Trolleybuses are back as demand grows for cleaner 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.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
26 minutes ago
- CNBC
U.S. trade deal offers initial relief but leaves Europe on the backfoot
After an initial sigh of relief at the U.S. and European Union avoiding further escalation by striking a trade agreement, concerns have grown that the framework deal is "unbalanced" and leaves Europe on the backfoot. The two trading partners on Sunday announced an agreement that includes a 15% tariff rate on most EU goods to the U.S. Some goods like aircraft components and certain chemicals are not set to be hit by tariffs, while autos will see duties reduced to the 15% rate. The agreement also includes provisions for the EU purchasing U.S. energy and increasing its investments in the country. The agreement halves the 30% tariff rate U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened the EU with and avoids any further escalation through for example countermeasures. Yet analysts and economists remain cautious as to the impact on both sides as negotiations are still set to take place. "It's a climb down from a much worse place," Cailin Birch, global economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit, told CNBC's "Europe Early Edition" on Monday. However, she noted, "a 15% tariff is still a big escalation from where we were pre-Trump 2.0." Birch also pointed out that a lot of uncertainty remains, with details about the steel and pharmaceutical sector still being unclear. European leaders struck similar notes overnight, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz saying that while the EU was able to protect its core interests, he would have welcomed further easing of transatlantic trade. France's minister for Europe, Benjamin Haddad, meanwhile said in a Google-translated social media post that while the deal would bring "temporary stability" to some sectors, it is "unbalanced" overall. Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, warned that while the "crippling uncertainty" was over, the damage for Europe is more frontloaded in comparison to the long-term impact on the U.S. "The deal is asymmetric. The US gets away with a substantial increase in its tariffs on imports from the EU and has secured further EU concessions to boot. In his apparent zero-sum mentality, Trump can claim that as a "win" for him," he said. As it will take some time for U.S. consumers to feel the impact of tariffs, Trump's supporters may not immediately realize they are being hurt by the president's policies, Schmieding explained. This may encourage Trump to continue to pursue economic policies that are "bad" for the U.S., he added. The Economist Intelligence Unit's Birch meanwhile pointed out that the U.S. also did not get everything it may have wanted from the deal. "Both sides are, are kind of set back a bit from this deal," she said. "The U.S. didn't make any headway on a lot of issues that have in recent history been critical to their trade approach to the EU. So agricultural standards, the tech industry regulating standard that has been a big bugbear, there was no real mention of those standards whatsoever," Birch explained, acknowledging that the deal is not yet done.
Newsweek
27 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Global Markets Welcome US-EU Trade Deal
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Financial markets around the world welcomed a framework trade agreement on Monday between the United States and the European Union with a 15 percent U.S. tariff on most EU goods and billions of dollars of European investment. U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the agreement on Sunday at Trump's luxury golf course in Scotland following months of difficult negotiations. Why It Matters The deal averts a devastating trade war between the two economies, which represent the world's largest trade volume, encompassing hundreds of millions of people and trillions of dollars in commerce. Trump had this month threatened to impose a 30 percent tariff on goods from the E.U., which would have meant American consumers facing higher prices on everything from French cheese to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals. The EU had prepared retaliatory tariffs on hundreds of American products, including beef, auto parts, beer and Boeing airplanes, which could have sent shock waves through global economies. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after reaching a trade deal between the U.S. and the EU at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, on July 27. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after reaching a trade deal between the U.S. and the EU at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, on July 27. Jacquelyn Martin/AP What To Know The deal provides clarity for companies after months of uncertainty, and global markets breathed a sigh of relief as they opened on Monday, with stocks rising and the euro firmer. S&P 500 futures rose 0.4 percent, and the Nasdaq futures gained 0.5 percent while the euro firmed against the dollar, sterling and yen. European futures surged almost 1 percent. Under the deal, the EU seeks to invest some $600 billion in the U.S. and ramp up its purchases of U.S. military equipment and buy $750 billion worth of U.S. energy. "I think this is the biggest deal ever made," Trump told reporters in Scotland on Sunday. Von der Leyen described Trump as a tough negotiator. She told reporters that