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In March 2025, TransLink first announced its future trolley bus fleet — replacing all 262 aging trolley bus vehicles that have been in service since the 2000s — will be manufactured in Europe by Solaris, which produces a trolley bus line called “Trollino.”

Metro Vancouver’s public transit authority awarded the first contract of 107 new trolley buses to Solaris, with the very first vehicle — a test 40-foot, three-door trolley bus — expected to arrive later this year.

Upon arrival, this initial vehicle will undergo extensive local testing before the remainder of the batch from this order is delivered. Currently, the vehicle — distinguished by its variation of TransLink’s exterior livery colours of blue, yellow, and black — is located at a Polish facility.

TransLink intends to order an additional 155 trolley buses from Solaris at a later date, which are expected to start arriving in 2028 and replace the full fleet of 262 trolley buses, including new 60-foot-long articulated trolley buses.

With an additional exit door, this could mean considerable differences in the interior seating layout of the buses.

Currently on the TransLink fleet, buses with three doors are only found on the 60-foot-long articulated buses.

TransLink’s spokesperson added that a forthcoming separate test vehicle for the 60-foot-long articulated trolley bus will have four doors, but the design for this longer articulated vehicle has yet to be finalized.

Based on the details on the company’s website, Solaris generally produces trolley buses with three doors for the 40-foot-long model and four doors for the 60-foot-long articulated model.

Poland-based Marcin Gromadzki of Public Transport Consulting notes that Solaris’ vehicles for TransLink have been adapted to North American requirements, including stronger air conditioning than what is typically provided for the Trollino model, Canadian-compliant safety systems, spaces for strollers and bicycles, and TransLink’s passenger information and monitoring systems.

TransLink’s existing trolley buses do not have air conditioning. Their replacements will be among the last vehicles in the conventional bus fleet to receive this equipment to improve passenger comfort during warm weather conditions. Air conditioning has been a standard requirement for all new buses ordered by the public transit authority since 2012.

The consultancy firm states Solaris was selected over Canadian bus manufacturing giant New Flyer largely due to lower cost, faster delivery timelines, a purpose-built trolley bus design, and the maturity of its in-motion battery charging technology, which allows the trolley buses to operate off-wire for about 20 kilometres.

This off-wire capability will provide greater operational flexibility for detours and maintenance compared with the current fleet, which relies much more heavily on overhead wires.

TransLink previously indicated that Solaris was selected because it was best able to meet the replacement timeline for the aging trolley bus fleet, was cost-effective, and had a track record of producing high-quality buses. As previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized in Summer 2023, prior to the start of the procurement process, TransLink also conducted a limited-time local test of Solaris’ 40-foot-long, three-door Trollino trolley bus on Vancouver’s extensive trolley bus infrastructure.

Although New Flyer manufactures trolley buses and supplied TransLink’s current fleet of trolley buses and many of its other buses, the company’s production backlog is well known within the bus manufacturing industry. A November 2024 report indicated that New Flyer had a backlog worth about $12 billion — equivalent to roughly 14,000 buses — with 42 per cent consisting of zero-emission vehicles. Canada’s other major bus manufacturer, Nova Bus, owned by Volvo, does not produce trolley buses.

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