(Redirected from Trolleybuses)
A 'trolleybus' (also known as 'trolley
bus', 'trolley coach', 'trackless trolley', 'trackless tram' or simply 'trolley') is an
electric bus powered by two overhead wires, from which it draws
electricity using two
trolley poles. Two poles are required in order to accommodate the return current, which cannot pass to the ground as in the case of an electric
tram (also called a streetcar) since trolleybuses use rubber
tires, rather than steel wheels on rail. There are trolleybuses in many cities around the world.
Background
The history of the trolleybus dates back to
29 April 1882, when Dr.
Ernst Werner von Siemens ran his "
Elektromote" in a
Berlin suburb. This experimental demonstration continued until
13 June 1882, after which there was little progress in Europe, although separate experiments were conducted in the USA. The next development was when
Lombard Gérin operated an experimental line at the
Paris Exhibition of 1900 after four years of trials.
Max Schiemann made the biggest step when on
10 July 1901 the world's first passenger-carrying trolleybus operated at Bielathal (near
Dresden) in
Germany. Schiemann built and operated the Bielathal system, and is credited with developing the under-running trolley current collection system, with two horizontally parallel overhead wires and rigid trolleypoles spring-loaded to hold them up to the wires. Although the Bielathal system only operated until 1904, Schiemann had developed what is now recognised as the standard trolleybus current collection system. In the early days, however, there were a few different methods of current collection being developed. The Cedes-Stoll system, designed by Carl Stoll, was once operated near
Dresden between 1902 and 1904, and in
Vienna. The Lloyd-Köhler or Bremen system was tried out in
Bremen, and the
Filovia was demonstrated near
Milan.
Leeds and
Bradford became the first cities to operate passenger-carrying trolleybuses in the
UK on
20 June 1911. Bradford was also the last to operate trolleybuses in the UK, the system closing on
26 March 1972. The last rear entrance trolleybus in Britain was also in Bradford and is now owned by the
Bradford Trolleybus Association.
Birmingham was the first to replace a tram route with trolleybuses, while
Wolverhampton under the direction of Charles Owen Silvers was responsible for turning the "trackless tram" into the trolleybus. There were 50 trolleybus operations in the UK in total,
London's being the largest. By the time trolleybuses arrived in Britain in 1911, the Schiemann system was well established and was the most common, although the short-lived
Stockport operation used the Lloyd-Kölher system and
Keighley used the Cedes-Stoll system.
In the USA, some cities, led by the
Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT—New York), subscribed to the
all-four concept of using buses, trolleybuses,
trams (in U.S. called
streetcars,
trolleys or
light rail) and
rapid transit subway and/or elevated lines (
metros), as appropriate, for routes ranging from lightly-used to the heaviest trunk line. Buses and trolleybuses in particular were seen as entry systems that could later be upgraded to rail as appropriate. Although the BMT in
Brooklyn built only one trolleybus line, other cities, notably
San Francisco, California and
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, built larger systems and still maintain "all-four". If one includes cable cars as another mode, San Francisco could be called "all-'five'," as its
cable cars provide general
transportation as well as being a tourist attraction.
A number of trolleybus lines in the United States came into existence when a tracked trolley/tram route did not have sufficient ridership to warrant track maintenance or reconstruction. In a similar manner, a proposed tram scheme in Leeds, United Kindom, has now been changed to a trolleybus scheme to cut costs
[1].
Current use in the United States
★ Cambridge, Massachusetts, as part of the metropolitan Boston transit system
★ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (system currently suspended)
★ San Francisco, California
★ Seattle, Washington
★ Dayton, Ohio
Advantages
Trolleybuses are particularly advantageous on hilly routes, as
electric power is more effective than
diesel power for climbing steep hills, and trolleybuses'
rubber tires have better
adhesion than streetcars' steel wheels on steel rails.
