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81-486: The City Passenger Railway became the Montreal Street Railway in 1886. The decision to use electricity instead of horses for propulsion was made in 1892. On September 21 of that same year, " The Rocket ," Montreal's first electric streetcar made its maiden voyage. By 1894, the remaining horsecar lines had all been converted to accommodate the new electrically powered streetcars. The Montreal Street Railway

162-487: A Dennis Dragon (#701) into a double-decker trolleybus, and it was tested on a 300-metre track in Wong Chuk Hang in that year. Hong Kong decided not to build a trolleybus system, and the testing of this prototype did not lead to any further production of vehicles. There are currently 300 cities or metropolitan areas where trolleybuses are operated, and more than 500 additional trolleybus systems have existed in

243-457: A "straight through" or "turnout" position; it normally remains in the "straight through" position unless it has been triggered, and reverts to it after a few seconds or after the pole shoe passes through and strikes a release lever (in Boston, the resting or "default" position is the "leftmost" position). Triggering is typically accomplished by a pair of contacts, one on each wire close to and before

324-676: A 31-line system operated with a fleet of over 1,250 trolleybuses. Trolleybuses have been long encouraged in North Korea with the newest city to have a network being Manpo in December 2019. Since the year 2022, the city of Prague is constructing a new trolleybus system. Meanwhile, in 2023, plans for a trolleybus line in Berlin were scrapped in favour of a solution with battery-powered vehicles. Modern design vehicles Note: As there are numerous variations of tram and light-rail technology,

405-410: A 337-foot (103 m) tunnel. Motormen on this route were specially trained and strict safety procedures were used. The streetcars used on this route were equipped with an auxiliary braking system and powerful handbrakes in addition to their regular equipment. Both the 93-Remembrance and 11-Mountain routes were summer-only services. There were a number of other unique cars on the system especially in

486-446: A breezy ride during the hot and humid summers of Montreal. The cars operated on a 10-mile (16 km) counter-clockwise circuit around the three peaks of Mount Royal via Bleury, Park, Laurier, Côte Ste. Catherine, Bellingham, Maplewood, Decelles, Queen Mary, a private right-of-way between Queen Mary and Côte Saint Luc, Girouard, Sherbrooke, Atwater, St. Luke, Closse, Sainte Catherine, then back to Bleury. A second Golden Chariot route

567-703: A choice later also made by Lucerne . Outside Europe, 14 vehicles built by, and for, the Shanghai trolleybus system in mid-1999 were the first reported low-floor trolleybuses in Southeast Asia. Wellington, New Zealand , took delivery of its first low-floor trolleybus in March 2003, and by the end of 2009 had renewed its entire fleet with such vehicles. Unlike Europe, where low floor means "100%" low floor from front to back, most "low floor" buses on other continents are actually only low-entry or part-low floor. In

648-552: A few years old and replace them with low-floor trolleybuses. Responses varied, with some systems keeping their high-floor fleets, and others retiring them early but, in many instances, selling them second-hand for continued use in countries where there was a demand for low-cost second-hand trolleybuses, in particular in Romania and Bulgaria. The Lausanne system dealt with this dilemma in the 1990s by purchasing new low-floor passenger trailers to be towed by its high-floor trolleybuses,

729-579: A publicly owned transportation authority. In 1950, legislation was passed to create the city-owned Montreal Transportation Commission, which would be charged with taking over the assets of the Montreal Tramways Company, which it officially did in June 1951. The Commission decided to convert all streetcar lines to buses within 10 years. To relieve traffic congestion, the newly established Montreal Transportation Commission decided to convert

810-453: A switch while braking or accelerating through a switch without activating it. One variation of the toggle switch will simulate accelerating by causing a larger power draw (through a resistance grid), but will not simulate coasting and prevent activation of the switch by cutting the power. A Selectric switch has a similar design, but the contacts on the wires are skewed, often at a 45-degree angle, rather than being lined up. This skew means that

891-401: A transmitter, often attached to a trolley pole. The receiver is attached to the switch and causes it to trigger if the correct code is received. This has the advantage that the driver does not need to be accelerating the bus (as with a power-on/power-off switch) or trying to make a sharp turn (as with a Selectric switch). Trailing switches (where two sets of wires merge) do not require action by

