Trolleybus Innsbruck
The Innsbruck trolleybus was a trolleybus operator in Austria . There were two time-independent networks - the first from April 8, 1944 to February 29, 1976, the second from December 17, 1988 to February 25, 2007. In both cases the trolleybus supplemented the Innsbruck tram . Like the tram, the trolleybus was also operated by the Innsbrucker Verkehrsbetriebe (IVB).
First operation (1944–1976)
history
Since the bus service was severely restricted in the Second World War due to a lack of fuel, it was decided in 1940 to establish three trolleybus routes. From 1942 the overhead lines were installed, presumably due to a shortage of materials, compromises were made compared to the original plans. Line C from Arzl to Wiltenberg was opened on April 8, 1944, line A from Marktgraben to Hötting on June 26, and line B from Hötting via Bozner Platz to Pradl on August 9 . The overhead lines were repeatedly damaged by air strikes and traffic had to be stopped. In the first years after the war, the operation was made difficult by a lack of tires and a lack of electricity. The route was changed several times, especially in the city center. From 1949, line A ran via the main station , which was originally intended as the starting point for all trolleybus lines, which was not possible during the war because of the bomb damage. In 1963 it was decided to let the trolleybus operation run out because of the overhead lines that were perceived as annoying. On June 30, 1969, line B was switched to buses, on April 17, 1971, line C and on February 29, 1976, line A. In addition to the general trend towards non-catenary means of transport, the adaptation of the trolleybus lines to new one-way streets would have been too costly .
| Line A | Main station - market - loop Hötting | June 26, 1944 to February 29, 1976 |
| Line B | Pradl - Bozner Platz - Hötting | August 9, 1944 to June 30, 1969 |
| Line C | Arzl - Center - Wiltenberg | April 8, 1944 to April 17, 1971 |
The following contact line plans provide an overview of the changing routing in the city center:
As of 1948
As of 1960
As of 1965
Status 1975
vehicles
In 1941 18 trolleybuses with chassis from Henschel , superstructures from Kässbohrer and electrical equipment from AEG were ordered, which should be 9 m long and hold 45 people. Since these could not be delivered, Innsbruck was assigned used trolleybuses from occupied Italy in 1943. Initially, five Breda buses with electrical equipment from TIBB came from Rome (road numbers 10 to 14), built in 1936, with a length of 10 m, an output of 99 kW and space for 59 passengers. This was followed by Fiat -Obusse with electrical equipment by CGE , four of Livorno (Nos. 15 to 18, Year 1935, length 10 m, Power 2 × 28.5 kW) and four other from San Remo (Nos. 19 to 22, Year of construction 1941, length 10 m, power 2 × 55.8 kW). In 1947 the IVB ordered six new trolleybuses from Gräf & Stift with electrical equipment from BBC , which were put into operation from 1949 (No. 23 to 28). These were 10 m long, had an output of 85 kW and offered space for 63 people. In addition, trailers from Lohner were used.
Passenger numbers
Between 1947 and 1975 the Innsbruck trolleybuses carried an average of 3.57 million passengers a year. The record year was 1965 with 4.57 million passengers carried.
Passenger numbers of Innsbruck trolleybuses 1947–1975 (in 1000)
Second company (1988–2007)
In 1986 the decision was made to reintroduce trolleybuses in Innsbruck and to convert the overloaded bus lines O and R to electric operation. The originally favored tram was not implemented for reasons of cost and space.
Line network
The new trolleybus network was opened on December 17, 1988. Lines O and R ran in a partially different route from the previous diesel bus service from the city center (loop main station - Maria-Theresien-Straße - Museumstraße) to the Olympic Village and Reichenau . On the occasion of the start of trolleybus operations, the first bus lane in Innsbruck was set up on Schützenstrasse in the Olympic Village . 1992 Obusnetz has been extended and the line O in a diameter line converted to the place of the previous lines L and P by Allerheiligen inverted and Peerhofsiedlung. In 1995, line R was extended to Höttinger Au and replaced the western branch of line B. Line O was later extended in Hötting West by a third branch to the Technik-West stop to connect a newly created residential area.
| Line O | 10.2 kilometers | Olympic Village - Reichenau - Center - Höttinger Au - Allerheiligen / Peerhofsiedlung / Technik West | every five minutes at peak times |
| Line R | 8.4 kilometers | Rehgasse - Höttinger Au - center - main station - Saggen - Reichenau - Gumppstraße | every seven and a half minutes at peak times |
After diesel buses were increasingly used on both lines, the trolleybus operation ended entirely in February 2007. As planned in the 1980s, the tram network was expanded accordingly instead. The tram line 3 has been running to Höttinger Au since 2012, and since December 2017 it has been alternating to the Peerhofsiedlung and Technik West terminus.
vehicles
For the second operation, the IVB procured at the opening 1988, Graf & pen high-floor 16 articulated vehicles of the type GE 152 M 18 (running numbers 801-816). The electrical equipment was supplied by Asea Brown Boveri . For the network expansion in 1992, ten low-floor articulated wagons of the type NGE 152 M 18 from the same manufacturer were added (road numbers 817 to 826). However, this time the electrics came from Kiepe . After operations ceased, the ten low-floor wagons were handed over to Vologda , Russia . Eight of the sixteen high-floor cars went to the Bulgarian capital Sofia (801, 802, 805, 807, 810, 814, 815 and 816) and to Brașov in Romania (803, 804, 806, 808, 809, 811, 812 and 813) .
Tram and trolleybus network map from 1996
Low-floor trolleybus, built in 1992, at Südtiroler Platz (main station)
Overhead lines in the city center
In January 2007, line O was already being operated in mixed operation with diesel buses
Gräf & Stift trolleybus 811 with old IVB livery in Brașov
A former Innsbruck trolleybus in Sofia
Interior decoration
Passenger numbers
Between 1996 and 2006, the Innsbruck trolleybuses carried an average of 15.98 million passengers per year, more than trams or diesel buses.
Passenger numbers of the Innsbruck trolleybuses 1996-2006 (in 1000)
literature
- Walter Kreutz: Trams, buses and cable cars from Innsbruck . 2nd Edition. Steiger Verlag, Innsbruck 1991, ISBN 3-85423-008-7 .
Web links
- Trolleybuses in Innsbruck ( Memento from July 5, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
- Picture gallery on www.railfaneurope.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ O and R as environmentally friendly trolleybuses. In: Innsbrucker Stadtnachrichten, No. 6/1986, p. 1 ( digitized version )
- ↑ With its own bus lane, priority for public transport. In: Innsbrucker Stadtnachrichten, No. 1/1989, p. 3 ( digitized version )
- ↑ Environmentally friendly, quick and easy from the east to the west of the city. In: Stadtnachrichten, December 1992, p. 3 ( digitized version )
- ^ Innsbruck city center: traffic organization. In: Innsbruck informs, November 1995, pp. 4–5 ( digitized version )
- ↑ Innsbrucker Verkehrsbetriebe and Stubaitalbahn GmbH - Persons transported (PDF; 106 kB)