San Francisco and
Seattle, USA, both very hilly places, use trolleybuses. Given this acceleration and braking performance, trolleybuses can easily outperform diesel powered buses on flat stretches as well. Unlike rail vehicles (where side tracks are not available), an out of service vehicle can be removed to the side of the roadway and its trolleys disconnected, allowing operational vehicles to pass. Additionally, because they are not tracked, trolleybuses can pull over to the curb as a diesel bus does, eliminating the need for boarding islands in the street.
Philadelphia has used trolleybuses (known as trackless trolleys) and
SEPTA has ordered a new fleet for three of its five routes so trackless trolley service can be restored in 2008.
Like other
electric vehicles, trolleybuses are often seen as more environmentally friendly than
fossil fuel or
hydrocarbon-based vehicles (
gasoline,
diesel,
alcohol, etc.), but the power is not "free", having instead to be produced at centralised
power plants, with attendant transmission losses.
On the other hand, centrally-produced power has the advantage of being more efficient, not bound to a specific fuel source and more amenable to pollution-control as a single-source supply than are individual vehicles with their own engines that exhaust noxious gases and
particulates at street level. Moreover, some cities, like Calgary, Alberta, run their commuter light rail networks using wind energy
[2], which is effectively emission-free once the turbines are built and installed. A further advantage of trolleybuses is that they can generate electric power from
kinetic energy whilst braking, a process known as
regenerative braking.
Also, unlike buses or trams, trolleybuses are almost silent, lacking the noise of a diesel engine or wheels on rails. Such noise as there is tends to emanate from auxiliary systems such as power steering pumps and air conditioning. Early trolleybuses without these systems were even quieter, and in the UK at least were often referred to as the "Silent Service". The quietness did have its disadvantages though, with quite a number of pedestrians falling victim to what was also known as "the Silent Death".
Trolleybuses are specially favoured in locations where
hydropower is abundant and cheap. Examples of this are the extensive trolleybus systems in
Vancouver,
British Columbia,
Canada and
Seattle,
Washington, USA. Seattle benefits doubly, with steep gradients near the
Downtown waterfront and on
Queen Anne,
First, and
Capitol Hills.
Trolleybuses are used extensively in large European cities such as
Athens,
Bratislava,
Bucharest,
Budapest,
Lyon,
Moscow,
Saint Petersburg,
Sofia,
Kiev,
Belgrade, as well as smaller ones, like
Arnhem,
Ghent,
Lausanne,
Luzern,
Zürich,
Salzburg,
Limoges,
Nancy,
Geneva,
Presov,
Cluj-Napoca,
Szeged,
Riga,
Tallinn and
Vilnius, and
Gdynia.
Cities, especially those built on hills, have chosen trolleybuses over diesel buses because the electric motor can produce much more torque than a diesel engine. Moreover, the electric motor can be temporarily "overpowered", that is, more than the normal power can be obtained for a short period of time, e.g. when climbing a steep hill. Also, realising the advantages of these
zero-emission vehicles, some other European cities have started to expand their systems again. Other cities such as
Lecce will introduce new trolleybus systems.
In
Cambridge, Massachusetts, the trolleybus system has survived because of the situation at
Harvard Station, which holds an underground tunnel that was once used for streetcars. Despite a willingness to use buses, the tunnel at the time required left-side doors, and had fume concerns. Now, buses do run in the tunnel. However, the trolleybuses remain due to popular support.
Some have suggested that the trolleybus will become obsolete in a future
hydrogen economy. However, direct electric transmission, as used in trolleybuses, is far more efficient (by a factor of two or more) than conversion of energy into hydrogen, transportation and storage of the hydrogen and its conversion back into electricity by fuel cells.
China is experimenting with a new form of electric bus that runs without powerlines. This bus runs on power stored in large onboard
supercapacitors, which are quickly recharged at bus stops. Prototypes were being tested in
Shanghai in early
2005.