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972-432: A trolleybus going straight through will not trigger the switch, but a trolleybus making a turn will have its poles match the contacts in a matching skew (with one pole shoe ahead of the other), which will trigger the switch regardless of power draw (accelerating versus coasting). For a Fahslabend switch, the trolleybus' turn indicator control (or a separate driver-controlled switch) causes a coded radio signal to be sent from

1053-701: A trolleybus to get around a route blockage or can reduce the amount (or complexity) of overhead wiring needed at operating garages (depots). This capability has become increasingly common in newer trolleybuses, particularly in China, North America and Europe, where the vast majority of new trolleybuses delivered since the 1990s are fitted with at least limited off-wire capability. These have gradually replaced older trolleybuses which lacked such capability. In Philadelphia , new trackless trolleys equipped with small hybrid diesel-electric power units for operating short distances off-wire were placed in service by SEPTA in 2008. This

1134-475: Is an electric bus that draws power from dual overhead wires (generally suspended from roadside posts) using spring-loaded trolley poles . Two wires , and two trolley poles, are required to complete the electrical circuit. This differs from a tram or streetcar, which normally uses the track as the return path, needing only one wire and one pole (or pantograph ). They are also distinct from other kinds of electric buses , which usually rely on batteries . Power

1215-406: Is in motion under the overhead wires and then allows off-wire travel for significant distances, often in excess of 15 km. Such trolleybuses are called, among others, trolleybuses with In-Motion Charging, hybrid trolleybuses, battery trolleybuses and electric buses with dynamic charging. The main advantages of this technology over conventional battery electric buses are reduced cost and weight of

1296-532: Is installed some distance from the intersection to choose the wires over the left-turn lane, and another switch is mounted closer to or in the intersection to choose between straight through and a right turn (this would be the arrangement in countries such as the United States, where traffic directionality is right-handed; in left-handed traffic countries such as the United Kingdom and New Zealand,

1377-626: Is instead of the trolleys using a conventional diesel drive train or battery-only system for their off-wire movement. King County Metro in Seattle, Washington and the MBTA in Boston 's Silver Line have used dual-mode buses that run on electric power from overhead wires on a fixed right-of-way and on diesel power on city streets. Metro used special-order articulated Breda buses, introduced in 1990, and most were retired in 2005. A limited number of

1458-616: Is most commonly supplied as 600- volt direct current , but there are exceptions. Currently, around 300 trolleybus systems are in operation, in cities and towns in 43 countries. Altogether, more than 800 trolleybus systems have existed, but not more than about 400 concurrently. The trolleybus dates back to 29 April 1882, when Dr. Ernst Werner Siemens demonstrated his " Elektromote " in a Berlin suburb. This experiment continued until 13 June 1882, after which there were few developments in Europe, although separate experiments were conducted in

1539-703: Is now the standard trolleybus current collection system. In the early days there were many other methods of current collection. The Cédès-Stoll (Mercédès-Électrique-Stoll) system was first operated near Dresden between 1902 and 1904, and 18 systems followed. The Lloyd-Köhler or Bremen system was tried out in Bremen with 5 further installations, and the Cantono Frigerio system was used in Italy. Throughout this period, trackless freight systems and electric canal boats were also built. Leeds and Bradford became

1620-497: Is operated electrically just as a tramcar without limitation of the range. It concept of trolleybus and ebus with Battery electric bus . IMC500 transfers energy from the infrastructure to the vehicle at a power of up to 500 kW. The e.g. 2 x 160 kW motors are supplied in parallel to the battery charging with e.g. 200 kW. With increasing diesel fuel costs and problems caused by particulate matter and NO x emissions in cities, trolleybuses can be an attractive alternative, either as

