Leipzig trolleybus
The Leipzig trolleybus was part of the local public transport system in the cities of Leipzig , Markkleeberg , Zwenkau and Markranstädt from 1938 to 1975 . The network of three lines was operated by the Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe .
history
prehistory
The first trolleybus was already in operation in Leipzig in June 1912 , but only on a demonstration route during the electrotechnical exhibition on the grounds of today's Arena Leipzig at Waldplatz. The Saxon engineer Max Schiemann and his society for trackless railways presented the means of transport to the public. Schiemann had already unsuccessfully advertised a trolleybus operation in Leipzig in 1907 and the exhibition also did not bring the desired contract with the city. In 1914 he suggested building a line from Oetzsch (now called Markkleeberg-Mitte) to Zwenkau, but this was rejected as unprofitable. Another offer from the company Lloyd-Köhler from Bremen , which wanted to build a line from Plagwitz station via Saalfelder and Lützner Strasse to Markranstädt, was also rejected.
The first years
The bus line A, which ran between Kleinzschocher and Südvorstadt and was the bus line with the busiest passengers in the network, was to be replaced by trams as early as 1929 according to plans from the 1920s , which initially could not be implemented due to the global economic crisis. Due to the armaments planning, the tram plans were abandoned at the end of the 1930s and a less material-intensive trolleybus line was planned. This line was opened on the day the Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe was founded, July 29, 1938.
The previous bus line A from "Adler" (Antonien- / Dieskaustraße, Wendeschleife via Windorfer and Klarastraße) via Schleußiger Weg and Kronprinzstraße (today Kurt-Eisner-Straße) to the intersection of Bayrische Straße (today Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße) was completed electrified. The cars ran every seven and a half minutes during rush hour, otherwise every ten minutes. There were eight intermediate stops, the travel time over the entire route was ten minutes. Five trolleybuses were procured and placed in the Lindenau depot on Lützner Strasse.
A partially single-lane operating route through Antonien-, Diezmann-, Thüringer and Saalfelder Strasse connected the depot with the terminus at the Adler. AEG had built the contact line system from the summer of 1937. Since two tram lines and connecting curves crossed at the Adler next to the trolleybus, a complicated catenary arrangement had to be built here. Another connecting curve for the tram was installed in 1939, which further complicated the system.
At the agricultural exhibition in the Volkspark Kleinzschocher in July 1939, the trolleybus route had to be reinforced by 14 buses, as the five existing trolleybuses could not handle the transport volume by far.
In World War II
In 1940, plans were made to convert tram line 5 (Kleinzschocher – Schleußig – Beethovenstraße – Bayrischer Platz – Johannisplatz – Täubchenweg – Anger-Crottendorf) to trolleybus operation. The plan was to use the line designation B. Due to the war, the plans were soon shortened to a route from Kronprinzstrasse past the Bavarian train station to Johannisplatz. On November 17, 1941, however, part of bus route G (Lindenau – Markranstädt – Lützen) was initially electrified due to a lack of fuel due to the war and put into operation as a second trolleybus line.
A trolleybus now ran from the depot on Lützner Strasse outside of rush hour traffic to the mill in Miltitz (around Lützner / Kiewer Strasse). All trolleybuses on line A were in use during rush hour traffic, so that only diesel buses could drive on line G during this time. The remaining section of Line G from Miltitz to Lützen continued to be served by a diesel bus. On August 5, 1942, the turning loop in Lindenau on Plautstrasse / Demmeringstrasse was put into operation and line G was extended in the west to Markranstädt, Markt. The line did not run through the town of Miltitz, but along what was then Reichsstraße 87 , which then ran south of the current route in a straight line.
On December 9, 1942, the extension of line A from the Adler through Antonien-, Gießer-, Naumburger, Saalfelder and Lützner Straße to Plautstraße went into operation. On the one hand, it replaced the operating route through Diezmannstrasse and Thüringer Strasse, but also relieved the load on the tram, since a cross connection was now available, which shortened journeys through the city center. For this purpose, four more trolleybuses and some sidecars were procured. A short branch line to Miltitz station was opened on April 12, 1943. In rush hour traffic, some previous routes on Line A ran as Line R from the Miltitz train station via Lindenau and Adler to the Kronprinzstraße terminus; from June 1943 these trips were also designated as Line A.
The construction contract for the planned line B from Kronprinzstraße through Elisenstraße (today Bernhard-Göring-Straße), Albert-, Nürnberger, Brüder- and Talstraße to Johannisplatz with the turning loop around the Johanniskirche was awarded to AEG on February 19, 1943. An M line was now also planned from Johannisplatz via Täubchenweg and Anger-Crottendorf to Mölkau , as well as the conversion of bus line N (in Wiederitzscher Weg and today's Max-Liebermann-Straße) to trolleybus operation. Construction of line B did not begin until October 1943. Since the AEG could not build due to a lack of labor, the LVB began the construction work on Kronprinzstrasse on its own. The catenary masts were erected all the way to Johannisplatz. However, material for the contact line was not available. In addition, line A between Miltitz and Adler had to be closed on November 28, 1943 due to damage to the vehicles due to overuse.