Disadvantages
With the introduction of hybrid designs the trolleybus is no longer tied to its overhead trolley wires. Re-routings, temporary or permanent, are not usually readily available outside of "downtown" areas where the buses may be re-routed via adjacent business area streets where other trolleybus routes operate. Dewirements sometimes occur, leaving the bus stranded without power, although these events are relatively rare on systems with well-maintained overhead wire, hangers, fittings and "contact shoes." Some systems, such as
Muni in San Francisco,
TransLink in
Vancouver, as well as
Beijing's trolleybus operator, have circumvented this problem by installing battery packs on their trolleybuses to allow them to drive for short distances away from the wires. Also
Supercapacitors may be used to drive small distances without connections to the grid.
Boston is using
dual-mode buses on its new
Silver Line that run on overhead electricity on a fixed right of way and then transition to city streets using
diesel power. In
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whose five trolleybus lines (trackless trolley locally preferred) have been suspended for partial reconstruction, new trolleybuses on order will also have a means of operating for short distances off the overhead wires through the use of a small diesel engine. In
Athens, Greece, which has an extensive trolleybus system, in 2003-2004 all trolleybuses were replaced with new vehicles that are equipped with a diesel engine that allows them to run off-line for a considerable distance.
Limitations in the creation of power lines also limits the use of trolleybuses and further restrictions may also apply where when super-tall trucks need to use a route, preventing the installation of overhead lines. Nevertheless the installation is quicker and cheaper than a tramways system.
Trolleybuses can pass one another in regular service, if two separate sets of wires with a switch are provided.
Some trolleybus systems have been criticized for aesthetic reasons, with city residents complaining that the jumble of overhead wires was unsightly.
[3]
Trolleybuses were generally implemented only when they confer one of the advantages listed above, because of the high cost of their infrastructure compared to the standard bus. With increasing diesel costs and particle and NO
x problems in cities, trolleybuses may yet be seen as the best suited relief for medium sized cities.
While at one time many cities operated this
mode of transport, it is on average uncommon today in North America, though it is still a common form of transport in many European, Russian, Brazilian and Chinese cities, generally occupying the niche between street railways and diesel-powered buses.
Trolleybus wire switch
Trolleybus wire switches (in some countries referred to as "frogs") are a standard piece of equipment in places where the line forks into two others or two lines join into one. The switch pictured here is a fully automatic one; the driver controls it by means of the application of power to the bus's motor. If the "straight through" option is desired, the driver coasts through the switch. All parts of switch are still in their initial positions when trolleybus goes under the switch. If the "turn" option is desired, the driver passes the switch while applying power to the bus's motor. The switch detects the voltage drop in the wires caused by the draw on power of the motor and activates a small
electromagnet to change the switch position. After a short period of time the electromagnet automatically turns off and, due to attached springs, the switch returns to the normal "straight through" configuration.
Trolleybus makers
Current
★
Carrosserie Hess
★
Designline - for the new trolleybuses to replace Wellington, New Zealand's fleet
★
Irisbus
★
Mercedes-Benz
★
Minsk Automobile Plant
★
Neoplan
★
New Flyer Industries
★
Orion Bus
★
Rocar
★
Škoda Works
★
Solaris Bus & Coach, equipped by
Ganz
★
Trolza
★
Van Hool
★ Volvo/Sunwin
Defunct/no longer making trolleybuses
★
AM General
★
Associated Equipment Company
★
British United Traction
★
Crossley Motors
★
Daimler Motor Company
★
Dennis Specialist Vehicles
★
Guy Motors
★
Leyland Motors
★
Pullman Standard
★
Marmon-Herrington
★
Brill
★
Neoplan USA
★
St. Louis Car Company
Trolleybuses in Russia
The first trolley vehicle in Russia was built in
Saint Petersburg in 1902 at Frese machinebuilding factory. It utilised a carriage-type current receiver like the early von Siemens prototypes. There was no attempt to organize passenger or cargo services at this time.
