Trolleybus Esslingen am Neckar
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| Basic information | |
| Country |
 Germany
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| city | Esslingen am Neckar |
| opening | July 10, 1944 |
| operator | SVE |
| Transport network | VTS |
| Web presence | http://www.obus-es.de |
| Infrastructure | |
| Route length | 15.2 km |
| Substations | 5 |
| Power system | 600 V DC |
| Depots | 1 |
| business | |
| Lines | 3 |
| vehicles | 10 |
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The trolleybus Esslingen am Neckar is one of the three remaining trolleybus systems in Germany , along with the trolleybus Solingen and the trolleybus Eberswalde . With a network length of 15.2 kilometers and a fleet of ten articulated vehicles , Esslingen am Neckar has the smallest of these three trolleybus systems. The diameter line 101, the ring line 113 and the radial line 118 are operated electrically . However, the latter are not electrified throughout and can therefore only be operated by vehicles with auxiliary drives .
The Esslingen trolleybus is run by the municipal transport company Esslingen am Neckar (SVE), a municipal company . In addition to the three trolleybus lines, the SVE operates the four omnibus lines 102, 103, 105 and 111. A small part of the Esslingen trolleybus network is also within the boundaries of the neighboring state capital Stuttgart .
history
Opening after the tram operation was closed
The first plans for a trolleybus service in Esslingen were submitted to the Württemberg Ministry of the Interior as early as 1939 . On November 3, 1940, it issued the approval to convert the Esslingen am Neckar tram, which has been in service since 1912, to trolleybus operation. However, the implementation of this project was delayed by several years due to the war . Siemens-Schuckertwerke was commissioned to install the catenary system, and on August 27, 1942 the first catenary mast was erected on Plochinger Strasse . The depot in Plochinger Straße, built in 1912, was taken over from the tram , and some overhead line rosettes from then still serve the trolleybus today.
The passenger transport - concession is dated July 7, 1944 the opening of Esslinger trolleybus finally took place on 10 July 1944th After the early facilities of Ludwigsburg overhead line railways (1910 to 1926) on the one hand and trackless railway Heilbronn – Böckingen (1911 to 1914) on the other, Esslingen received the first modern trolleybus operation in Württemberg. It replaced the two tram lines 26 and 27 on the cut-off date, the last trams ran on the morning of July 7th. Initially two lines ran on the 7.026 kilometer long trolleybus route, on the jointly served section they offered a five-minute cycle :
| 31 | Oberesslingen - Esslingen train station - Mettingen - Obertürkheim | 10-minute intervals |
| 32 | Oberesslingen – Esslingen train station | 10-minute intervals |
In December 1944, however, the trolleybus operation was stopped on Sundays and public holidays due to a shortage of energy, and the closing time on working days was brought forward by one hour. In Oberesslingen, the trolleybuses turned - unlike the trams - by means of a counterclockwise block loop that led from Plochinger Strasse via Schorndorfer Strasse, Hindenburgstrasse and Hainbachstrasse back to Plochinger Strasse. The courses ending at Esslingen train station also used a left-turning loop of houses, which followed Bahnhofstrasse and Eisenbahnstrasse, which is now called Fleischmannstrasse. At Stuttgart-Obertürkheim station , there was a transfer option between the Esslingen trolleybus and the Stuttgart tram network until 1994. As with the tram, the practical implementation of the trolleybus was also carried out in the early years by the Stuttgart trams (SSB). However, on the occasion of the conversion, the company deleted the term tram from its name, and the Esslinger Städtische Straßenbahn , ESS for short , became the Esslingen am Neckar municipal transport company in 1944 .
As early as 1939, the SSB carried out tests on the tram route from Stuttgart Westbahnhof to Charlottenbuche using a borrowed trolleybus. The basis for the operation by the SSB was a joint partnership agreement . Only after this was terminated in 1950 did the SVE itself take over the business on January 1, 1951. At the same time, the two lines from 31 and 32 were renamed 1 and 2. The SVE did not initially have any bus routes, and bus and coach operations did not begin until 1953.
