Celebrating 50 Years of Trolleybus Preservation

2011 marked the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Reading Transport Society, forerunner of the British Trolleybus Society. The British Trolleybus Society emerged in 1971 from the Reading Transport Society, which had collected trolleybuses from all over Britain through the 1960’s. Many of our trolleybuses now operate regularly at The Trolleybus Museum At Sandtoft.

On Line Membership Facilities

The Society uses an on line membership system where members can log in and obtain the latest copies of Trolleybus (and Bus Fare and Wheels if you subscribe to them). All our membership management is now done through an on-line database, and all members at the time of launch were pre-registered to use the membership facilities. Full information was sent to all members with the May 2013 issue of Trolleybus, including registration details.

Non-members can register on the site and download a free copy of our monthly journal Trolleybus. Members and non-members alike can join or renew membership subscriptions once logged in, as well as being able to manage Gift Aid status and make donations to the Society.

What The British Trolleybus Society Does

The British Trolleybus Society maintains & restores a historic & unique fleet of trolleybuses, details of which are in the Fleet List pages. Our latest restoration project, Huddersfield 631, has now returned to The Trolleybus Museum At Sandtoft fully restored internally and externally. It will be  recommissioned into service during the summer on a date to be announced. The previous restoration project, Walsal 872 is currently receiving attention to its braking system and will return to service later this year. The BTS also contributes to the management & operation of the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft, which houses the largest collection of preserved trolleybuses in the world. The Society produces a monthly magazine, ‘Trolleybus’, as well as local bus newsletters for Reading (Bus Fare) & West Yorkshire (Wheels). A free copy of 'Trolleybus' is available to prospective members. Either download a copy by registering using "Member Login", or apply to the Secretary who will post a printed copy to you.

There are monthly meetings in London, Reading & Bradford, to which all are invited.

We are partners in the publication of ‘Trolleybooks’, which cover historic and current systems in the UK and abroad.

We currently have available copies of David Bowler's 'Portsmouth Trolleybuses' and 'Pontypridd Trolleybuses' which you can purchase here. These are post free while stocks last.

The organisation is run entirely by volunteers and is a registered charity No. 1033666.