Trolleybuses are back as demand grows for cleaner public transport

Yahoo

06-06-2025

Berlin (dpa)- The trolleybus is considered by many to be clunky technology from the past. But thanks to technical innovation, these so-called silent servants are staging a comeback as some countries seek to decarbonize their public transport.
The trolleybus, which draws power from dual overhead wires mounted over roads using spring-loaded trolley poles, has been around for 130 years and used to be considered inflexible since it could seldom deviate from a set route.
The advent of powerful batteries for off-grid driving has changed all that. It has also done away with the need to erect unsightly overhead wires in historic city centres, an aspect which used to deter many European cities from operating the vehicles.
Modern trolleys can also manage off-wire journeys and have on-board batteries that are recharged by the overhead wires with what's called In-Motion Charging (IMC) technology. They also come with contemporary tech such as wi-fi and air-conditioning. Chief producers include Polish firm Solaris, Hess of Switzerland and Yutong in China.
Non-profit lobby group Trolleymotion says some 300 trolleybus systems are still in operation globally, reflecting sustained interest in this clean and efficient form of electric public transport.
"European cities are steadily converting back to trolleybus public transport," says Gunter Mackinger, who used to be in charge of a large trolleybus system in Salzburg, Austria and remains a passionate advocate of the technology.
He claims trolleybuses are even better than battery-electric buses, since they have none of the charging delays or the heavy weight which puts a strain on electric buses and shortens their service life.
Many European networks were discontinued in the 1960s and 1970s but urban planners now believe this was a mistake.
Prominent recent converts to the trolleybus include Prague which has re-introduced trolleybuses on an airport corridor, while the Estonian capital Tallinn scrapped plans to replace the trolleybuses with battery-electric buses and is buying 40 new ones instead.
The city said retaining the existing trolleybus infrastructure saves money and avoids the expenses and downtime associated with large-scale battery bus charging
Italy has long been a stronghold of the trolleybus, but until recently many of its systems have been neglected. Naples has now just ordered 40 state-of-the-art, 12.5-meter-long hybrid/electric trolleybuses to replace 59 existing vehicles.
Trolleybuses returned to the capital Rome in 2021 after an absence of 33 years and they ply mainly on the outskirts. The southern city of Lecce brought back trolleybuses in 2012 and Pescare is poised to do the same this year.
Germany still has three systems in Solingen, Eberswalde near Berlin and in Esslingen close to Stuttgart. The latter plans to buy 52 new trolleybuses soon. Berlin has mulled bringing back the trolleybus but a decision has been deferred.
Switzerland also has 12 systems which run alongside trams and regular buses, mainly using hydro-electric power which is plentiful in the alpine republic.
Mexico is set to soon inaugurate the new 18.5 km long Chalco-Santa Martha trolleybus line with 13 stations and two terminals, and an initial fleet of 108 trolleybuses. This will be expanded to 184 in the future.
In the highland city of Quito, Ecuador, elderly Mercedes trolleybuses have just been been replaced by new Chinese-made Yutong vehicles.
Fleet renewal was hailed at the gala opening last month by transport director Xavier Vásquez as a milestone in reducing carbon emissions.
"The new trolleybuses are environmentally-friendly and the benefit is real, it's as if we had planted a thousand new trees this week," Vásquez told local media.
Meanwhile, Sao Paulo in Brazil has introduced introduced huge four-axle articulated trolleybuses to speed up rapid transit services. These can carry up to 146 passengers although only 60 get a seat.
Both Vancouver in Canada and the Greek capital Athens are poised to renew their systems while in the French city of Nancy, new trolleybuses from Hess have just started plying as replacements for troublesome rubber-wheeled trams which were prone to breaking down.
Some 85 Russian cities still rely heavily on trolleybuses and the country seemingly has no intention of phasing them out.
Systems include one in Novosibersk where a total of 258 home-manufactured trolleybuses went into operation last year. The world's northernmost system also operates in the Arctic city of Murmansk.
Surprisingly Moscow is a casualty. In autumn 2020, what was then the world's largest trolleybus system with 83 routes and 600 km of overhead wires, stopped operating.
A campaign to keep the silent servants failed and officials said the system had become too inefficient and unwieldy for a modern city.
Some critics questioned whether the real purpose behind the closure was to free up lucrative real estate sites taken up by the trolleybus facilities, including a huge garage near the centre.
There have been other setbacks too. Morocco's new system has been dormant since 2022 owing to technical gremlins and it is unclear when it will restart. Tehran has also recently decided to abandon trolleybuses in favour of battery-electric buses.