On March 27, 1951, a counter-clockwise intermediate turning loop was set up at Esslingen-Mettingen railway station . During the rush hour , some lines on line 2 ended there. In 1957, the SVE reduced the frequency of its two trolleybus lines from ten to twelve minutes.
Extension to the Lerchenäcker (1961) and construction of the Mettinger block loop (1973)
On June 9, 1960, the SVE received the approval for a 1200 meter long route extension to the then newly built Oberesslingen residential area Lerchenäcker. As early as November 2, 1960, the Lerchenäcker were provisionally served by an omnibus shuttle line following the two trolleybus lines, and on September 1, 1961, the catenary extension went into operation. From then on, three trolleybus lines operated, the L on line 1L stood for Lerchenäcker:
| 1 | Oberesslingen – Esslingen train station – Mettingen – Obertürkheim | 24-minute intervals |
| 1L | Lerchenäcker – Oberesslingen – Esslingen train station – Mettingen – Obertürkheim | 24-minute intervals |
| 2 | Oberesslingen – Esslingen train station | 12-minute intervals |
On April 1, 1964, the SVE gave up the line designation 1L again. It was fully integrated into Line 1, from now on all courses on Line 1 ran to Lerchenäcker. This increased the frequency of use for the lark fields from twenty-four to twelve minutes. In 1970, line 2 was finally extended to there, and since then, passengers from the Lerchenäckern have had a connection with the city center every six minutes.
Furthermore, the turning loop at the Mettingen train station was given up again in 1968 as part of the four-lane expansion of Cannstatter Straße and the area was later built over.
In February 1973 the new turning loop, which still exists today, went into operation in Mettingen, this time designed as a house block loop. For this purpose, an 800-meter-long, single-lane new line was built on Cannstatter Strasse out of town; the return trip in the direction of Esslingen is via the existing route through Schenkenbergstrasse. For a short time, the continuous courses to Obertürkheim also ran through Cannstatter Straße.
1974: Discussion of recruitment and trial operation of trolleybuses with additional batteries
In 1974 the Esslingen trolleybus was temporarily in danger of being discontinued. The main reason for this was the outdated and inhomogeneous vehicle population. The higher operating costs compared to diesel bus operation also played a role. In order to protect the partially worn-out wagons, electrical operation was therefore suspended from Monday to Friday from 7:00 p.m. on Monday to Friday, from 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and all day on Sundays. As early as 1959, the SVE was allowed to use omnibuses on the trolleybus routes on a case-by-case basis in an addendum to the 1944 concession.
In addition, the general trend back then spoke against the trolleybus. Apart from the operation discussed here, in 1974 only three of the once more than 50 West German trolleybus networks still existed. These were the trolleybus Aachen (which was then abandoned in February 1974), the trolleybus Kaiserslautern (closed in 1985) and the trolleybus Solingen (still in operation today).
In this situation, the then Federal Minister for Research and Technology , the Esslingen SPD deputy Dr. Volker Hauff , Esslingen, 1974 as a reference company for trolleybuses that can be used independently of contact lines. The project was a direct consequence of the 1973 oil crisis and ensured the continued existence of the Esslingen trolleybus.
Initially, only trolleybuses with a powerful auxiliary battery drive were tested , for which the new name Duo-Bus was created. Their traction motors were fed by an accumulator in overhead line operation ; this so-called traction battery was charged as soon as an overhead line was available again. Daimler-Benz was in charge of the experiment ; there were three vehicles. Ultimately, they did not prove themselves, the batteries only had a short lifespan of 15 months and also proved to be maintenance-intensive. The maintenance costs were one and a half times as high, the investment costs were 90 percent higher than those of comparable diesel buses. The attempt ended in 1981.
As an alternative, trolleybuses with a full-fledged diesel secondary drive were tested from 1979 onwards , to which the name Duo-Bus was ultimately transferred. They turned out to be far more successful than their all-electric counterparts. At times it was even planned to replace the entire SVE vehicle fleet, i.e. both trolleybuses and diesel buses, with 50 such vehicles.