1701-839: Is the oldest operating system in the world. With a length of 86 km, route #52 of Crimean Trolleybus is the longest trolleybus line in the world. See also Trolleybus usage by country . Transit authorities in some cities have reduced or discontinued the use of trolleybuses in recent years, while others, wanting to add or expand use of zero-emission vehicles in an urban environment, have opened new systems or are planning new systems. For example, new systems opened in Lecce , Italy, in 2012; in Malatya , Turkey, in 2015; and in Marrakesh , Morocco, in 2017. Beijing and Shanghai have been expanding their respective systems, with Beijing expanding to

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1782-776: The Boston system . Subsequently, the Vancouver system and the Philadelphia system have converted entirely to low-floor vehicles, and in 2013 the Seattle and Dayton systems both placed orders for their first low-floor trolleybuses. Outside São Paulo, almost all trolleybuses currently in service in Latin America are high-floor models built before 2000. However, in 2013, the first domestically manufactured low-floor trolleybuses were introduced in both Argentina and Mexico. With regard to non-passenger aspects of vehicle design,

1863-456: The La Spezia (Italy) system being the last one to do so, and several systems in other parts of the world have purchased low-floor vehicles. In the United States, some transit agencies had already begun to accommodate persons in wheelchairs by purchasing buses with wheelchair lifts , and early examples of fleets of lift-equipped trolleybuses included 109 AM General trolleybuses built for

1944-454: The Seattle trolleybus system in 1979 and the retrofitting of lifts in 1983 to 64 Flyer E800s in the Dayton system 's fleet. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 required that all new transit vehicles placed into service after 1 July 1993 be accessible to such passengers. Trolleybuses in other countries also began to introduce better access for the disabled in the 1990s, when

2025-633: The Soviet Union . Generally trolleybuses occupy a position in usage between street railways (trams) and motorbuses. Worldwide, around 300 cities or metropolitan areas on 5 continents are served by trolleybuses (further detail under Use and preservation , below). This mode of transport operates in large cities, such as Belgrade , Lyon , Pyongyang , São Paulo , Seattle , Sofia , St. Petersburg , and Zurich , as well as in smaller ones such as Dayton , Gdynia , Lausanne , Limoges , Modena , and Salzburg . As of 2020, Kyiv has, due to its history in

2106-650: The 1980s, systems such as Muni in San Francisco, TransLink in Vancouver, and Beijing , among others, have bought trolleybuses equipped with batteries to allow them to operate fairly long distances away from the wires. Supercapacitors can be also used to move buses short distances. Trolleybuses can optionally be equipped either with limited off-wire capability—a small diesel engine or battery pack—for auxiliary or emergency use only, or full dual-mode capability . A simple auxiliary power unit can allow

2187-523: The Americas, the first low-floor trolleybus was a Busscar vehicle supplied to the São Paulo EMTU system in 2001. In North America, wheelchair lifts were again chosen for disabled access in new trolleybuses delivered to San Francisco in 1992–94, to Dayton in 1996–1999, and to Seattle in 2001–2002, but the first low-floor trolleybus was built in 2003, with the first of 28 Neoplan vehicles for

2268-515: The Breda dual-mode buses had their diesel engines removed, and operated exclusively as trolleybuses until 2016. Since 2004, the MBTA has used dual-mode buses on its Silver Line (Waterfront) route. The last of these were be replaced by diesel hybrid and battery-electric buses in June 2023. IMC (In Motion Charging) trolleybuses are equipped with a light-weight battery, the size of which is adapted to

2349-523: The Camillien Houde Parkway meet. The 93-Remembrance route was one of the shortest in the city, being only about three-quarters-mile (1.2 km) long from its western terminus at Remembrance and Côte des Neiges Roads. While the 93-Remembrance route was a relatively straight line to Summit Loop, the 11-Mountain route was far more challenging. The route up the east side of the mountain featured sharp curves, grades as steep as 10 percent and

2430-787: The Italian builders Alfa Romeo (2,044) and Fiat (approx. 1,700). The largest former trolleybus manufacture is Trolza (formerly Uritsky, or ZiU) since 1951, until they declared their bankruptcy in 2017, building over 65000 trolleybuses. Also, Canadian Car and Foundry built 1,114 trolleybuses based on designs by Brill. As of the 2010s, at least 30 trolleybus manufacturers exist. They include companies that have been building trolleybuses for several decades, such as Škoda since 1936 and New Flyer , among others, along with several younger companies. Current trolleybus manufacturers in western and central Europe include Solaris , Van Hool , and Hess , among others. In Russia ZiU/Trolza has historically been

