Athens / Piraeus trolleybus

Network plan

The Athens / Piraeus trolleybus ( Greek Τρόλεϊ ) is the only trolleybus operator in Greece . Originally, these were two independent networks in the port city of Piraeus and in the neighboring capital Athens . In 1988 they were combined and have been operated together ever since; entrepreneurially they had already been combined. Today, a total of 366 trolleybuses operate in both cities; these are located in four different depots and serve a total of 22 lines . Three of them are in Piraeus. The Athens / Piraeus trolleybus is the largest trolleybus operation in theEuropean Union , before the network in San Francisco , it is also the largest in the western world .

The trolleybus operation in both cities was originally run by the British private company Hellenic Transportation Company (Η.Ε.Μ. Ηλεκτρική Εταιρεία Μεταφορών) founded in 1929 , before the state-owned transport company ILPAP Ilektrokinita Athoria (Η Pirekinita Athoria Leoforia . Λ.Π.Α.Π. Ηλεκτροκίνητα Λεωφορεία Περιοχής Αθηνών - Πειραιώς) took over responsibility. This was a pure trolleybus company. This in turn was merged with the city bus company EThEL (Ε.ΘΕ.Λ.) to form the new company OASA Organismos Astikon Synginonion Athinon (Ο.Α.Σ.Α. Οργανισμός Αστικών Συγκοινωνιών Αθηνών) on July 5, 2011 .

history

A line 7 car in the 1960s in central Omonia Square

1981: Line 20 in Piraeus

The trolleybus traffic in Piraeus was supposed to start in 1940, and the vehicles were already there. However, due to the Second World War and the subsequent Greek Civil War , the commissioning was delayed until 1948. Initially, only line 20 existed in Piraeus, lines 16 and 17 followed in 1988.

The Athens trolleybus service was opened on December 27, 1953 and gradually replaced the old Athens tram until the last line was closed in 1960. From the 1970s, the Athens network, which originally only consisted of five lines, was greatly expanded for environmental reasons. In the course of the extension of line 1 to Moschato in 1988, the first link between the two networks was created by means of a one kilometer long service line to line 20 in Piraeus. In 1990, a second link followed with the extension of line 21 to Nikea, and for a few years it was possible to switch directly to line 16 from Piraeus on Agias Annis Street. After the latter has been shortened to Agios Ioannis Rendis and the remaining section has been converted into an operational route, the two networks no longer have a common point of connection in regular scheduled services .

Lines

line	route	maximum cycle time	Subnet
01	Platia Attikis ↔ Omonia ↔ Platia Syntagmatos ↔ Tzitzifies ↔ Moschato	145 minutes	Athens
02	Ano Kypseli ↔ Kypseli ↔ OTE ↔ Omonia ↔ Platia Klafthmonos ↔ Platia Syntagmatos ↔ Pankrati ↔ Kesariani	110 minutes	Athens
03	Nea Filadelfia ↔ Ano Patisia ↔ Akadimias ↔ Girokomio	150 minutes	Athens
04th	Ano Kypseli ↔ Kypseli ↔ OTE ↔ Omonia ↔ Platia Klafthmonos ↔ Platia Syntagmatos ↔ Agios Artemios ↔ Kasomouli ↔ Agios Ioannis	130 minutes	Athens
05	Lamprini ↔ Ano Patisia ↔ Omonia ↔ Platia Syntagmatos ↔ Tzitzifies	170 minutes	Athens
06th	Kokkinos Mylos ↔ Nea Filadelfia ↔ Ippokratous	120 minutes	Athens
07th	Akadimias → Leoforos Alexandras → Leoforos Vasilisis Sofias → Akadimias ( round line )	048 minutes	Athens
08th	Akadimias → Leoforos Vasilisis Sofias → Leoforos Alexandras → Akadimias (round line)	048 minutes	Athens
10	Chalandri ↔ Girokomio ↔ Tzitzifies	142 minutes	Athens
11	Ano Patisia ↔ Omonia ↔ Platia Syntagmatos ↔ Nea Pankrati ↔ Nea Elvetia	130 minutes	Athens
12	Peristeri ↔ Agios Antonios ↔ Omonia ↔ Platia Syntagmatos ↔ Zappio	120 minutes	Athens
13	Lamprini ↔ Akadimias ↔ Girokomeio ↔ Nea Psychiko	165 minutes	Athens
14th	Platia Papadiamanti ↔ Leoforos Alexandras ↔ Girokomio	120 minutes	Athens
15th	Eleftheriou Venizelou ↔ Dikastiria ↔ Omonia ↔ Platia Syntagmatos ↔ Petralona	105 minutes	Athens
16	Pireas ↔ Agios Ioannis Rendis	050 minutes	Piraeus
17th	Pireas ↔ Agios Georgios	064 minutes	Piraeus
18th	Mousio ↔ Leoforos Alexandras ↔ Girokomio ↔ Chalandri	115 minutes	Athens
19th	Mousio ↔ Leoforos Alexandras ↔ Girokomio ↔ Chalandri ↔ Chalandriou	140 minutes	Athens
20th	Drapetsona ↔ Pireas ↔ Kastella ↔ Neo Faliro	085 minutes	Piraeus
21st	Nikea ↔ Petrou Ralli ↔ Omonia	092 minutes	Athens
24	Agios Antonios ↔ Ilio ↔ Petroupoli	064 minutes	Athens
25th	Agios Antonios ↔ Ilio ↔ Kamatero	066 minutes	Athens

The center of Athens' trolleybus network is the one-way street Leoforos Eleftheriou Venizelou between Syntagma Square and Omonia Square , which runs from southeast to northwest . In the opposite direction, the parallel streets Stadiou and Akadimias to the southwest and northeast are used.