When the timetable changed on March 15, 1976, the SVE also extended line 2 to Mettingen, using the Mettingen loop that had been opened three years earlier. At the other end of the route, the Oberesslingen turning loop, which was no longer needed, was abandoned in 1984.
In the course of increasing integration into the Stuttgart Transport and Tariff Association (VVS), lines 1 and 2 were renumbered 101 in 1985. For the first time in the history of the Esslingen trolleybus there was only one line signal. Initially nothing changed in the timetable, until October 18, 1986 some of the routes on route 101 (the former routes on route 2) ended in Mettingen.
In March 1987 a new turning loop went into operation at Obertürkheim station. Since then, the routes of the 101 line have circumnavigated the former post office in a clockwise direction, in return the double catenary crossing with the tram has been eliminated. Also in the course of 1987 the SVE opened its new depot at Heilbronner Strasse 70. It replaced the old tram depot and is connected to the trolleybus network over an approximately 100 meter long operating route through Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse.
1990: Expansion to Zollberg and start of regular duo bus operation
In December 1989, construction work began on the large-scale duo-bus test on the serpentine route in the Zollberg district . On September 1, 1990, electrical operation between the Weilstraße stop in Pliensauvorstadt and the Nellinger Linde stop on the city limits of Ostfildern (lines 119 and 120 of the END Verkehrsgesellschaft ) and during the loop ride through Zollberg (line 118 of the SVE) was finally started become. This also required two new substations, one at the middle Zollbergkehre and another between Zollbergstrasse and Achalmstrasse. More than twelve years after the Esslingen – Nellingen – Denkendorf tram was discontinued , Zollberg was once again given electric local transport .
There was initially no direct connection to the existing network; when the overhead line was being built on the Vogelsang Bridge, the masts could not be placed in the bridge's foundation as planned for structural reasons. They were therefore set up in a much stronger version on both banks of the Neckar , the mast spacing of 98 meters is a world record for overhead wire tensioning for trolleybuses. This temporary gap in the catenary network was therefore only closed on November 15, 1991, i.e. with a delay of over a year. From then on, line 118 could be operated electrically throughout; lines 119 and 120 did not have to change traction on Weilstrasse. In return, the house block loop at the train station was dropped in the spring of 1991 and was replaced by the simple turning loop on the station square, which is still in use today.
Lines 119 and 120, however, often ran continuously in diesel mode, especially in the city center. The reason for this: the Nellinger Linde system change stop is in an open field and is therefore only rarely frequented. Found there is no change of passengers takes place, the driver waived frequently on the operational stop the application of the trolley poles .
2000: abandonment of the duo bus concept and decision to keep the trolleybus
In June 2000 the Esslingen municipal council decided to say goodbye to the duo bus concept, but at the same time to ensure the continued existence of the entire system by purchasing pure trolleybuses for routes 101 and 118. As a result, the duo buses were gradually withdrawn from 2000 and were replaced by new trolleybuses or diesel buses. As a result, lines 119 and 120 were operated less and less electrically, and this has not been the case since July 2005. The catenary in the Zollberg – Nellingen Linde section was then orphaned for eleven years. The overhead line in the course of the access ramp to the Vogelsang Bridge was completely eliminated in March 2005.
The remaining duo buses were used until 2008 either in electric mode on lines 101 and 118 or in diesel mode on lines 101, 115, 118, 119 and 120. The SVE's last duo bus, the articulated tram 328, was finally parked on March 31, 2008 and sold to an intermediary in April 2008. After 33 years, the Esslingen duo bus era ended, with only nine vehicles remaining, the Esslingen trolleybus fleet also reached a historic low.
With the timetable change on December 12, 2010, the Hengstenberg stop was renamed Volkshochschule , and the Lerchenäcker stop was given the addition "Endstation".