2511-578: The Montreal Park & Island Railway and the Montreal Terminal Railway. The Montreal Tramways Company would own and operate the transportation system until the system was taken over by the city-owned Montreal Transportation Commission in 1951. Through the war years (1939 to 1945), Montreal's streetcar system carried huge passenger loads with workers commuting to busy factories supplying the war effort. Every available streetcar

Streetcars in Montreal - Misplaced Pages Continue

2592-542: The Montreal Street Railway Co to allow MP&IR cars to run through to terminals in Montreal. The company was formed on 1893-12-27 and was eventually consolidated with other companies to form the Montreal Tramways Company in 1911 In 1911 a new corporate entity, the Montreal Tramways Company was formed consolidating the city streetcar routes of the Montreal Street Railway and the suburban routes of

2673-447: The Montreal Street Railway constructed two open-topped sightseeing streetcars locally known as Golden Chariots. Seating was arranged in an ascending configuration (like a theatre's tiered seats) toward the rear to provide a commanding view of the sights. Two more vehicles were constructed in the 1920s. All cars are currently preserved in museums. Ostensibly for tourists, they were probably always more popular with Montrealers looking for

2754-609: The US, some systems subscribed to the all-four concept of using buses, trolleybuses, streetcars ( trams, trolleys) , and rapid transit subway and/or elevated lines (metros), as appropriate, for routes ranging from the lightly used to the heaviest trunk line. Buses and trolleybuses in particular were seen as entry systems that could later be upgraded to rail as appropriate. In a similar fashion, many cities in Britain originally viewed trolleybus routes as extensions to tram (streetcar) routes where

2835-713: The United Kingdom, but there were a few, usually solitary, instances of such trolleybuses being built in other countries, including in Germany by Henschel (for Hamburg); in Italy, by Lancia (for Porto, Portugal); in Russia, by the Yaroslavl motor plant (for Moscow) and in Spain, by Maquitrans (for Barcelona). British manufacturers of double-deck trolleybuses included AEC , BUT , Crossley , Guy , Leyland , Karrier , Sunbeam and others. In 2001, Citybus (Hong Kong) converted

2916-574: The United States (and in Britain, as noted above) came into existence when a trolley or tram route did not have sufficient ridership to warrant track maintenance or reconstruction. In a similar manner, a proposed tram scheme in Leeds, United Kingdom, was changed to a trolleybus scheme to cut costs. Trolleybuses are uncommon today in North America, but their use is widespread in Europe and Russia. They remain common in many countries which were part of

2997-501: The United States. In 1899, another vehicle which could run either on or off rails was demonstrated in Berlin. The next development was when Louis Lombard-Gérin operated an experimental line at the Paris Exhibition of 1900 after four years of trials, with a circular route around Lake Daumesnil that carried passengers. Routes followed in six places including Eberswalde and Fontainebleau. Max Schiemann on 10 July 1901 opened

3078-525: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.237 via cp1104 cp1104, Varnish XID 206127140 Upstream caches: cp1104 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:47:17 GMT Trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus , trolley coach , trackless trolley , trackless tram  – in the 1910s and 1920s  – or trolley )

3159-623: The battery due to its smaller size, no delays for charging at end stops as the vehicle charges while in motion and reduced need for dedicated charging stations that take up public space. This new development allows the extension of trolleybus routes or the electrification of bus routes without the need to build overhead wires along the whole length of the route. Cities that utilize such trolleybuses include Beijing , Ostrava , Shanghai , Mexico City , Saint Petersburg , and Bergen . The new trolleybus systems in Marrakesh , Baoding and Prague are based exclusively on battery trolleybuses. In 2020,

