. Before my phone runs out of battery, I need to buy a metro ticket. By the way, we spent 282 Belarusian rubles (79.52 euros) on renting a car in the previous video. Another MAZ-107 bus. A ride on a Soviet metro train 81-717 I found my friends, here they are! Ta-ram… We ate a delicious dinner at the Lida cafe, which is similar to the Russian Mumu cafe. My friends went to Valdemar’s to pick up some things, and I’ll stay on Yakub Kolasa Street to photograph the trams. There’s a good tram stop here: there’s a platform, a canopy, a small fence, and people can cross here on the zebra crossing. The crossing isn’t a zebra crossing, but a broken line. This is better than a zebra crossing, as people walk on asphalt rather than on slippery paint. At crossings, pedestrians and cyclists are separated, but the bike lane ends on sidewalks. Cyclists are encouraged to ride in the same areas as pedestrians. As you can see, in Minsk, cycling infrastructure exists only at crossings. This tram stop is designed like a Viennese one: the roadway is raised, and the tram floor is level with the road. But I think a stop with a separate platform, not used by cars, is safer. Here, tram passengers exit directly to the cars, although the speed bump slows them down. I decided to make this video a vlog: I won’t be doing a detailed overview of the transportation system, but will only show what I see. I’ll come to Minsk again to film a full-length video (someday, someday, with the help of paid subscribers, link in the description). I won’t have time to film a good review in two hours, so we’ll admire the trams and architecture on Yakub Kolas Street… Oh my god, what a Zaporozhets drove by! Did you see it?! Did you see it?! I hope at least you saw it, because I only saw the back of the car. I’m surprised that on this street, pedestrian crossings are only located at tram stops. Actually, I was mistaken; there are other crosswalks here, but they’re still not enough. For example, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering is located here. Wouldn’t a single student want to leave class, immediately cross the street, and ride a tram? A pedestrian crossing is absolutely necessary here! Put a cork in your exhaust pipe. This is a BKM-601 tram from the early 2000s; there are 113 of these trams in Minsk. Trams can last for decades (for example, Prague still has Tatra T3 cars from the 1970s). However, the problem is that these trams are outdated and not very comfortable. For example, they have a high floor. However, the local Belkomunmash plant, which builds trolleybuses and trams, has already developed new BKM-T811 cars. Several of these trams appeared in Russian cities earlier, and Minsk received them in December 2024. Here is one of them. A beautiful tram. So far, Minsk has only 20 of these trams, but apparently, in the coming years, they will replace the outdated BKM-601 trams. I wanted to photograph the tram against the backdrop of this beautiful building, built in an architectural style unknown to me (constructivism?). But cars always block the passing tram. An exhibition of Soviet multi-story buildings. And now I’m going to go to that intersection and photograph ALL the trolleybuses on Surganova Street! Several trolleybuses later. I ended up photographing two trolleybuses at the intersection, but I didn’t like the advertising banner and went elsewhere. At another location, cars and pedestrians blocked my photo; I’m fed up with everything and I’m getting ready to leave! Besides, the trolleybuses have stopped running for some reason! I decided to take the tram to the train station to see the city (how long can you ride the metro?) and also to check out the new BKM T811 tram. Be careful, the doors are closing. MAZ-107 . Next stop: Sevastopolskaya. Next stop: College. Be careful, the doors are closing. What can I say about the BKM T811 tram? The tram is modern, low-floor, stylish, and beautiful, but the seats are elevated, which isn’t very comfortable. Despite the mediocre condition of the rails, the tram travels fast and is a bit bumpy. But that’s fine with me, because high speed is important, as it allows trams to replace the metro. High speed is achieved thanks to the long distances between stops. I give the Minsk tram a 9 out of 10. I took away one point because of the small number of new trams and the poorly developed route network. New tram lines need to be built urgently, because the network currently looks like this… Why are there so few? The BKM T811 tram is awesome, exactly what a modern tram should be. I also had a case of topographic cretinism and went in the opposite direction, not to the train station. And I ended up in… Uh… Where did I end up? On the Logoisk Highway. I discovered bicycle infrastructure here, which is simply painted on the sidewalk. So, they simply narrowed the sidewalk, and now it’s inconvenient for both pedestrians and cyclists. Pedestrians and cyclists don’t care about each other. Pedestrian infrastructure should be separated from bicycle infrastructure, just like it is from car infrastructure. And not just on the Logoisk Highway, but throughout the city! And then everyone will be happy. And this is just painted nonsense so officials can report on the work they’ve done. I would ride with cars on the road, not on this oversight. Which, by the way, is what I do in Moscow. I wonder if it’s allowed to ride a bicycle on the roadway in Minsk? Share your experiences in your country in the comments. I’m heading to the tram stop to get going in the right direction, because my friends are already waiting for me. In Minsk, stops for different directions can be in different places. Look again at how fast the trams travel in Minsk. The stop is Sverdlova Street. The next stop is the train station. I’ve been to Minsk many times; there are two videos about the city on my channel. But only today did I realize how well organized the tram system is in Minsk. I was amazed that the trams here are so fast that they sometimes go faster than cars. However, trams are supposed to run like that in any city. I didn’t like that the tram stopped at every red light. Minsk needs to implement a system that automatically turns the green light on for trams so they can pass intersections without stopping. They also need a lot of new tram lines. I hope that Minsk still has all this in store. Now I need to find the Master Bus, buy Belarusian groceries, and get on my bus to Moscow. Minsk is trying to copy St. Petersburg, turning into the capital of fences! Why this fence separating the road and the tram tracks? Maybe the fence prevents cars from driving onto the tram tracks? But that’s what the curb is for. Maybe the fence protects the road from pedestrians suddenly stepping out? But to prevent pedestrians from running across the road, a zebra crossing is needed. Then train passengers will be able to access the trams and trolleybuses without going through an underpass and won’t suddenly run out onto the road, only when the traffic light turns green. Because right now the only way to get here is… Wow, that’s the brand new MAZ-303T trolleybus! Unfortunately, I won’t be riding this fancy trolleybus today… Wow, another one. Minsk trolleybuses are so delicious, so chic… What a beauty! I have no words for what an amazing design… This is simply top notch, guys! And this one needs a zebra crossing, and that’s not up for discussion! I could cross the road at the zebra crossing, but instead I’ll do… look at this: I’m a healthy person without heavy bags, without a bicycle, and it took me a minute and a half to cross the road. But how long would a lame person or a passenger with a bunch of heavy bags spend to cross this crossing? If you’re watching me from the Minsk administration, then here’s a free idea for you on how to improve the city. In the middle of this avenue, make a wide safety island. Draw zebra crossings across the avenue and through this safety island. Install traffic lights. And then people will be able to cross the road without any extra effort. No need to thank me! MAZ-303T! Not this MAZ truck, but a MAZ trolleybus… I bought Belarusian chocolate and Belarusian beer for my friend in Moscow. You can buy Belarusian chocolate “Kommunarka” in Moscow too. But when I get to Moscow, I’ll be too lazy to look for it, so I’m buying it now. There’s a great selection of chocolate here. Not all of it is sold in Russia. I’ve seen some like these. They’re hard to find in Russia. I sent Master’s Bus on the train and Waldemar home, and now I’m looking for my bus at the bus station. I quickly found my bus, which leaves at 10:45 PM. It’s a Yutong… Uh… [I’m too lazy to write the model name in text], it means nothing to me. Let’s see what the bus is like. It’s a large intercity bus. In 2024, the Moscow region carrier Mostransavto introduced such buses and they operate routes from towns in the Moscow region to Moscow. For example, from Sergeyev Posad. I’m supposed to travel on this nice bus… How long? From 10:45 PM to 8:00 AM. I’ve forgotten how to count time. I have at least 8 hours to travel. A MAZ intercity bus… I’m not going to find out the model, since I don’t feel like it anymore. (MAZ-251) Another Yutong. It’s surprising that there are so many Chinese buses in Belarus, although they have their own Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ). There’s something Chinese there… Oh, no, it’s a MAN. I’m going to load into my bus. [music] This is easier than adjusting the text size on the screen. Do you remember what other video on my channel had this music in? It’s 3:30 now and we’re standing at some gas station in the Smolensk region… Uh… What can I say at the moment? Riding long distances on this bus is terrible. There’s no room for my long legs. Although, actually… There was a speech module failure . It’s 3:30 now, we’re at a gas station in the Smolensk region, and I can say that taking the Yutong bus on long trips is a bad idea. Any train with bunk beds is definitely better than a bus. Unfortunately, when I was organizing the trip, there were no more train tickets left, so I had to go by bus. [music] My verdict on the bus: far away! You can take a bus between Moscow and the towns near Moscow, but taking it from Minsk to Moscow is definitely a bad idea. Now I’m going to go home, tidy myself up, and record the ending of this video. Look, wife! This is the main purpose of the trip to Belarus, a freight and passenger train! What do you think? It’s all about its paint… Right? No, it’s a freight and passenger train……… Ah, well then I get it!

