A stationary bench simulating the traction drive of electric transport vehicles in the traction and braking modes is employed in investigation of the drive operation with a hybrid energy storage system. The load simulator of the traction drive is made by applying the induction motor with a field-oriented control frequency converter. The bench contains a DC motor simulating the traction drive of surface electric transport and a coupled AC induction motor simulating the traction drive load. The simulation of the drive operation modes is performed using Matlab/Simulink software. The traction drive load simulator could be useful to find the solution of the problem of upgrading the existing electric transport rolling stock through the use of an energy storage system.