Kathmandu trolleybus

Kathmandu trolleybus
A Shanghai SK541 in Kathmandu, August 1993
Tripureshwor Tripurapath Ramshah Path Madan Bandari Path depot Arniko Highway Ring Road Koteswor Lokanthali Madhyapur Thimi Surya Binak

The Kathmandu trolleybus was the only trolleybus operator in Nepal . The trolleybus traffic in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu was opened on December 28, 1975 and stopped in November 2008.

history

The line was originally around 13 kilometers long and was operated every six minutes at times. It began at the terminus Tripureshwor in Kathmandu, followed the Kathmandu valley to the neighboring city of Madhyapur Thimi and ended at the terminus Surya Binak in the royal city of Bhaktapur .

At the opening, 22 two-axle Shanghai SK541 solo trolleybuses with the numbers 001 to 022 were procured from the neighboring People's Republic of China , followed in 1997 by a further ten cars of the more modern type Shenfeng SY-D60C with the numbers 023 to 032.

Between December 15, 2001 and September 1, 2003 the trolleybus operation was stopped. First, a section only three kilometers long was reopened, and in October 2003 another two kilometers were reactivated. The remaining route ended at the Koteswor terminus on the city limits of Kathmandu, near Kathmandu Airport . However, its terminal was not approached. The no longer needed overhead line on the disused section to Madhyapur Thimi and Bhaktapur was dismantled.

In the end, only five of the original 32 cars were still in use - only vehicles of the older type from the 1970s. These were processed by February 2004. The trolleybus line in Kathmandu was last operated every 20 to 25 minutes, with a maximum of three courses in use at the same time. The operation was in a desperate state and had to be suspended two more times in March 2004 and July 2006. The final shutdown in November 2008 was due to the lack of electricity payments to the electricity company.

Projects to enlarge the trolleybus network were not pursued for financial reasons.

In addition to the Wellington trolleybus in New Zealand , the Tateyama Tunnel Trolleybus and the Kanden Tunnel Trolleybus in Japan , which have since been closed , the operation in Kathmandu was the fourth-last trolleybus network in the world to operate on the left .

Web links

Commons : Trolleybuses in Kathmandu  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Photo documentation of the trolleybuses in Kathmandu, March 2007
• The trolleybus city of Kathmandu on trolleymotion.com
• Kathmandu trolleybuses, 1979 (video, 2:05 min) on youtube.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Defunct service staff still paid . eKantipur.com. February 19, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2009.