the 15 percent tariff, which applied "across the board," was "the best we could get." In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.27 percent early on Monday, just shy of the almost four-year high it touched last week. Japan's Nikkei index fell 0.8 percent after hitting a one-year high last week when Japan struck its own trade deal with the U.S., which also included a 15 percent U.S. tariff on Japanese goods. China's blue-chip stocks rose 0.3 percent on Monday morning, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index put on 0.75 percent. The Australian dollar, often seen as a proxy for risk appetite, was at $0.657 to the U.S. dollar, near an eight-month high set last week. What People Are Saying European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen told reporters: "We should not forget where we would have been on the first of August. We would have been at 30 percent, and it would have been much more difficult to get down now to the 15 percent. Fifteen percent is certainly a challenge for some, but we should not forget that it keeps us the access to the American market, and what we are also doing intensively is diversifying to other regions of the world." Prashant Newnaha, a senior Asia-Pacific rates strategist at TD Securities, told Reuters: "A 15 percent tariff on European goods, forced purchases of U.S. energy and military equipment and zero tariff retaliation by Europe, that's not negotiation, that's the art of the deal. A big win for the U.S." Marc Velan, the head of investments at Lucerne Asset Management in Singapore, told Reuters: "A major tail-risk has now been defused. … Markets are interpreting this as a sign of stability and predictability returning to trade policy." What Happens Next Trade negotiators from the U.S. and China—the world's two largest economies—are due to meet in Stockholm on Monday. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach an agreement with the Trump administration. Many other countries are racing to finalize deals before an August 1 deadline.
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
Russia's economy is now so militarized, it may keep expanding its army even after the Ukraine war
Russia's war machine has become such an integral part of its economic engine that its military industry is likely to keep expanding even after the fighting in Ukraine ends, according to a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The end of hostilities will not lead to a radical cut-off of military investment," wrote CSIS analysts in a report published on Thursday. Now in its fourth year, Russia's war with Ukraine continues even as Russian President Vladimir Putin's administration weathers sweeping Western sanctions. And while cracks are starting to show, the Russian economy may still be able to sustain the war effort for several more years, the report said. Defense spending is set to hit a post-Soviet record of 6.3% of GDP in 2025 and could climb even higher despite mounting signs of economic slowdown or recession. "Russia's economy appears sustainable for the next few years," the CSIS analysts wrote. They forecast that the Kremlin could maintain its war of attrition through at least 2027. 'Russia could be preparing for some kind of future confrontation with NATO' The CSIS report comes amid renewed scrutiny of Russia's economy. Manufacturing activity contracted last month, and employment has suffered. GDP growth slowed to 1.4% in the first quarter, down sharply from 4.5% in the previous quarter. Still, Russia has defied expectations thanks to its growing military-industrial complex. "Having become the most sanctioned country in the world, it has managed to maneuver around many economic constraints, keeping revenues from energy sales high and its budget balanced, investing in the military and defense industry, ramping up domestic production of weapons and equipment, and boosting economic growth," wrote the think tank analysts. Crucially, the militarized economy has built a broad base of political and economic stakeholders — from elites to ordinary workers — who benefit from continued conflict. That makes any significant drawdown in military activity politically and economically unlikely. Even if a ceasefire is reached, Russia may still be able to rebuild and expand its armed forces over the next decade. "Russia's war-induced socioeconomic changes have been so significant that the process of societal militarization is unlikely to stop even if the war in Ukraine were to end," wrote the CSIS analysts. The Kremlin's strategic posture hasn't softened either. CSIS suggests Russia is preparing for a long-term confrontation with NATO, using the war to modernize its forces and test Western resolve. Beyond conventional arms, Russia has ramped up hybrid warfare, including cyberattacks, disinformation, sabotage, political meddling, and strikes on critical infrastructure. These tools allow Moscow to operate aggressively across multiple fronts. "Despite being inferior to NATO in terms of its conventional capabilities, today's Russia represents a bigger challenge to European security than it did at the start of 2022," the CSIS analysts wrote. The Kremlin is learning from past failures, adapting quickly, and growing more confident in what it sees as a West unwilling to stop it. "Moscow's ongoing large-scale military reforms signal that Russia could be preparing for some kind of future confrontation with NATO within roughly the next decade—including even a large-scale conventional war," they wrote.
