Each city or town has its own legends. Scary, kind, romantic … Bishkek also has its own urban stories. Probably, the time has already passed when young people gathered around the fire at night to scare each other with horror stories. Today these legends live more and more on the Internet.
Transport is a fairly large offshoot in horror stories and horror films. In ancient times, these were carts and carriages, later ghost trains appeared. Now this niche is occupied by trams and metro. In Bishkek, the transport infrastructure cannot boast of its wealth and diversity, so the townspeople have to be content with minibuses and trolleybuses. But even with this meager choice, Bishkek has its own history. To be more precise, the legend dates back to the Soviet Frunze.
The construction of the trolleybus park in Frunze began back in 1946, and by the beginning of the 90s the total length of the tracks exceeded 230 kilometers. Once the Bishkek trolleybus administration had 18 routes, now only 9 of them remain. Trolleybuses regularly carried workers to factories, and students to schools and universities on schedule. The peak of the trolleybus era for Frunze and Bishkek was the period from the early 80s to the 90s, when the city was served by all 18 routes. It was during this period that the legend about the black trolleybus appeared.
It is not known for certain where this story originates, but there are at least two versions.
The first option says that the appearance of a black trolleybus is due to the fact that one day Satan, having assumed the form of a man, decided to ride on public transport and, being robbed, crumpled, cursed and insulted, got off at the nearest stop. He cursed the trolleybus and swore an oath never to use this transport again and not to deal with the conductors.
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The second version says that one foggy winter evening, a trolleybus with few passengers, a conductor and a driver disappeared without a trace and inexplicably. But since then, a ghost trolleybus has appeared on the streets of the city and is looking for another victim.
It may look funny, but nevertheless it is one of the most popular and widespread horror stories about Bishkek on the Internet. In addition, this story could be repeatedly heard from the mouths of the old residents of the city, especially in the 90s.
According to legend, a black trolleybus silently glides along the roads and can only be met at night. As his victims, he chooses passengers who disrespect this type of transport, bad conductors, drivers, but ordinary people also get it from time to time.
How to meet a black trolleybus?
They say that a trolleybus arrives only when a person is alone, and the street is quiet and deserted. A black trolleybus turns around a corner, whether there is a line there or not. The narrators of the legend say that at the moment the mysterious transport appears, the victim feels weak, the desire to go somewhere disappears, and sometimes there is a feeling that some unknown force is holding people in place. The street and the city itself are changing at this moment, and a person seems to see the city from the other side. But with which, it is not known exactly.
Then a black trolley bus stops in front of the passenger, all shrouded in darkness. It's darker inside than outside. Instead of the routing number, the passenger's date of birth and a hyphen are indicated. After the doors swing open, something unknown begins to pull the victim inside. The passenger gets the realization in his head that this trolleybus can take you to absolutely any place.
And after a person is inside, the doors close silently and the trolleybus sets off. There is no one in the cabin. The place of the conductor and driver is empty. Here are just the things of previous passengers, left on the seats and handrails.
The legend says that the only way to get out of this trolleybus is to recover in time, before the trolleybus passes several stops, then break the window and jump out of it. Otherwise, the transport dissolves in the darkness of the night along with the passenger, and no one knows exactly where he gets after.