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Modern Trolleybus Systems

Salzburg - Click to view a larger photoThere are around 350 trolleybus systems world-wide. That's as many as there are street tramways! This fact astounds most people who have never seen a modern trolleybus system, and therefore think they no longer exist. Many of the European systems are to be found in former Eastern Bloc countries.

However, a good many major cities around the world operate trolleybus systems, including Vancouver, San Francisco, Geneva, Lyon, Salzburg, Athens, Beijing and St Petersburg. In many of these places, the trolleybus is the backbone of the public transport system.

San Francisco - Click to view a larger photoNew networks are being constructed or proposed all the time - the Italian systems in Lecce and Rome, for example, have been introduced in recent years. More and more, environmentally friendly electric trolleybuses are being acknowledged as an efficient, clean and popular choice for public transport. Many are now built with a small battery that allows operation away from the overhead wires and so increasingly trolleybus systems are being expanded with minimal or no additional overhead required.

Here are some links which show trolleybuses operating in recent years, and also statistics of the spread of systems around the world:

www.worldwide.trolleybus.org.uk

www.tbus.org.uk/systems.htm and www.tbus.org.uk/news.htm

Salzburg - Click to view a larger photoSalzburg Public Transport

Castellón, Spain

Czech Republic - Mariánské Lázne

 

 

Linz - Click to view a larger photoMembers' Photo websites:

www.flickr.com/photos/trolleyfan/collections/

 

 

 

The British Trolleybus Society's Collection

Our Vehicles

Some of the BTS Fleet on DisplayThe BTS owns 14 trolleybuses, one motorbus and a horse-drawn tower wagon.

The photograph shows a line up of six of our vehicles at Sandtoft, details of these and the rest of our fleet can be found by clicking on the vehicle's photograph in the table below.

Within the information about each of our vehicles you will find a summary of its technical specification, where and when it operated, and its current restoration status.

 

 

 

 

What is a Trolleybus?

Trolleybus Cutaway

Key
24 - Trolley boom
25 - Trolley base
26 - Power wiring
27 - Main switch
28 - Hand brake
29 - Instrument panel
30 - Hooter
31 - Battery switch
32 - Master controller
33 - Contactors
34 - Brake pedal
35 - Power pedal
36 - Resistances grille
37 - Auxillary motor
38 - Resistances
39 - Compressor
40 - Air reservior
41 - Traction motor
42 - Drive shaft
43 - First differential
44 - Second differential

A trolleybus is a  bus driven by electricity collected from overhead wires, usually at around 600 volts. Various mechanical ways of collecting the power were tried in the early 1900s before roof mounted 'booms', virtually the same as used on electric trams, became the enduring answer and a trolleybus's most identifiable feature.
Above is London trolleybus 142, an AEC 'C' class of 1935. Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage+Wagon Co Ltd 70 seat body. English Electric electrical equipment. 95hp motor. 0-30mph in 23 seconds, 35-0mph in 14 seconds. Laden weight 13 tons. Worm and nut steering. 10.33 rear axle ratio. Air brake exhaust air cooled resistances. 24v lighting. Slider trolley heads. Power and electrical braking on one pedal.

Lombard

 

Early trolleybuses operated in France, Italy and Germany, from 1900 onwards, used on 98 systems, demonstrations or trials by 1915. The world's first commercial trolleybus operation was between Fontainbleau and Samois between 1901 and 1913 using Lombard Gerin 'Trolley Automoteurs'. Self powered power collector running above the wires. 2 x 8hp motors. Series-parallel control. Jeantaud body, 18 seats. 12kph top speed. 11.48:1 gear and chain ratio.

Leeds 505
In the UK, trolleybuses were originally seen as as a cheaper option for lightly trafficked routes or as feeders to tram services.  Britain had 50 operators between 1911 and 1972 running in many large towns & London suburbs.

 

Modern trolleybuses operate in many cities around the world and are an environmentally friendly solution to urban transport problems.Linz Fleet

 

Former UK Systems

This page will eventually look at the many undertakings in the UK that at one time or another ran trolleybuses. A table of British Operators is given below as a temporary measure.

