Bonn trolleybus

Bonn trolleybus
Route length:	14.6 km
Legend Gronau , Drachenfelsstrasse Bundeshaus Bundeskanzlerplatz Koblenzer Strasse Rathausgasse Martinsplatz Central Station Meckenheimer Allee Poppelsdorf , Clemens-August-Platz Marienhospital Venusberg , Kiefernweg Mozartstrasse Karlstrasse depot Endeicher Strasse Euskirchener Strasse Duisdorf Federal Ministry of Economics Lengsdorf , Provincial Road Note: only selected intermediate stops are listed

The Bonn trolleybus was the trolleybus system of the former German capital Bonn in North Rhine-Westphalia . It existed from 1951 to 1971 and - like the Bonn tram, which had been in service since 1881 - was operated by Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB). The trolleybus replaced part of the tram network and was in turn replaced by omnibuses .

history

The individual sections of the Bonn trolleybus network went into operation as follows:

line	opening	length	route
15th	17th February 1951	4.16 km	Gronau, Drachenfelsstrasse - Mozartstrasse
35	March 22, 1952	4.8 km	Central station - Lengsdorf, Provinzalstrasse
16	November 14, 1953	4.6 km	Central station - Poppelsdorf, Clemens-August-Platz
16	June 27, 1954	?	Poppelsdorf, Clemens-August-Platz - Venusberg, Kiefernweg

The two radial lines 15 and 35 were merged in the summer of 1953 to form the new diameter line 15 and operated electrically until May 1, 1967, while line 16 was switched to diesel bus operation on June 30, 1971. The network was 14.6 kilometers long, the cumulative line length - due to the double route between the main station and Meckenheimer Allee - 15.4 kilometers.

In the early years, the trolleybuses were housed in the Friesdorf tram depot, where they were towed by tractor from the terminal in Gronau. It was not until 1954 that the Karlstraße wagon hall was put into operation, especially for trolleybus operations. At that time it was considered the largest self-supporting prestressed concrete hall in Western Europe and served as a bus depot until 2004.

vehicles

23 solo cars were available for the Bonn trolleybus, and trailers manufactured by Peter Bauer Fahrzeugfabrik were also carried along:

number	Numbers	Manufacturer	Type
14th	201–214, later 101–114	MAN / Kässbohrer / Rathgeber	MKE II
02	221–222, later 121–122	Uerdingen / Henschel	ÜHIIIs
07th	223-229, later 123-129	Uerdingen / Büssing / Kiepe	ÜBIVs

After the shutdown, cars 225, 226, 228 and 229 went to the trolleybus Esslingen am Neckar, where they were in use until 1979. The trolleybuses 224 and 227 came to the Kapfenberg trolleybus in Austria and were also discontinued there in 1979. The two ÜHIIIs 221 and 222 were handed over to the Kaiserslautern trolleybus as early as 1970 , but only acted as spare parts donors there.

literature

• Ludger Kenning, Mattis Schindler (Hrsg.): Trolleybuses in Germany . Volume 2: North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse. Kenning, Nordhorn 2011, ISBN 978-3-933613-31-8 .

Web links

• The Bonn trolleybus at www.historischervereinswb.de
• Trolleybuses and old omnibuses in Bonn - Documentation by Ludger Kenning on www.drehscheibe-foren.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Wagenhalle Karlstraße on busse-in-bonn.de