3240-492: The city of Berlin , Germany announced plans to build a new trolleybus system with 15 routes and 190 battery trolleybuses. However, in early 2023 it was announced that the planned lines would use battery powered electric buses instead. Introducing new flexible, high-capacity public transport of in motion charging (IMC) trolleybuses are electric buses that can charge dynamically via an overhead contact network and can run on batteries for up to half of their route. Because an IMC bus

3321-460: The city's busiest routes. On March 31, 2014, the STM began testing a Chinese BYD prototype all-electric bus on several routes with a plan to have Novabus of St. Eustache, Quebec begin to trial its own version later the same year. The earlier plan to incorporate trolley busses using overhead wires was put on hold for further study. Lachine, Quebec Too Many Requests If you report this error to

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3402-614: The company only used the Golden Chariots on the spectacular mountain right-of-way for occasional charter trips. The Mount Royal streetcar private right-of-way would later become the Camillien Houde Parkway for automobiles. Service was normally provided by the regular cars of the 11-Mountain route from the east, and the 93-Remembrance route from the west. Both routes met at Summit Loop near today's Beaver Lake ( Lac des Castors ) Pavilion where Remembrance Road and

3483-490: The cost of constructing or restoring track could not be justified at the time, though this attitude changed markedly (to viewing them as outright replacements for tram routes) in the years after 1918. Trackless trolleys were the dominant form of new post-World War I electric traction , with extensive systems in among others, Los Angeles, Chicago , Boston , Rhode Island , and Atlanta ; San Francisco and Philadelphia still maintain an "all-four" fleet. Some trolleybus lines in

3564-543: The countries where they have operated. The United Kingdom has the largest number of preserved trolleybuses with more than 110, while the United States has around 70. Most preserved vehicles are on static display only, but a few museums are equipped with a trolleybus line, allowing trolleybuses to operate for visitors. Museums with operational trolleybus routes include three in the UK – the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft ,

3645-552: The curb instead of stopping traffic in the middle of the street. They were still dependent on overhead trolley wires. Their passenger capacity was also less than the larger streetcars. Although all streetcar lines had been converted to buses by 1959, traffic congestion had not improved as hoped. City traffic engineers came up with a plan to turn many major streets into one-way thoroughfares, which would affect several trolley bus routes. Trolley buses by this time had fallen out of favour with transit companies, and new North American equipment

3726-457: The development of new neighborhoods further from the city centre and not served by the company's streetcars. Traffic congestion was becoming a bigger problem, especially in the narrower streets of the older parts of downtown Montreal. The company's 30-year contract with the city was also coming to an end in 1948. For all of these reasons, the company was reluctant to spend money on expansion and modernization. Instead they would sell their assets to

3807-415: The disadvantages listed may be applicable only with a specific technology or design. With the re-introduction of hybrid designs, trolleybuses are no longer tied to overhead wires. The Public Service Company of New Jersey , with Yellow Coach , developed "All Service Vehicles"; trackless trolleys capable of operating as gas-electric buses when off wire, and used them successfully between 1935 and 1948. Since

3888-445: The earlier years. The Montreal Street Railway, and later the Montreal Tramways Company, operated a smaller two-axle vehicle used as a rolling stage for the company's employee band. A prison car with no side windows was used to take miscreants between the downtown courthouse and the outlying Bordeaux Prison before roads were improved. The streetcar fleet also included two funeral cars, the second and larger of which saw heavy use during

3969-639: The early days, the Montreal City Passenger Railway used horse-drawn sleighs in the winter and horsecars in the summer. In the muddy seasons in between, omnibuses were used. With the coming of electric cars in 1892, the Montreal Street Railway and later the Montreal Tramways Co began to buy a variety of electric car types: In the 1930s, as streetcar lines were being converted to buses, some lines were converted to electric trolley buses. And order for seven AEC 664Ts

4050-442: The end of the war. There was much rehabilitation work that had to be done to the track, the overhead trolley wires and the streetcars themselves. There was also much more competition. Manufacturing of automobiles for the civilian market started up again and after the deprivations of the war, many people began to buy one, including former streetcar passengers. Streetcar passenger numbers were starting to fall. The automobile encouraged

