They’ve rumbled along the city’s streets for over 70 years, trailing webs of wires above them and often breaking down below. But the end of Athens’ iconic trolley buses is finally in sight, according to Car & Motor.

The Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) has confirmed it will gradually phase out 130 trolleybuses by 2027 as part of a major fleet renewal. They will be replaced by 100 fully electric buses, promising cleaner, faster, and more flexible transit.

While the trolley bus may hold a nostalgic place in the hearts of many Athenians, at one time transforming urban transport, it has become increasingly costly and unreliable. Most of the fleet is over two decades old and is past its prime, with frequent breakdowns and soaring maintenance bills.

But it’s not just the buses themselves that are getting the boot. The city’s streetscape is also in for a facelift, with plans to remove the dense web of metal poles and overhead wires—long seen as visual clutter in already strained urban neighborhoods.

Car & Motor says the trolley bus was introduced in 1953, while the OASA website itself notes that in 1929 a company called Electric Transportation was founded, which was responsible for the operation of tram, bus and trolley bus lines in the central areas of Athens and Piraeus.

Whatever the case, the trolley bus was once the pride of Athens’ eco-conscious transit strategy. But with over 250 electric buses set to join the city’s fleet in the coming years, Athens is steering toward a sleeker, greener, and less tangled future.