 

System

Date Of Opening

Date Of Closure

No. Of New Vehicles

No. Of Used Vehicles

Maximum No. Of Vehicles

No. Of Routes

Aberdare 15.01.1914 23.07.1925 8 0 8 4
Ashton Under Lyne 26.02.1925 31.12.1966 42 0 19 5
Belfast     28.03.1938 12.05.1968 235 11 245 17
Birmingham 27.11.1922 30.06.1951 107 0 78 5
Bournemouth    13.05.1933 20.04.1969 169 7 104 22
Bradford 20.06.1911 26.03.1972 259 85 187 17
Brighton (BCT) 01.05.1939 30.06.1961 52 0 52 9
Brighton Hove & District 01.01.1945 24.03.1959 11 0 11 4 (inc BCT)
Cardiff 01.03.1942 11.01.1970 79 7 79 14
Chesterfield 25.05.1927 24.03.1938 16 3 19 1
Cleethorpes 18.07.1937 04.06.1960 19 0 13 1
Darlington 17.01.1926 31.07.1957 95 4 66 5
Derby 10.01.1932 09.09.1967 159 6 73 11
Doncaster 22.08.1928 14.12.1963 77 25 47 6
Dundee 03.09.1912 13.05.1914 2 0 2 1
Glasgow 03.04.1949 27.05.1967 195 0 195 9
Grimsby 03.10.1926 04.06.1960 26 0 19 2
Halifax 20.07.1921 24.10.1926 1 2 2 1
Hartlepool (West) 28.02.1924 31.03.1953 48 0 31 4
Hastings 01.04.1928 31.05.1959 103 0 58 10
Huddersfield 04.12.1933 13.07.1968 240 0 140 15
Ipswich 02.09.1923 23.08.1963 126 0 85 14

Keighley (Cedes Stoll)

03.05.1913 03.05.1926 10 0 10 3
Keighley (Standard) 20.08.1924 31.08.1932 18 0 18 3
Kingston Upon Hull 25.07.1937 31.10.1964 116 0 100 7
Leeds 20.06.1911 26.07.1928 15 0 15 3
Llanelly 26.12.1932 08.11.1952 32 1 19 3
London 16.05.1931 08.05.1962 1891 0 1811 68
Maidstone 01.05.1928 15.04.1967 32 9 24 2
Manchester 01.03.1938 31.12.1966 269 0 189 9
Mexborough & Swinton 31.08.1915 26.03.1961 74 13 45 4
Newcastle Upon Tyne 02.10.1935 02.10.1966 317 6 204 28
Nottingham 10.04.1927 30.06.1966 296 12 157 8
Notts. & Derby 07.01.1932 25.04.1953 64 0 32 3
Oldham 26.08.1925 03.09.1926 2 0 2 1
Pontypridd 18.09.1930 31.01.1957 19 0 9 1
Portsmouth 04.08.1934 27.07.1963 115 0 100 9
Ramsbottom 14.08.1913 31.03.1931 7 0 7 1
Reading 18.07.1936 03.11.1968 81 6 63 4
Rhondda 22.12.1914 10.03.1915 6 0 6 1
Rotherham 03.10.1912 02.10.1965 142 0 80 10
St. Helens 11.07.1927 30.06.1958 96 0 66 6
Southend On Sea 16.10.1925 28.10.1954 37 15 34 4
South Lancashire 03.08.1930 31.08.1958 71 0 71 4
South Shields 12.10.1936 29.04.1964 66 17 61 11
Stockport 10.03.1913 11.09.1920 3 0 3 1
Teesside 08.11.1919 18.04.1971 45 11 21 3
Walsall 22.07.1931 03.10.1970 70 24 60 6
Wigan 07.05.1925 30.09.1931 4 0 4 1
Wolverhampton 29.10.1923 05.03.1967 354 1 173 14
York (First Period) 22.12.1920 31.12.1929 4 0 4 1
York (Second Period) 06.10.1931 05.01.1935 3 0 3 1

 

 

Trolleybus Preservation

Museums

East AngliaMuseums that operate trolleybuses in the UK are: the Black Country Living Museum at Dudley, East Anglia Transport Museum, Carlton Colville, near Lowestoft and The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft, near Doncaster.

It is also possible to operate trolleybuses at The North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish. However, this museum is designed to depict an earlier era than that of the trolleybus; the usual sole trolleybus at this location, Newcastle 501, is not normally seen in operation by the public. The situation should change in the next couple of years as a 1950s village is under construction. On completion, trolleybus overhead will be erected and a route aroud this village will be inaugurated, possibly in 2024. It is intended that Newcastle 501 will be joined by Teesside 11 (ex Reading 186) to operate this route.

A number of other transport museums around the country house trolleybuses as static exhibits. Many others are owned by individuals or small groups and are kept at locations which are generally not open to the public. There is some fluidity in the situation as vehicles are moved around from time to time; either for renovation at a specific location or for operation at an event at one of the working museums. The three museums mentioned previously all hold special events at various times and welcome participation of visiting vehicles.

Several vehicles are preserved overseas. News of overseas museums is always welcome for the Museum and Preservation column, please email museumnews@britishtrolley.org.uk.

 

Table of Preserved British Trolleybuses in the British Isles

Correct as at 27 September 2022 from existing information.