Time of reconstruction and the GDR
After several shutdowns due to the war, line A between Adler and Kronprinzstraße could run again on May 23, 1945. Line G did not return to Markranstädt until October 14, 1945. In order to obtain rail material, plans were made in 1947 to convert part of tram line 6 from Waldplatz to Reudnitz to trolleybus operation. Line G should be extended via Angerbrücke and Waldplatz and go to Anger-Crottendorf and Mölkau. However, the economic situation did not allow this measure.
Due to the lack of tires and spare parts, trolleybus operations on Line A had to be temporarily suspended at the end of the 1940s. At the beginning of 1950 the turning loops in Plaut- / Gröpplerstraße and on the Adler were dismantled and a new terminal system was initially only put into operation for line G at the Lindenau bus station. On March 7, 1950, line A could run again from Adler to Arthur-Hoffmann-Strasse, and from April 1 of that year to the Lindenau bus station. On March 1, 1951, the branch line to Miltitz station was also put back into operation. A new line B ran from there to the terminal in Lindenau.
The connection to Bayrischer Platz and further east, which had already been planned during the war years, has now been taken up again. However, it was decided to route through Arthur-Hoffmann-Strasse and via Nürnberger Strasse, Liebigstrasse and Oststrasse to Lipsiusstrasse. As early as December 16, 1951, the A drove to Ostplatz, and from May 1, 1953 to Lipsiusstrasse. A line A E reinforced line A from around November 1952 in rush hour traffic between Plagwitz station and Kurt-Eisner- / Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße. Due to the lack of vehicles due to line A E , which had to be provided, the section of line A between Kurt-Eisner- / Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße and Ostplatz was initially only used outside of rush hour traffic from December 8, 1952. With the opening of the extension to Lipsiusstrasse, rush hour traffic was driven to Ostplatz. This restriction could only be lifted on November 3, 1958, and line A also drove to Lipsiusstraße during rush hour traffic.
As a replacement for the Gaschwitz – Meuselwitz railway line, which was closed between Gaschwitz and Zwenkau , a new trolleybus line C was opened on December 20, 1956. It ran from the Markkleeberg-West tram terminal to the bus depot in Zwenkau-Imnitz in a straight line on what was then trunk road 2 . From May 1, 1957, line C drove over Koburger, Brand-, Windscheid- and August-Bebel-Straße to Kurt-Eisner-Straße and through this to the terminus on Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße, creating a connection to the rest of the network has been established. The planned extension to the Böhlener Werke east of Zwenkau was not implemented.
On August 24, 1958, a new connection was opened from Miltitzer Schulstrasse past the cemetery to the new long-distance road 87, which was used by Line B extended to Markranstädt. Line G was discontinued at the same time. The section in Geschwister-Scholl-Strasse (formerly Bahnhofstrasse) to Miltitz station was dismantled. The route on the old trunk road 87 was also shut down when it was being laid for open-cast lignite mining; today, Lake Kulkwitzer is located here .
Closure and end of trolleybus operations
In 1964, the route in Schleußiger Weg was straightened and shortened by the new Paußnitz bridge. In 1966, however, it was decided to stop operating the trolleybus, as the maintenance of the catenary network and the vehicles seemed too costly. From January 2, 1967, some courses on line A ran with diesel buses, and on March 31, 1969, the last trolleybus ran on this line.
However, the rush-hour traffic line A E continued to run electrically from Plagwitz station to Ostplatz. The Wendeschleife at Ostplatz was rebuilt in February 1971. On March 24, 1972, electrical operation on line A E ended ,on October 1, 1972 because of the interruption of the F 2 between Zöbigker and Zwenkau by the Zwenkau opencast mine, also on line C to Zwenkau, which has only been running as far as Kurt-Eisner- / Kochstrasse since May 2, 1972. As a replacement for line C, VEB Kraftverkehr Leipzig set up the new bus line S-107, which circumnavigated the mining area via Markkleeberg-Großstädteln, Gaschwitz and Großdeuben. With the cessation of electrical operation on line A E , the LOWA sidecar trains were retired, only 8Tr and 9Tr remained in the inventory . On May 31, 1975 the last trolleybuses also ran on line B to Markranstädt. Because they wanted to keep the effort for the rest of the operation low and no more major repairs were carried out on the trolleybuses, line B was also last used in mixed operation with diesel buses. On the last day of operation, four trolleybuses were still operational, the last car to move in was the Škoda 8Tr 348.
