The trolley bus is a vehicle of Public transport travellers.

Technique

The trolley bus runs on tires, like the Autobus, but it is propelled by a electrical motor, like the Tramway. It is fed by two so two-wire called contact systems air. The system of collecting of the current is resulting from that used by the trams: The first electric tram was supplied by a carriage running on two wire air, and connected to the tram by a flexible cable. This method was named troller (English word trawl, meaning trawl and of old French “troller” = to trail) ), which gave the word trolley. This method was not entirely satisfactory, the carriage tending too often to run off the line. Then the pole finished by a caster was developed with throat in which came to be embedded the wire of food. It is this system which was used on the first trolley buses, thereafter, the casters disappeared with the profit from bronze wipers (which regularly required a lubrication of the contact systems with graphited oil) On the modern trolley buses, the heads of carbon pole make any lubrication useless. The Captage of the current is carried out with a pair of poles, which give to the vehicle a side freedom of circulation of several meters (approximately 4 meters), enabling him to form part of the urban traffic without difficulty.

Much trolley bus is been driven by an auxiliary thermal engine, in order to be able to move at fallback speed in the spaces deprived of air lines contact, for example at the time of deviations for work or operations of garage. Others are called dual-mode (old network of Nancy, for example) because provided with two independent chains of traction: diesel engine with gear box, and electrical equipment of trolley bus. They can thus traverse final antennas not equipped with contact system.

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

Mû by an electrical motor, the trolley bus is quiet, not pollutant and ready to climb the slopes. Its cost of exploitation varies according to the cost of electricity, but it is generally weaker than that of the bus. According to the way in which it was built, the lifespan of its case is equal or higher than that of the bus. Lifespan of electrical equipment, whose engine, is generally much longer than that of the case. In Lyon, unquestionable driving thus could be gone up successively on three different cases, of the Années 1930 with the Années 1980!

Disadvantages

The capital cost of the trolley bus is higher than that of the bus, on the one hand because it is necessary to build an air line of two-wire contact (contrary to the tram, the trolley bus cannot return the current of the phase in the rails; it must thus have a second wire, the neutral) and in addition because the vehicles are more expensive. The air lines of contact two-wire are sometimes perceived like unaesthetic, in particular with the right of the crossings and the junctions, where they form “cobwebs”. One also reproaches the trolley buses not been driven by an auxiliary thermal engine not to be able to be diverted of their usual route in the event of accident or work; however, the current trolley buses are in general been driven by such engines.

Networks of trolley bus

See the article specialized List of the trolley buses of the world

France

The first trolley buses appeared at the beginning of the 19th century under the name of electrobus . After these experiments of short duration, a new generation of trolley bus appeared between the two world wars. The company Vetra created in 1925, was the manufacturer emblematic of the vast majority of the French trolley buses until 1964 and exported even part of its production in many countries including until the Chile. The trolley bus was a certain success during the Occupation, then in the first years of the post-war period because of shortage of Pétrole.

In the Years 1970, in particular because of the closing of the factories Vetra, it had almost completely disappeared from France, when, jointly, the networks of Lyon, Grenoble and Saint-Etienne took delivery of towards 1978 a new material, the ER 100 Berliet - CEM - Oerlikon, still in service with Saint-Etienne today. The most recent material at the time (NB: in France!) was the small series of VBH-85 Vetra - Berliet of 1963 of line 6 of Lyon. According to informed verdicts, they are very large VA3-B2 Vetra of the network of Lyon which saved the trolley bus in France, no Autobus of this capacity not being available on the market towards 1970 to replace them. The crisis of oil, intervened then in 1973, caused the study of the ER-100, the networks of trolley bus being still active.

Only remained the following networks then:

• network of Grenoble. Although modernized in the years 1970, the network was stopped in 1999. reintroduction envisaged in the next years.
• network of Lyon (the wide-area network of trolley bus of France)
• network of Limoges
• network of Marseilles. The network was removed in June 2004.
• network of Saint-Etienne, to see Ci below
• network of Nancy, to see Ci below

; Saint-Etienne: The network inhabitant of Saint-Etienne is known to have kept its electric tram (one of the rare cities in France) since its creation (1912 for its electrification). But it is also one of the rare French networks to have preserved its lines of trolley bus. Historically 7 (lines 1,3,5,6,7,8 and 10) there remain only 2 today about it (line 3 and 10). Indeed, line 1 lost its trolley (in 1999) following work persisting on its course and with the esthetic will of the mayors (Chambon Feugerolles in particular) on the course. Current line 3 corresponds to lines 3 and 5 histories. Line 6 when with it was stopped with arrived of the Agora L (more modern than the old articulated trolleys become decayed). But this line could in the next years being again equipped in trolleys (line strong TCSP which cannot receive a tram because of the slope of its course). Line 7 was amalgamated with line 8, then since October 2006 (arrived of the second tram line) with line 12 south, thus losing its connection station-center city. Finally line 10 is preserved only in its south-western part.

; Nancy: A network of trolley bus was created with Nancy in 1982 (there had never been in this city) , credit until in 1998. One of its lines was transformed at the beginning of the Années 2000 into tyred Tram, also called Transport on reserved way (TVR). Following vexations concerning the renewal of the park, the other lines of trolley bus are temporarily unutilised: the material then used (articulated PER 180 dual-mode) was reformed prematurely, because of an unreliability, and the new material of Italian manufacture, acquired occasion, does not function, its poles being too short for the use on the network Stan, in consequence of a problem of homologation between Nancy and the Italian manufacturer. The solution is currently differed because of the project of new lines of tram (hybrid like the first, or another type). The return of the standard trolley bus is envisaged on the line 121 which connects the Central station of Nancy to the Beauregard district; and on lines 2 and 3 of TCSP, which will be probably equipped with trolley buses articulated (can be with optical guidance) from here 2009. A project of tram-train is also being studied in the Lorraine, strong metropolis of its 400  000 inhabitants and of his great agglomeration to be served (multipolar agglomeration).

Switzerland

The Suisse is the country which has the greatest number of cities to use trolley buses in Western Europe. At present, 14 Swiss cities exploit this means of ecological transport, namely: Geneva (6 lines), Lausanne (10 lines), Vevey - Montreux (1 line), Freiburg (3 lines), Neuchâtel (4 lines), La Chaux-de-Fonds (3 lines), Bienne (2 lines), Bern (5 lines), Basle (1 line), Lucerne (7 lines), Zurich (6 lines), Winterthour (4 lines), Saint-Gall (3 lines) and Schaffhouse (1 line).

Lines existed with Lugano, Thoune and Altstätten.

The first trolley bus with rigid poles (known as modern Trolleybus) was designed in 1932 for the town of Lausanne (to be raised that one of the three vehicles brought into service this year rolls still today to Lausanne, within Rétrobus association). Since, the other cities were fascinated by these means of transport. (See also the article List of the trolley buses of the world.)

Other countries

The trolley bus remains means of transport spread in the countries resulting from the Soviet ex-Union but also in China and North Korea.

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