The first operational trolleybus service was introduced in 1933 in
Moscow. In Soviet cities with underground metropolitan railways, trolleybus systems were intended to replace tramcars. In reality such plans were partially performed in the 1950s rather than in the 1930s. The first Soviet-made passenger trolleybus
LK-1 was named after Politburo member
Lazar Kaganovich. It was a dangerous and unreliable vehicle, quickly replaced by more advanced YaTB vehicles. These cars, both passenger and cargo, were the mainstay of the Soviet trolley fleet before the
Great Patriotic War (World War II). At this time new trolleybus systems were opened in
Leningrad,
Kiev (Ukraine) and a few other major Soviet cities.
It may appear strange that in the time of the Great Patriotic War, new trolleybus systems were opened in the
USSR. The need for mass transit in cities away from the front was urgent, but construction of tram lines was too expensive and time-consuming. Buses were largely mobilized to the
Red Army as staff and medical vehicles. The remains of the bus fleet quickly stalled due to fuel shortages. The trolleybuses proved a good solution. Some vehicles, wires and other equipment were evacuated from Moscow in 1941; these materials were used for erecting new lines and systems in other cities. In the front-line city of Leningrad, trolleybus service ceased operations in November 1941 and was not restored until the end of the war. City trams were relaunched in April 1942 and performed without interruption under siege conditions. This restored Soviet plans of mass transit development in the form of co-existence of subways, trams, and trolleys.
The postwar period saw an explosion of development and expansion of trolleybus systems in the
Soviet Union. Many cities and towns introduced passenger and cargo trolleybus services, sometimes interfering with tram operations. One of the most notable of these new trolleybus systems was the
Crimean Trolleybus, currently the world's longest trolleybus line. Production at the time was limited to the monopoly ''Zavod imeni Uritskogo'' (ZiU, named after
Moisei Uritsky). It produced thousands of
MTB-82,
ZiU-5, and
ZiU-9 passenger trolleybuses for domestic purposes and for export. ZiU-9s were sold to
Greece,
Colombia,
Argentina and eastern bloc countries. Three ZiU-9 cars were on loan in 1973 for testing purposes in
Helsinki,
Finland.
The collapse of the Soviet Union led to insufficient funding for many municipal trolleybus systems, but they proved more resilient than municipal tram or bus operations. There is only one closed trolleybus system within the area of modern
Russia:
Archangelsk's system (whose operations ceased in October 2006). The trolleybus system in
Grozny was completely destroyed in the
First Chechen War. Reconstruction is in planning. There are two systems with uncertain futures, in
Voronezh and
Shakhty. In other cities the development of trolleybus passenger services continues. Two new systems were introduced in Moscow suburbs
Khimki and
Vidnoe in the second half of the 1990s. ZiU has lost its monopoly in producing trolley vehicles. Today a number of domestic factories offer trolleybuses for the Russian market.
Preservation
Brazil
ACF Brill trolleybus, built in
1948, rides through the streets of
São Paulo followed by a modern low floor from the suburban services,
25 January 2007.
In
São Paulo,
Brazil, two trolleybuses are preserved and exhibited at the SPTrans (São Paulo Transportation Authority) Museum Gaetano Ferrola. Another five trolleybuses built by CMTC and Villares between
1958 and
1965 are awaiting restoration in the SPTrans garage at Santa Rita. An original trolleybus built in the
United States by ACF Brill in
1948 was restored in
1999 and currently can be seen riding in special celebrations, as occurred in the city's 453-year anniversary celebration on
25 January 2007.
Chile
Valparaíso, one of the largest cities of
Chile and with a historic quarter declared a world heritage site by
UNESCO, has the only trolley-bus service still working in that country, managed by a private company, Trolebuses de Chile S.A. (formerly Empresa de Transportes Colectivos Eléctricos). The available routes have the 8- prefix on Valparaíso's new metropolitan mass transit system (By now, just route 801 and 802). The fleet is a mix of old German, American, Swiss, and Chinese machines, making an attractive appeal for tourism. The most famous machines are the oldest Pullman Standard machines still in service in the world. (They were declared national monuments and still can be found working in the streets). The company has faced fierce competition from other non-electric bus lines, and almost faced bankruptcy several times in the past; however, many Valparaíso inhabitants feel an emotional link to the service, and tend to vigorously defend the maintenance of this privately funded company.
