Trolleybuses in Basel
| Basel trolleybus system | |
 | |
|---|---|
| Basel Neoplan trolleybus no. 929 on line 31, August 2005. | |
| Operation | |
| Locale | Basel, Switzerland |
| Open | 31 July 1941 |
| Close | 30 June 2008 |
| Status | Closed |
| Routes | 3 (max) |
| Operator(s) | Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (BVB) |
| Infrastructure | |
| Electrification | 600 V DC |
| Overview | |
| Website | Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (German) |
The Basel trolleybus system (Alemannic German: Trolleybussystem Basel) was part of the public transport network of Basel, Switzerland, for nearly six decades. Opened in 1941, it combined after 1997 with the Basel Regional S-Bahn, the Basel tramway network and Basel's urban motorbus network to form an integrated all-four style scheme until its closure in 2008.
The trolleybus system was operated by Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (BVB), which also operates Basel's motorbus network and some of the trams on its tramway network. At its height, the trolleybus system consisted of three lines, two of which ran into the neighbouring municipality of Riehen, north of Basel.
History
The individual sections of the Basel trolleybus system went into service as follows:[1]
| 31 July 1941 | Claraplatz–Rosengartenweg–Friedhof am Hörnli | Line A (to 1948) Line 31 (from 1948) | Replacement for motor bus line A |
| 25 October 1948 | Friedhof am Hörnli–Habermatten | Line 31 | New connection |
| 9 February 1956 | Rosengartenweg–Käferholzstrasse | Line 34 | Replacement for motor bus line 34 |
| 24 October 1968 | Wanderstrasse–Badischer Bahnhof | Line 33 | Replacement for motor bus line 33 (to 4 July 1966: Tram line 2) |
| 18 April 1973 | Käferholzstrasse–Habermatten | Linie 34 | New connection |
Line 34 was converted to motorbus operation on 9 September 2000. A conversion of line 33 followed on 13 December 2004. After the latter closure, Basel's only remaining trolleybus line was the 4.9 km (3.0 mi) long line 31.
A popular initiative[citation needed] to rescue the trolleybuses then occurred, but on 17 June 2007 the initiative was rejected by a 27,403 to 23,645 (53.7%) majority of the electors. Subsequently, the final trolleybus run on line 31 took place on 30 June 2008.[2]
Fleet
A total of 52 trolleybuses were procured for the Basel trolleybus system. All of them were supplied new, apart from nos. 921 and 922, which were acquired second-hand from the Kaiserslautern trolleybus system in Germany:[3]
| Manufacturer | Type | Configuration | Quantity | Numbers | Service years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FBW | 51 | Rigid (two-axle), dual-mode | 2 | 10–11, from 1947/48: 50–51, from 1956: 350–351 | 1941–1975 |
| Saurer | 4 BPO | Two-axle, cab over | 2 | 12–13, from 1947/48: 52–53, from 1956: 352–353 | 1941–1958 |
| Saurer | 4 TP | Two-axle | 2 | 54–55, from 1956: 354–355 | 1948–1975 |
| FBW | 51 | Two-axle | 12 | 56–64, from 1956: 356–368 | 1955–1995 |
| Schindler | APG | Articulated | 10 | 901–910 | 1968–1996 |
| FBW | 91 GTS | Articulated | 10 | 911–920 | 1975–2000 |
| Daimler-Benz | O305 GT | Articulated | 2 | 921–922 | 1986–2000 |
| Neoplan | N 6020 | Articulated, low-floor | 12 | 923–934 | 1992–2008 |
Up until the closure of the system, motorbus no. 48 served as an overhead wire de-icer, and for that purpose was fitted with trolley poles.
Some of the retired trolleybuses were transferred to Pazardzhik and Ruse in Bulgaria as well as Braşov in Romania. Trolleybus no. 358 is now in the possession of the Lausanne-based RétroBus Léman museum society.
Depot
The vehicles in Basel's trolleybus fleet were kept at the Rankstrasse bus garage, on line 31. The garage was also connected with line 33 via non-revenue wires (wiring not used for passenger service) from Basel Badischer Bahnhof.
See also
References
Notes
- ↑ "Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (BVB): Geschichte". www.tram-bus-basel.ch website. Dominik Madörin, CH-Ettingen. Retrieved 4 October 2012. (German)
- ↑ Trolleybus Magazine No. 282 (November-December 2008), p. 240. National Trolleybus Association (UK). ISSN 0266-7452.
- ↑ "Trolleybusse der Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe". www.tram-bus-basel.ch website. Dominik Madörin, CH-Ettingen. Retrieved 4 October 2012. (German)
Further reading
- Schwandl, Robert (2010). Schwandl's Tram Atlas Schweiz & Österreich. Berlin: Robert Schwandl Verlag. ISBN 978 3 936573 27 5. (German) (English)
External links
Media related to Trolleybuses in Switzerland at Wikimedia Commons
- Trolleybus city: Basel (Schweiz) at Trolleymotion (English)
- Basel database / photo gallery and Basel trolleybus list at Urban Electric Transit – in various languages, including English.
- RétroBus Léman – official site
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