4131-570: The event. Many of the outlying routes, especially those running on private rights-of-way , lasted the longest. The city's last streetcars operated on August 30, 1959, after which Montreal was served solely by buses until the Metro opened in October 1966. A parade similar to the one in 1956 was held to mark the occasion. A four-route network of electric trolley buses continued operating until 1966 at which point they were converted to Diesel. In 1905,

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4212-652: The first cities to put trolleybuses into service in Great Britain, on 20 June 1911. Supposedly, though it was opened on 20 June, the public was not admitted to the Bradford route until the 24th. Bradford was also the last city to operate trolleybuses in the UK; the system closed on 26 March 1972. The last rear-entrance trolleybus in service in Britain was also in Bradford and is now owned by the Bradford Trolleybus Association . Birmingham

4293-401: The first switch (before the intersection) would be used to access the right-turn lanes, and the second switch (usually in the intersection) would be for the left-turn). Three common types of switches exist: power-on/power-off (the picture of a switch above is of this type), Selectric, and Fahslabend. A power-on/power-off switch is triggered if the trolleybus is drawing considerable power from

4374-697: The first two low-floor trolleybus models were introduced in Europe, both built in 1991, a "Swisstrolley" demonstrator built by Switzerland's NAW / Hess and an N6020 demonstrator built by Neoplan . The first production-series low-floor trolleybuses were built in 1992: 13 by NAW for the Geneva system and 10 Gräf & Stift for the Innsbruck system  [ de ] . By 1995, such vehicles were also being made by several other European manufacturers, including Skoda , Breda , Ikarus , and Van Hool . The first Solaris "Trollino" made its debut in early 2001. In

4455-499: The former Soviet Union countries, Belarus' Belkommunmash built its first low-floor trolleybus (model AKSM-333) in 1999, and other manufacturers in the former Soviet countries joined the trend in the early 2000s. However, because the lifespan of a trolleybus is typically longer than that of a motorbus, the budget allocation and purchase typically factored in the longevity; the introduction of low-floor vehicles applied pressures on operators to retire high-floor trolleybuses that were only

4536-469: The former Soviet Union, the largest trolleybus system in the world in terms of route length while another formerly Soviet city, Minsk , has the largest system in terms of number of routes (which also date back to the Soviet era). Landskrona has the smallest system in terms of route length, while Mariánské Lázně is the smallest city to be served by trolleybuses. Opened in 1914, Shanghai's trolleybus system

4617-413: The influenza epidemic of 1918. They were used to carry caskets to the outlying Hawthorndale Cemetery, which was beyond the reach of good roads at the time. The funeral cars only carried caskets with the mourners having to take regular streetcars. Montreal also used trolleybuses . Introduced in 1937, they were seen as having some advantages over streetcars. Unlike streetcars, they could load and unload at

4698-417: The inner city routes first. Many of Montreal's streetcar routes included running on a portion of Sainte Catherine Street (Rue Sainte-Catherine) downtown. On some downtown sections of this street, there was a headway of 10 seconds or less between streetcars but by the end of August 1956, streetcar service on the street had come to an end. A parade of streetcars and historical equipment was held to commemorate

4779-471: The largest producers in North America and Western Europe – ones whose production totalled more than 1,000 units each – included the U.S. companies Brill (approx. 3,250 total), Pullman-Standard (2,007), and Marmon-Herrington (1,624); the English companies AEC (approx. 1,750), British United Traction (BUT) (1,573), Leyland (1,420) and Sunbeam (1,379); France's Vétra (more than 1,750); and

4860-560: The late 1950s. The designs of those sightseeing cars were sold to transit companies in Quebec City, Calgary and Vancouver, who all built their own versions of the car. The Montreal Park and Island Railway was incorporated by the Legislature of Quebec in 1885 to run railway service in the suburbs of Montreal. They built lines to Lachine , St Laurent and Cartierville , and to Sault-au-Récollet . The company had an agreement with

4941-404: The line profile used. This battery allows them not to depend on overhead lines. They can thus operate with a mix of electric wire and batteries (60% of the time on the wire and 40% on the battery). With the development of battery technology in recent years, trolleybuses with extended off-wire capability through on-board batteries are becoming popular. The on-board battery is charged while the vehicle

