ZiU-9, or ZIU-9 (in Russian ЗиУ-9) is the Soviet (and later Russian) trolleybus vehicle. The ZiU acronym stands for Zavod imeni Uritskogo, which means plant named after Moisei Uritsky, the Russian revolutionary. Before 1996 this acronym was also a trademark of the vehicle manufacturer. It has been changed to Trolza. The ZiU-9 was put in mass production in 1971 and it is still assembled along with other more advanced trolleybus vehicles on the Trolza (former ZiU) factory. The total number of produced ZiU-9s exceeds 42,000 vehicles. This model is the most numerous trolleybus vehicle in the world.
The '9' in the vehicle name was the initial project index of the design team. However, after launching mass production, the new trolleybus received a new index '682' from the united classification of non-rail public transport vehicles. But the number 682 is difficult to pronounce and the shorter '9' still lives in the everyday language of drivers and servicemen.
During production there were improvements oа the '9' or '682' index:
(1971) ZiU-9 - first prototype vehicles
(1972) ZiU-9B (ЗиУ-9Б) - first large-series vehicles
(1976) ZiU-9V (ЗиУ-9В) - major improvements in electric equipment.
In Hungary, Ziu-9 trolleys still operate in Debrecen (DKV) and used to operate in Budapest (BKV) and Szeged (SzKT). ZiU-9s worked or are now working in all ex-USSR countries except the Baltic states. They were also sold to Greece, Argentina and Colombia
The '9' in the vehicle name was the initial project index of the design team. However, after launching mass production, the new trolleybus received a new index '682' from the united classification of non-rail public transport vehicles. But the number 682 is difficult to pronounce and the shorter '9' still lives in the everyday language of drivers and servicemen.
During production there were improvements oа the '9' or '682' index:
(1971) ZiU-9 - first prototype vehicles
(1972) ZiU-9B (ЗиУ-9Б) - first large-series vehicles
(1976) ZiU-9V (ЗиУ-9В) - major improvements in electric equipment.
In Hungary, Ziu-9 trolleys still operate in Debrecen (DKV) and used to operate in Budapest (BKV) and Szeged (SzKT). ZiU-9s worked or are now working in all ex-USSR countries except the Baltic states. They were also sold to Greece, Argentina and Colombia