Conversion of line 113 to Berkheim to electrical operation
With the procurement of new trolleybuses with a powerful auxiliary battery drive from the end of 2015, the bus line 113 to Berkheim was partially integrated into the trolleybus network for the timetable change on May 17, 2016 . However, no new overhead lines were built for this purpose, instead this line operates in combined contact line and battery operation. Initially only the courses that came from the train station via Zollberg were operated electrically. These wired out of town at the Mutzenreisstraße stop, in order to wire them in again later in the direction of the city at the Swimmingpool stop. Since autumn 2017, courses in the more challenging opposite direction have also been running regularly, i.e. the Berkheimer Steige uphill, electrically. They disconnected from the city center at the swimming pool and connected to the city center at the Zollberg Realschule stop. Diesel buses will continue to be used on line 113.
For line 113 - after eleven years of inactivity - the catenary infrastructure of the former duo bus lines 119 and 120, which had been idle since 2005, was put back into operation and prepared for this purpose (contact wire switch, single-wire funnel). On the other hand, the plan, which was pursued at times, to run the line over the tram terminus in Nellingen on the one hand and over the Festo factory premises on the other hand , was not implemented.
In connection with the integration of line 113 into the trolleybus network, line 118 was also switched to trolleybuses with auxiliary battery drives on May 17, 2016. These are necessary because since then every second route on line 118 has served the loop of houses through the Zollberg in the opposite direction - electrified only in a counterclockwise direction. The journeys in question were disconnected from the station at the Zollberg stop and then on again at the Oberer Eisbergweg stop. In addition, line 118 in Esslingen reaches the Vogelsangbrücke out of town again on the direct route, for which the catenary, dismantled in 2005, had to be reinstalled in the area of the access ramp. This measure reduced the circulation time to just under 30 minutes, with the changeover from 20 to 30 minute intervals, only one trolleybus is required for line 118. This reduction in service is partially offset by the fact that Zollberger Zollernplatz is also served by line 113 towards the city center. Due to the closure of Zollbergstrasse due to the construction site, no trolleybuses could run on lines 113 and 118 between April and September 2019, due to the retirement of the Van Hool trolleybuses and delays in the commissioning of the 505-510 trolleybuses, the battery trolleybuses will also be there in 2020 rarely in use.
Unrealized plans
Over the years there have been a number of projects to expand the comparatively small Esslingen trolleybus network:
- As early as 1948, Zell am Neckar , which was only incorporated into Esslingen in 1974, unsuccessfully applied for an extension of the trolleybus line from Oberesslingen.
- In 1949 there were considerations to run a trolleybus route to the Wäldenbronn district on the hillside .
- In 1957 it was planned to build a loop of houses in Obertürkheim. It would have led through Augsburger Strasse, Wittenbergstrasse and Göppinger Strasse. The investment costs of 20,000 Deutschmarks ultimately prevented the project from being implemented.
- In 1994 the Stuttgart tram line 4 was converted to light rail operation and at the same time shortened to Untertürkheim . Thereupon efforts were made to extend the line 101 to there as a substitute. Ultimately, however, those responsible decided to serve the relevant section with the SSB bus route 61.
vehicles
Procurements over the years
On the occasion of the opening of the company in the summer of 1944, ten short so-called military unit trolleybuses of standard size II were procured . They all had MAN chassis, five of which were built by Schumann , the remaining five by Kässbohrer . Four of the former trolleybuses were rebuilt in the 1950s by Reutter and Vetter .
The original equipment was supplemented at the end of 1944 by three long three-axle Alfa Romeo buses with Reggiane bodies. They came from the allied Italy and were actually intended for Rome . Already at the end of 1948 they had to be returned to Italy by order of the military government, they came to the trolleybus in Milan .
In the years 1952 to 1971, the worn out vehicles from the war and post-war period were replaced by seven type ÜHIIIs (two of which were used by Bremer Straßenbahn AG ) and eight of the successor series HS 160 OSL (one of which was used by the Baden-Baden trolleybus ) . In addition, in 1971 four ÜBIVs two-axle vehicles came from the Bonn trolleybus to Esslingen.
1975 began with a battery bus that was retrofitted with pantographs, the era of the duo buses in Esslingen. It was followed by eight other prototypes of various types before the 19 series cars from the O 405 GTD series were delivered from 1988 .