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5022-445: The operator. The frog runners are pushed into the desired position by the trolley shoe, or the frog is shaped so the shoe is guided onto the exit wire without any moving parts. Well over 200 different trolleybus makers have existed – mostly commercial manufacturers, but in some cases (particularly in communist countries ), built by the publicly owned operating companies or authorities. Of the defunct or former trolleybus manufacturers,

5103-528: The overhead wires, usually by accelerating, at the moment the poles pass over the contacts (the contacts are lined up on the wires in this case). If the trolleybus "coasts" through the switch, the switch will not activate. Some trolleybuses, such as those in Philadelphia and Vancouver, have a manual "power-coast" toggle switch that turns the power on or off. This allows a switch to be triggered in situations that would otherwise be impossible, such as activating

5184-633: The past. For an overview, by country, see Trolleybus usage by country , and for complete lists of trolleybus systems by location, with dates of opening and (where applicable) closure, see List of trolleybus systems and the related lists indexed there. Of the systems existing as of 2012, the majority are located in Europe and Asia, including 85 in Russia and 43 in Ukraine. However, there are eight systems existing in North America and nine in South America. Trolleybuses have been preserved in most of

5265-452: The primary transit mode or as a supplement to rapid transit and commuter rail networks. Trolleybuses are quieter than internal combustion engine vehicles. Mainly a benefit, it also provides much less warning of a trolleybus's approach. A speaker attached to the front of the vehicle can raise the noise to a desired "safe" level. This noise can be directed to pedestrians in front of the vehicle, as opposed to motor noise which typically comes from

5346-445: The rear of a bus and is more noticeable to bystanders than to pedestrians. Trolleybuses can share overhead wires and other electrical infrastructure (such as substations ) with tramways. This can result in cost savings when trolleybuses are added to a transport system that already has trams, though this refers only to potential savings over the cost of installing and operating trolleybuses alone. The wires are attached to poles next to

5427-458: The street and carefully stretched and mounted so that they are the same width apart and same height over the road (usually about 18 to 20 feet (~5.7m)). The pair of wires is insulated from the poles and provides about 500 to 600 volts to the bus below. Trolleybus wire switches (called "frogs" in the UK) are used where a trolleybus line branches into two or where two lines join. A switch may be either in

5508-408: The streetcar track network had shrunk even further. Contrary to popular belief, the Golden Chariots never operated in regular service over Mount Royal, the small 764-foot-high (233 m) mountain that is the city's namesake. It was found that if passengers stood in some areas of the upper tiers of the Golden Chariots, there was not enough of a safety clearance in the tunnel on that line. Therefore,

5589-479: The switch assembly, which power a pair of electromagnets , one in each frog with diverging wires ("frog" generally refers to one fitting that guides one trolley wheel / shoe onto a desired wire or across one wire. Occasionally, "frog" has been used to refer to the entire switch assembly). Multiple branches may be handled by installing more than one switch assembly. For example, to provide straight-through, left-turn or right-turn branches at an intersection, one switch

5670-467: The transition from high-floor to low-floor has meant that some equipment previously placed under the floor has been moved to the roof. Some transit operators have needed to modify their maintenance facilities to accommodate this change, a one-time expense. Since the end of 1997, no double-decker trolleybuses have been in service anywhere in the world, but, in the past, several manufacturers made such vehicles. Most builders of double-deck trolleybuses were in

5751-505: The world's fourth passenger-carrying trolleybus system, which operated at Bielatal (Biela Valley, near Dresden ), Germany. Schiemann built and operated the Bielatal system , and is credited with developing the under-running trolley current collection system, with two horizontally parallel overhead wires and rigid trolleypoles spring-loaded to hold them up to the wires. Although this system operated only until 1904, Schiemann had developed what

5832-575: The world's largest trolleybus manufacturer, producing over 65,000 since 1951, mostly for Russia/CIS countries, but after its bankruptcy, its facilities were partially loaned out to PC Transport Systems . Škoda is Western and Central Europe's largest and the second largest in the world, having produced over 14,000 trolleybuses since 1936, mostly for export, and it also supplies trolleybus electrical equipment for other bus builders such as Solaris, SOR and Breda. In Mexico, trolleybus production ended when MASA , which had built more than 860 trolleybuses since 1979,

