Bologna trolleybus

Bologna trolleybus
Trollino on line 13, behind it a diesel bus on line 14A
Basic information
Country	Italy
city	Bologna
opening	4th January 1991
operator	Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia-Romagna
Infrastructure
Power system	600/750 volts direct current
business
Lines	five
vehicles	95 articulated trolleys

The Bologna trolleybus is a four- line trolleybus system in the Italian university city of Bologna . The current system, which has existed since 1991, is operated by the local transport company Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia-Romagna , which emerged in 2012 from the municipal transport company Azienda Trasporti Consorziali di Bologna (ATC). Trolleybuses ran in the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region between 1940 and 1945 and between 1955 and 1982 .

Line network

Since the last expansion in 2012, the network currently consists of four lines, two of which are ring lines and two are diameter lines . Only 56 trolleybuses are currently available for the around 80 required courses, so that there is regular mixed operation with diesel buses (mainly on lines 14 and 32) :

line	route	Stops	min. Cycle sequence	current vehicle use
13	Borgo Panigale - Centro - San Ruffillo - Rastignano di Pianoro	41/44	5.5 minutes	Articulated trolley
14th	Barca - Centro - Due Madonne / Rotonda Negroni / Pilastro	45/44	005 minutes	Solaris trollino / iveco Crealis
15th	Piazza XX Settembre - Via Rizzoli - Via Mazzini - San Lazzaro di Savena		005 minutes	Iveco crealis
32	Circolare esterna destra (city ring clockwise )	22nd	012 minutes	Articulated trolley
33	Circolare esterna sinistra (city ring counterclockwise )	26th	012 minutes	Articulated trolley

The line 13 was the first O-bus of the current system, which in 1991 to operate on the route from San Ruffillo (Ponte Savena) in the south through the city center to Borgo Panigale (Normandia) recorded in the West. It was created by merging bus lines 41 and 46. Initially, the trolleybuses on the line were supplied with power from the five substations Borgo Panigale , Tofane , Avesella , Carducci and Murri ; in 2005, Avesella was taken out of service due to incompatibility with the municipal power grid. From 2004, the line at the southern end of the route in San Ruffillo was extended from the Ponte Savena stop to a new block loop through Via Pavese . The route extension went into operation with the timetable change on September 13, 2007. A further extension to Rastignano is being planned. Some courses on line 13 already end at Via Lame in the city center, these are signposted with the line signal 13 / - that is, it is a so-called dashed line .

The line 14 is the most recent O bus in Bologna. It runs from Barca in the southwest through the center to the northeast. Here the route on the Tangenziale San Vitale divides into the three branches Due Madonne (A), Rotonda Negroni (B) and Pilastro (C). The electrification of the line began in 2002, but construction could not continue until 2011 due to the lack of a railway underpass. On October 3, 2012, with the completion of the overhead contact line of the A branch, the first trolleybus on line 14 could be used. However, due to the lack of a substation in this area, an auxiliary unit is used between San Vitale and Due Madonne . The same applies to the B and C branches on which the contact line has not yet been completed. Line 14 is fed by the Barca , Tofane , San Isaia , Carducci and Massarenti substations .

Operations on the city ring through lines 32 and 33 were resumed on October 14, 2002. The overhead lines run from Bologna Centrale train station north of the center along the city ring in both directions via Porta San Vitale (intersection with the east branch of line 14), Porta Santo Stefano (intersection with the south branch of line 13), Porta Castiglione , Porta Sant` Isaia (crossing with the west branch of line 14) and Porta San Felice (crossing with the west branch of line 13). On the last kilometer between Porta Lame and the train station, the two lines leave the city ring to connect to Piazza Dei Martiri , which is further in the center . The power supply for the ring lines is guaranteed by the San Isaia and Carducci substations .

history

The route network in 1976

Line network from 1940 to 1945

From October 1940, the city's first trolleybus system ran parallel to the Bologna tram. Due to extensive damage from the Second World War , operations were stopped again in 1945.

Line network from 1955 to 1982

The planned conversion of the tram network (until 1963) led to the construction of a new trolleybus system from 1955. The largest expansion of the trolleybus network was in the 1960s to 1970s with two ring and four radial lines , with the route to Casalecchio di Reno going beyond the city limits.

line	route	Remarks
32	Circolare esterna destra (city ring clockwise)	Ring line
33	Circolare esterna sinistra (city ring counterclockwise)	Ring line
41	Via Lame - Villaggio Ina Casa (Borgo Panigale)	Radial line
42	Piazza Malpighi - Casalecchio	Radial line (with overland section)
43	Piazza Maggiore - Villaggio CEP (Quartier Barca)	Radial line
46	Piazza Minghetti - San Ruffillo	Radial line

As in other Italian cities, the second trolleybus network in Bologna experienced a decline in the second half of the 1970s. As the last section, line 42 was closed on September 16, 1982. However, the overhead lines were not completely removed, which encouraged the resumption of trolleybus operations from 1990.

Facilities and technology

Depots

The Deposito Due Madonne is located in the northeast of the city at the terminus of the A branch of the trolleybus line 14.

The Deposito Battindarno is located west of the city center between the outer branches of lines 13 and 14.

Track bus maps

A lane bus system planned by ATC with the manufacturer Irisbus on lines 19 and 27 could not be put into operation due to defects. Several of the Irisbus Civis articulated trolleybuses that were delivered were not approved, among other things because of a centrally positioned driver's seat. Since the test drives on a short, already completed section of line 19, the wagons have been parked in the Due Madonne depot. The work already started on the track bus network was also discontinued with a view to the currently planned introduction of a tram in Bologna. In renegotiations with Irisbus, the vehicle order was changed to a total of 49 Crealis articulated trains . Lines 19 and 27 are to become regular trolleybus routes.

Contact wire tension

The contact wire voltage in Bologna is currently being increased from 600 to 750 volts, which is why the older vehicles and technical equipment have to be gradually converted. For the new Solaris Trollino vehicles , the project was taken into account when the order was placed, so that no retrofitting is required.

Vehicle fleet

Current vehicles

The current fleet consists of 95 articulated vehicles:

Numbers	piece	Manufacturer	Electrics	Type	Art	Years of construction	Picture [on / off ]
1021-1040	20th	MAN - Bassotto / Autodromo	Adtranz - Kiepe		Articulated trolley	1996-1997
1041-1055	15th	MAN-Bassotto / Autodromo	Box		Articulated trolley	1999-2000
1056-1066	11	Solaris	Cegelec	Trollino 18	Articulated trolley	2010
1101-1149	49	Iveco bus	Cegelec	Crealis	Articulated trolley	2015-2016

Former fleet

Numbers	piece	Manufacturer	Electrics	Type	Art	Years of construction	Picture [on / off ]
001-010	10	Menarini	FIG	220 LF	Solo car	1989
011-020	10	Bredabus	FIG	4001.12	Solo car	1989

Web links

Commons : Trolleybuses in Bologna  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the operator TPER (Italian)
• Information on the Bologna trolleybus on Trolleymotion

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tutte le linee on www.tper.it (Italian)
2. ↑ ^{a b} Instead of Civis, Irisbus now delivers Crealis ( Memento from March 6, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
3. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: New Crealis presented, message on trolleymotion.eu from June 15, 2015
4. ↑ TPER network map from October 2012 (PDF; 3.3 MB) at www.tper.it
5. ↑ Trolleybus route 14 opened! ( Memento from March 6, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
6. ↑ Stadtbahn auf Wheels  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on www.trolleymotion.ch  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    

See also

• Servizio ferroviario metropolitano di Bologna