In the 1980s, for the first time since 1962, the SVE purchased pure trolleybuses again in parallel to the duo buses. These were the four articulated vehicles of the type VE 16 SO and the loner O 405 T . The latter was originally a Mercedes-Benz test car and only became the property of the transport company in 1991.
A total of nine low-floor articulated trolleybuses of the type AG 300 T followed in 2001/2002 . They were from the Belgian company Van Hool produced similar car also came to the Stadtwerke Solingen , the trolleybus Salzburg for trolleybus Vevey-Villeneuve and trolleybus Arnhem . Due to a joint order with Solingen and Salzburg, the unit price could be reduced to 550,000 euros. The Esslinger AG 300 T had an engine output of 210 kilowatts and all had a 50 kilowatt diesel auxiliary drive . They were removed from the portfolio between 2016 and 2020.
In 2015 and 2016, the Trollino 18.75 MetroStyle from Solaris (numbers 501 to 504) again purchased trolleybuses with auxiliary battery drives, which can also be used on lines 113 and 118. The battery capacity of the more simply designed Trollino 18s delivered in 2019 (numbers 505-510) has been increased from 37 to 48 kWh.
Car 213 with full advertising for market purchase
Car 210 in front of the Esslingen train station
In 2005, line 118 was still served by Van Hool articulated wagons, here wagon 210
Car 216 with advertising from Stadtwerke Esslingen
business
For route 101, which runs every 15 minutes, five Van Hool articulated wagons are required for scheduled traffic, with an additional sixth round-trip being needed for the amplifier trips to Mettingen on school days in the morning and at noon. All six Van Hool articulated trolleys are now planned. Line 113 requires three Solaris articulated cars with auxiliary batteries, line 118 requires one. There is therefore no reserve vehicle available.
table
To date, the following 84 cars have been procured for the Esslingen trolleybus:
| Numbers | piece | Manufacturer | Electrics | Type | Art | Duo bus | Start of deployment | End of use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51-55 | 5 | MAN / Schumann | BBC | MPE 4500 | solo | No | 1944 | 1969 |
| 56-60 | 5 | MAN / Kässbohrer | BBC | MPE 4500 | solo | No | 1944 | 1963 |
| 61-63 | 3 | Alfa Romeo / Reggiane | TIBB | 110 AF 2 | solo | No | 1944 | 1948 |
| 11-15, 29-30 | 7th | Uerdingen / Henschel | BBC | ÜHIIIs | solo | No | 1952 | 1980 |
| 16-23 | 8th | Henschel | Kiepe / BBC | HS 160 OSL | solo | No | 1960 | 2003 |
| 31-34 | 4th | Uerdingen / Büssing | Box | ÜBIVs | solo | No | 1971 | 1979 |
| no | 1 | Daimler Benz | Bosch / Dornier / VARTA | OE 302 13 RStn DUO | solo | Yes | 1975 | 1978 |
| 301-302 | 2 | Daimler Benz | Bosch / Dornier / VARTA | O 305 B / E | solo | Yes | 1979 | 1981 |
| 303-304 | 2 | Daimler Benz | Bosch / Dornier | O 305 D / E | solo | Yes | 1979 | 1987 |
| 305 | 1 | Daimler Benz | Bosch / Dornier | O 305 G D / E | joint | Yes | 1979 | 1988 |
| 306-308 | 3 | Daimler Benz | AEG | O 305 GTD | joint | Yes | 1983 | 1995 |
| 201-204 | 4th | cousin | Box | VE 16 SO | joint | No | 1983 | 2000 |
| 205 | 1 | Daimler Benz | AEG | O 405 T | solo | No | 1987 | 2002 |
| 310-328 | 19th | Daimler Benz | AEG | O 405 GTD | joint | Yes | 1988 | 2008 |
| 210-218 | 9 | Van Hool | Box | AG 300 T | joint | No | 2002 | only 210, 211 and 213 in operation |
| 501-504 | 4th | Solaris | Box | Trollino 18.75 MetroStyle | joint | No | 2016 | in operation |
| 505-510 | 6th | Solaris | Box | Trollino 18 | joint | No | 2020 | in operation |
In addition, 14 trolleybus trailers of three different types were available. They were in use until 1963; from July 1, 1960, a special permit was required for this.