Due to the large number of one-way streets in Athens and Piraeus, the lines often run in generous loops or sometimes have different routes on the way there and back. In addition, the trolleybuses usually only make very slow progress in heavy traffic, which is why it is not uncommon for travel times of over an hour per direction of travel.

In the Athens network, all trolleybus routes open up the city center, with the exception of tangential line 10, which passes east of the center, and lines 24 and 25 in the west of the city. The latter connect Petroupoli, Kamatero and Ilio to the Agios Antonius station of the Athens Metro in Peristeri . There is also a connection to radial line 12 in the direction of the city center.

vehicles

Former

Initially, trolleybuses were used, which were supplied by Italy as reparations. Later some identical copies from decommissioned Italian trolleybus companies followed. In both Piraeus and Athens, the Italian trolleybuses were replaced by Soviet ones from the late 1970s . The last Italian cars were retired in June 1993.

After their retirement, some of the Soviet cars were handed over to the Belgrade trolleybus in Serbia (30 units in 2005) and the Tbilisi trolleybus in Georgia (from 1999, a total of 37 units). The Tbilisi wagons were passed on to Georgian provincial companies after they ceased operations in 2006. In the meantime these have also been closed, so that no former Greek trolleybuses run in Georgia.

Numbers	piece	Manufacturer	Electrics	Type	Art	Years of construction	Remarks
700-712	012	Fiat	CGE	656F	Solo car	1939	Procured for Piraeus, only put into operation in 1948 due to the war, car 704 received as a museum car, used every year on Palm Sunday
1001-1080	080	Alfa Romeo / Casaro	CGE	140 AF	Solo car, three-axle	1953-1954	one received as a museum car
1081-1126	046	Lancia / Casaro / Tubocar	CGE	F79	Solo car	1960	one received as a museum car
1127	001	Lancia / Biamax	CGE	F600	Solo car	1968	Prototype, received as a museum car
1128-1135, 1148-1154	015th	Alfa Romeo / Casaro	CGE	140 AF	Solo car, three-axle	1959	1972–1975 used, taken over from Florence
1136-1139	004th	Lancia / Pistoiesi	CGE	V11	Solo car	1959	Taken used from Florence in 1972, one preserved as a museum car
1140-1147	008th	Lancia / Menarini	CGE	101.05	Solo car	1964	1973–1974 used, taken over from Caserta
2001-2178, 3001-3080, 5001-5100	358	Zavod imeni Uritskowo		SiU-9	Solo car	1977-1991	3077 on site and 5088 in the East Anglia Transport Museum as museum car
4001	001	Zavod imeni Uritskowo		SiU-683	Articulated trolley	1986	Received as a museum car

Today's

An extensive modernization program began in 1999, which - also with a view to the 2004 Summer Olympics - included replacing the entire fleet. Modern trolleybuses from the manufacturers Neoplan and Van Hool have been procured, meanwhile all of the planned wagons are low-floor :

Numbers	piece	Manufacturer	Electrics	Type	Art	Years of construction
6001-6112	112	Neoplan / ELBO	Box	N6014	Solo car	1999-2000
7001-7112	112	Van Hool / Sfakianakis	Alstom	A300T	Solo car	1999-2001
8001-8091	091	Neoplan / ELBO	Box	N6216	Solo car	2004
9001-9051	051	Neoplan / ELBO	Box	N6221	Articulated trolley	2004

Depots

In operation

There are currently four trolleybus depots:

Kokkinos Mylos (Κόκκινος Μύλος)

In the suburb of Nea Filadelfia to the north of Athens, not far from the northern terminus of line 6 in Kokkinos Mylos, there is the largest trolleybus depot in the Athens network. In addition to a multi-storey, partly covered parking facility, there are also workshops and an administration building on the premises.

Platia Attikis (Πλατεία Αττικής)

Located next to the Attikis metro station, the depot is not far from the northern terminus of Line 1 in the northwest of downtown Athens.

Agia Triada (Αγία Τριάδα)

Located in the southwest of the city center on line 21, the depot on Pireos Street is the oldest in the Athens network and was the depot of the old Athens tram. The covered, partially open storage hall is brightly painted on the street side with motifs on the subject of trolleybuses.

Piraeus (Πειραιάς)

For the sub-network in the southern port city, there is a small depot not far from the eastern terminus of line 20 on Megalou Alexandrou street . While the trolleybuses are parked outdoors, there is also a covered maintenance hall on the site.

Under construction

In addition, a new depot is currently being put into operation, which is to replace the Agia Triada depot not far to the east :

Rouf (Ρουφ)

Located west of the city center on Salaminias Street , Rouf will be the most modern depot in Athens when it goes into operation. There is space for around 140 cars in total, and there is also a workshop on the depot area. A powerful photovoltaic system is installed on the roof of the company building . Incoming traffic can take place via the overhead lines of line 21, which passes in the immediate vicinity.