First part of this video: https://youtu.be/luS7rx-yD6Y
After a full day of driving around Belarus, we finally arrived in Minsk, with only four hours left to explore. Naturally, I wasn’t able to record a detailed account of Minsk’s public transportation, so I decided to make this video in vlog format, simply showing you what I saw and what I found interesting.
Nevertheless, you’ll see bright yellow modern buses, new and old trams, fake bicycle infrastructure, a bit of the metro, some architecture, and the square near the train station, which greets visitors with an inconvenient underground passage and kilometers of fences.
And in the end, I had to travel from Minsk to Moscow not on a comfortable train, but on a Chinese bus…
Enjoy!

A version of this video for paid subscribers (longer, more lively, less censored, but most importantly, published just a week after the filming):
https://boosty.to/railphotoblog/posts/161897d3-47c4-496c-8cb3-8643ba5e31c9?share=post_link

Related videos:
Railways of Belarus (first part of this video): https://youtu.be/luS7rx-yD6Y
Novgorod: https://youtu.be/YPFvfb53HFQ
Transport of Minsk in 2021: https://youtu.be/hy_7HmezvqU

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Episodes:
00:00 What was in the previous video
00:52 We arrived in Minsk and watching some buses
03:10 Riding on Minsk metro
04:34 Trams and infrastructure on Yakub Kolas avenue
07:08 Old and new trams of Minsk
08:44 Photographing trolleybuses
09:09 Riding in a new tram BKM T811
11:37 What I think about the new tram
12:30 Stupid bike path
13:43 A new tram is speeding through the city
14:40 What I think about Minsk tram system
15:22 Minsk – the capital of fences
15:41 Why a zebra crossing is needed near the station
17:53 Belarusian grocery store
18:26 Buses at the bus station
19:29 Riding from Minsk to Moscow on a Chinese Yutong bus
22:04 Ending