The whereabouts of former cars
_in_2006.jpg)
The oldest surviving car is the ÜHIIIs number 13, built in 1955. Its body has been used as a play object on a playground in the Sankt Bernhardt district , right next to Esslingen University , since July 2001 . Car 23, acquired second-hand from Baden-Baden, has been with the Sandtoft Trolleybus Museum in Great Britain since 1979 , it is operational and registered. Historic trips were made in Esslingen from 1987 to 2003 with the identical car 22. The vehicle is currently inoperable, but should be restored by 2017.
Most of the duo buses were sold after they were no longer in service, and most of their subsequent owners continued to use them as pure diesel buses. Of the prototypes, car 305 went to Omnibus-Verkehr Ruoff in 1988 , car 307 went to the Vologda trolleybus in Russia in 1995 and car 308 was handed over to Stadtwerke Nordhausen in 1991 . The series vehicles of the type O 405 GTD went mainly to Eastern Europe, they operated after their sale:
- in Romanian Sibiu (310)
- in Mahiljou, Belarus (311)
- in the Bulgarian cities of Russe (324 and 326) and Slanchev Brjag (320 and 321)
- at the transport company JKP GRAS Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina (312–317 and 319)
- at the Kirchmeyer & Sohn bus company in Groß-Umstadt (318)
- at Stadtwerke Schweinfurt (325)
Car 327 went to the SHB - also by loan agreement. It is operational, but not approved. The whereabouts of cars 322, 323 and 328 is not known.
Of the four cars from the VE 16 SO small series, one also went to Vologda in 1995, the other three went to the Timișoara trolleybus in Romania in 2001 . The one-off 205 was also sold to the Sarajevo trolleybus in 2003 . The Van Hool buses 212, 214 and 218 arrived in Mediaș , Romania, in 2016 , the cars 216 and 217 were transferred to Solingen in March 2020 as spare parts donors.
The only surviving trailer is car 96 of the Kässbohrer type PA 4, built in 1955. It is parked at the Gaisburg bus depot of the Stuttgart trams.
See also
Web links
- Official website of the municipal transport company Esslingen am Neckar
- The trolleybus and duo bus operation in Esslingen am Neckar - private site of Ronald Kiebler
- Picture gallery on www.railfaneurope.net
- Otherwise there will be sparks - portrait of the Esslinger trolleybus in the Esslinger Zeitung from September 6, 2010
- Electrified for 66 years - portrait of the Esslingen trolleybus in the Stuttgarter Zeitung on November 2, 2010
Individual evidence
- ↑ Contact line systems and technical equipment at www.obus-es.de
- ↑ a b c d e f g History of the SVE at www.obus-es.de
- ↑ Technology with future potential , Esslinger Zeitung, August 15, 2012 (PDF; 275 kB)
- ↑ From the horse-drawn tram to the city and S-Bahn - local public transport in the west of Stuttgart , Gottfried Bauer, published in From the early days to the present - contributions to the west of Stuttgart , Chronik-Verlag Frank-Michael Bräuchle, Stuttgart, 1984
- ↑ a b Annual overview 1974 on www.obus-es.de
- ↑ a b When the trolleybus replaced the tram , Stuttgarter Zeitung of October 22, 2007
- ↑ Description of the Esslingen Duo-Bus prototype at www.obus-es.de
- ↑ Press kit: In the service of the environment: Alternative drives in commercial vehicles from Daimler AG ( Memento of the original from October 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Contact line systems and technical facilities in the Esslingen trolleybus network
- ↑ TROLLEY: MOTION, Esslingen - first battery / trolleybus arrived ( memento of the original from January 30, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ The system of the future in the Esslinger Zeitung from June 19, 2009
- ↑ Pioneer Esslingen is expanding the network: The future belongs to the trolleybus in the Stuttgarter Nachrichten of June 18, 2009 ( Memento of the original of August 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Henschel trolleybus 22 on obus-es.de