5913-581: Was acquired in 1998 by Volvo. However, Dina , which is now that country's largest bus and truck manufacturer, began building trolleybuses in 2013. A significant change to trolleybus designs starting in the early 1990s was the introduction of low-floor models, which began only a few years after the first such models were introduced for motorbuses . These have gradually replaced high-floor designs, and by 2012, every existing trolleybus system in Western Europe had purchased low-floor trolleybuses, with

5994-472: Was established in the late 1940s. That followed a counter-clockwise route along Ste. Catherine, Delorimier, Mount Royal Avenue, Park, Laurier, Côte Ste. Catherine, Bellingham, Maplewood, Decelles, Queen Mary, Côte des Neiges, and back to Ste. Catherine. This second route lasted only a few years being discontinued when streetcar service ended on Côte des Neiges in 1955. By 1956, the original and remaining Golden Chariot route had to be adjusted as streetcar trackage

6075-561: Was harder to get. Montreal's Brill trolley buses were quickly approaching the end of their economic service lives. As a result of all of these factors, the Commission decided to end trolley bus service in 1966. Two of the four trolley bus routes were converted to diesel buses in April while the last two trolley bus routes were converted to diesel buses in June. Montreal's new subway, the Metro, would open just four months later in October. In

6156-531: Was known as one of the most innovative and progressive in North America. One of its innovations was the introduction of the "Pay As You Enter" (P.A.Y.E.) system of fare collection in 1905. Prior to that time, conductors would walk through the car collecting fares meaning many passengers probably rode for free on very crowded cars. The P.A.Y.E. system was adopted worldwide by many other transit companies. The company also designed and built two open sightseeing (another two were built later) cars that were in service until

6237-633: Was placed and, later, 80 of the model T-44 and 25 of the model T-44A were purchased from Canadian Car & Foundry . In February 2006, Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay suggested the city look into a return of the streetcar into the heart of the city, following a visit to Paris , where new service started in 1992. In early 2012, the STM announced a plan to convert its entire fleet of buses over to all-electric by 2025. Beginning in 2012, all STM bus purchases will be either hybrids or electrics and, starting in 2011, Montreal will begin testing trolley buses (electric buses powered by overhead wires) on some of

6318-613: Was put into service. The company even bought several streetcars from U.S. systems that were converting to buses. Even private automobile owners were taking streetcars as rationing made gasoline and tires difficult to get. Most manufacturing of private automobiles was halted about halfway through the war years so assembly plants could concentrate on military vehicles. The Montreal Tramways Company had its own difficulties in getting material and some maintenance had to be deferred. The heavy wartime traffic and deferred maintenance took its toll. The Montreal Tramways Company faced major challenges at

6399-408: Was reduced. When streetcar service ended on Sherbrooke and Ste. Catherine at the end of August 1956, cars were rerouted. Instead of turning east from Girouard to Sherbrooke, they continued south on Girouard to Upper Lachine Road , then Saint-Antoine to Bleury and Park . They last ran in regular service in the summer of 1957 although they could still be chartered in the summer of 1958. By then, however,

6480-550: Was the first UK city to replace a tram route with trolleybuses, while Wolverhampton , under the direction of Charles Owen Silvers, became world-famous for its trolleybus designs. There were 50 trolleybus systems in the UK, London's being the largest. By the time trolleybuses arrived in Britain in 1911, the Schiemann system was well established and was the most common, although the Cédès-Stoll (Mercédès-Électrique-Stoll) system

6561-559: Was tried in West Ham (in 1912) and in Keighley (in 1913). Smaller trackless trolley systems were built in the US early as well. The first non-experimental system was a seasonal municipal line installed near Nantasket Beach in 1904; the first year-round commercial line was built to open a hilly property to development just outside Los Angeles in 1910. The trackless trolley was often seen as an interim step, leading to streetcars . In

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