If you have any updates or corrections, please email librarian@britishtrolley.org.uk

Location

No.

Fleet List

Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft,

Belton Road,
Sandtoft,
Nr. Doncaster,
North Lincolnshire DN8 5SX

 

44

 

Bournemouth 99; 297 & 3014
Bradford 562; 7062; 7431; 746; 792; 834; 8461 
Cardiff 203
Cleethorpes 54; 59
Derby 172 1752
Doncaster 375
Glasgow TB78
Hastings 46
Huddersfield 541; 619 & 631
London 1348; 1812
Maidstone 56 & 72
Manchester 1344
Mexborough & Swinton 34
Nottingham 367; 4662; 493 & 506
Notts & Derby 3532
Reading 113; 144; 174; 181 & 193
Rotherham 37 & 44 1
South Shields 204
St. Helens 3875
S. Yorkshire PTE 2450
Walsall 3421 & 872

1stored at Thorpe-In-Balne

2 stored or undergoing restoration at Selby

4 Bournemouth 301 is currently in Ellesmere Port undergoing finishing touches following an external repaint. .

5 St. Helens 387 currently displayed at the North West Museum of Road Transport in St. Helens.

East Anglia Transport Museum,

Chapel Road,
Carlton Colville,
Nr. Lowestoft,
Suffolk NR33 8BL

7

14

Ashton Under Lyne 87
Belfast 246
Bournemouth 202 & 286
Derby 237
Hastings 34
London 260; 796; 1201; 1521
Maidstone 52
Newcastle 628
Nottingham 578
Notts & Derby 357
Portsmouth 313

 

Black Country Living Museum,

Tipton Road,
Dudley,
West Midlands.

4

Bradford 735 (Now in Walsall Corporation livery)
Walsall 862
Wolverhampton 78 & 433

Ipswich Transport Museum,
Cobham Road,
Ipswich,
Suffolk, IP3 9JD
7

Ipswich 2; 96; 26; 44; 46; 1057& 126

6 Stored in a secure site elsewhere in Ipswich. 

7 On loan to East Anglian Transport Museum, Carlton Colville. 

 

Keighley Bus Museum Trust 8

Bradford 704, 713, 758; 8449, 8458 and 8478
Keighley 5 Teesside 2

8 On long term loan from The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft

On Loan to Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft 

West Of England Transport Collection, Winkleigh,
Devon

 

1

Bradford 703 (Privately Owned) 

Private Ownership – Boughton, Notts. 3

Derby 224
Nottingham 502
Notts & Derby 307

Cardiff & S. Wales Trolleybus Project,

Barry,
South Wales.

2 Cardiff 243 & 262
London Transport Museum,
Acton & Covent Garden
London
3

London 1 & 1768 (Acton)
London 1253 (Covent Garden)

Hastings Trolleybus Restoration Group

Bexhill-on-Sea,
East Sussex

1

Hastings 3

Hastings No. 3 was fitted with a Commer TS3 diesel engine in 1960 but retains both trolleybus chassis and bodywork.

Featherstone,
South Staffordshire
1 Derby 215 (Private)
Greater Manchester Transport Museum,
Boyle Street,
Cheetham,
Manchester
2 Ashton under Lyne 80

Manchester 1250

Science Museum,
Wroughton,

Nr. Swindon,
Wilts.

1 Brighton & Hove 6340
 
Private Ownerhip (England) 1 Bournemouth 299
Ulster Folk & Transport Museum,
Cultra,
Holywood,
Co. Down, N.I.
2 Belfast 98
Belfast 112
NTA Raunds, Northants 1 Hastings 45
B&MMOT,
Wythall,
N. Warwickshire
1 Wolverhampton 616
Ellough (NTA Site) 1

Belfast 168 (NTA)
Wolverhampton 654

Bradford Industrial Museum,

West Yorkshire

2 Bradford 515 (body only) and 737
Glasgow Museum of Transport 1 Glasgow TBS 13
Kirkleatham Old Hall Museum 1 Teesside 5
Hampshire County Council Store, Porchester 1 Portsmouth 201
NMGW,
Nantgarw
1 Cardiff 215
North of England Open Air Museum, Beamish,
Co. Durham
3

Keighley 12
Newcastle 501
Teesside 11

Private Ownership – North East Aircraft Museum, Washington, Sunderland 1 Bradford 835
Rotherham Trolleybus Group,

Burton upon Trent,
Staffordshire

1 Rotherham 73
Private Ownership 2 Bournemouth 212 (was 246) Bradford 712
Totals – Locations 31 111 Operators 30

 

NB. British vehicles preserved overseas are NOT included.

Sadly Belfast 183, accommodated in Northern Ireland, has recently been scrapped

 

 

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