Russian Federation
Russian transport museums have a variety of historic trolleybuses made by local manufacturers. In
Moscow vintage vehicles are only available to the public in transport-dedicated exhibitions and parades of old vehicles on various celebration days. In
Saint Petersburg and
Nizhny Novgorod museum cars also may be hired for city excursions and parties.
United Kingdom
The world's largest collection of preserved trolleybuses is at
The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft in England. Examples are also preserved at The
East Anglia Transport Museum and The
Black Country Living Museum in England, the
Brisbane Tramway Museum, the
Adelaide Electric Traction Museum in
Australia and the Musée des Transports (AMTUIR) in Colombes
France. In
Foxton,
New Zealand, preserved trolleybuses operate for the public on their own system and in
Wellington,
New Zealand Volvo B58 trolleybuses continue to operate as part of the cities public transport network. There are also some trolleybuses at the
Seashore Trolley Museum in
Kennebunkport, Maine.
The
Bradford Trolleybus Association is currently restoring Bradford Trolleybus 758, the last rear entrance trolleybus in Britain. Bradford Trolleybus 758 is kept at
The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft.
In Lausanne, the Association Retrobus preserves old trolleybuses (from 1932 to 1964) and enables them to circulate in town, especially on summer weekends.
United States of America
The
Illinois Railway Museum also maintains a historical collection of 16 trolleybuses from
Chicago,
Dayton,
Cleveland,
Des Moines,
Vancouver, Toronto and
Milwaukee. Several of the preserved coaches provide regularly scheduled operations for visitors over the museum's 4/10 mile demonstration line.
Gallery
See also
★
Bus
★
Electric bus
★
Gyrobus
★
List of trolleybus systems
★
Low-floor trolleybuses
★
Tourist trolley
★
Trolleytruck
★
Tram
Books
★ Sebree, Mac, and Paul Ward. 1973. "Transit’s Stepchild, the Trolley Coach" (Interurbans Special 58 -
ASIN B0006C9ZOE). Los Angeles: Interurbans.
★ Sebree, Mac, and Paul Ward. 1974. "The Trolley Coach in North America" (Interurbans Special 59 - ASIN
B0006CEBZC) Los Angeles: Interurbans.
★ Mick Leak. 2006. "The Story Of Britain's Last Rear Entrance Trolleybus In Public Service - Bradford 758. Published By The Bradford Trolleybus Association. Bradford. United Kingdom.
Periodicals
★ "Trolleybus Magazine" (ISSN 0266-7452). National Trolleybus Association (UK). Bimonthly.
★ "Trackless", the quarterly magazine published by the
Bradford Trolleybus Association for its members.
★ "Trolleybus", the monthly magazine of the British Trolleybus Society (UK).
References
★
North American Trolley Bus Pictures
★
All Time List of North American Trolleybus Systems, accessed January 30, 2004
★
British trolleybuses
★
Trolleybuses at the BCLM
External links
★
Bradford Trolleybus Association
★
Trolleymotion - An International action group to promote modern trolleybus systems (+ Database of Systems in the world).
★ [http://www.tramz.com/cl/v/vae.html History of Valparaíso's Trolley-bus service
★
Bibliography of the Electric Trolleybus (Richard DeArmond)
★
The Electric Trolleybus Web Site
★
British trolleybuses
★
Trolleybuses in Europe
★
Transit World - Features photos of Trolleybuses in Vancouver & Edmonton (Canada), Wellington (New Zealand), Geneva (Switzerland), Rome (Italy) and Seattle (USA)
★
MOTATMOTAT Trolley Bus collection. Auckland (New Zealand).
★
Trolleybus cities of Russia
★
Tom's North American Trolleybus Pictures
★
Via Trolebus: Brazilian Trolleybus Informations and News
★
Trolleybus & trams from Belgium & other countries
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