Current plans
In October 2012 the Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe presented a study on the reintroduction of a trolleybus line. Using simulations for the current bus route 70 between Markkleeberg-Bhf and Mockau-West, the possibility of sharing the tram infrastructure was examined.
vehicles
| Car no. | Construction year | Manufacturer body | Manufacturer of engines | features | Whereabouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trolleybus | |||||
| 101 | 1938 | Uerdingen wagon factory | Siemens-Schuckert | Büssing chassis, 33 seats, 17 standing places, from 1945 only permitted for 12 standing places | 1964 to Zwenkau, renamed 301 in 1967, retired in summer 1967 |
| 102-105 | 1938 | Schumann wagon factory (Werdau) | AEG | like no.101 | 1964 to Zwenkau, redrawn to 302–305 in 1967, retired in the summer of 1967, 2004 salvage of car 104 from the Wellaune forest settlement (Dübener Heide) for preservation in the Leipzig tram museum |
| 106-110 | 1942 | Schumann wagon factory (Werdau) | AEG | 33 seats, 8 standing places, from 1945 admitted for 17 standing places | Car 106 retired in 1962, 107 1964, 108–110 to Zwenkau, retired in May 1965 |
| 111 | 1942 | Schumann wagon factory (Werdau) | Siemens-Schuckert | like 106-110 | Retired in 1962 |
| 112-114 | 1944 | Schumann wagon factory (Werdau) | Siemens-Schuckert | 28 seats, 17 standing places | Only in use from 1949, car 112 withdrawn in 1958, 114 withdrawn in 1960, 113 in May 1965 |
| 115-119 | 1950-52 | Schumann wagon factory (Werdau) | Siemens-Schuckert | 28 seats, 28 standing places | Cars 115 and 116 retired in 1960, 117 in 1964, 118 and 119 in February 1967 |
| 120-137 | 1952-56 | LOWA Werdau | LEW Hennigsdorf | 28 seats, 44 standing places | Wagons 129–137 stationed in Zwenkau, renamed 320–337 in early 1967, 320–328 withdrawn between 1967 and 1972, 329–337 in 1972 |
| 141-149 | 1958-59 | Škoda | Škoda | 19 seats, 61 standing places, but only for 75 people | 1967 renamed 341–349, wagons 342 and 349 1971/72 retired, 341, 343 and 347 1973, 342 and 348 1974, 346 1975 |
| 150-156 | 1962-64 | Škoda | Škoda | 23 seats, approved for a total of 75 people | 1967 renamed 350–356, 350–353 retired in 1971, 354–356 1975 |
| Trolleybus sidecar | |||||
| 501-510 | 1941-42 | Schumann wagon factory (Werdau) | 33 seats, 12 to 26 standing places | Car 501 lost in the war, in 1945 car 509 parked (later a bus shelter at Johannisplatz), November 1951 car 502, 506, 507 to Dresden (car 507 1952 back again), car 504, 508 and 510 retired in 1952, car 503, 505 and 507 with work car numbers 5381–5383 converted into accommodation vehicles for drivers | |
| 511-515, 521-524 |
1943 | Schumann wagon factory (Werdau) | 25 seats, 25 standing places | Winter 1945/46 Car 521 stolen, 1960–67 all retired | |
| 516-520, 525-530 |
1944 | Schumann wagon factory (Werdau) | 33 seats, 18 standing places | 1945 Car 530 confiscated by the occupying forces, all decommissioned from 1960–67 | |
| 521 II -522 II | 1951 | IFA factory in Werdau | 31 seats, 19 standing places | Car 522 II retired before 1967, 1967 car 521 II renamed 450, retired in 1969 | |
| 531-549 | 1952-55 | Waggon construction Bautzen | like car 521 II -522 II | 1967 renamed 431-449, retired in 1969 | |
| 601-606 | 1956 | Waggon construction Bautzen | 22 seats, 10 standing places | 1958 renamed 401-406, cars 401, 403 and 405 retired in 1969, cars 402, 404 and 406 in 1970 | |
| 607 | 1957 | VEB combine harvester plant Weimar | like 601-606 | Renamed to 407 in 1958, retired in 1970 | |
literature
- Fritz Lehner: Two years of trolleybus operation in Leipzig / experiences and operating results. In: Verkehrstechnik , Volume 22, Issue 15 (August 5, 1941), pp. 259–263, Issue 16 (August 20, 1941), pp. 285–288 and Issue 17 (September 5, 1941), p. 293 -297.
- Ludger Kenning, Mattis Schindler: Trolleybuses in Germany. Volume 1: Berlin - Brandenburg - Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schleswig-Holstein - Hamburg - Bremen - Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt - Thuringia - Saxony, former German eastern territories. Kenning, Nordhorn 2009, ISBN 978-3-933613-34-9 .
- Klaus Adam, Manfred Preiß, Rolf-Roland Scholze: From the pair to the light rail: The history of the Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe and its predecessors. Published by Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe, 1996.
- Local transport in Leipzig (special edition of the tram magazine) Munich: GeraNova Zeitschriftenverlag, 2001.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ LVB timetable from June 1, 1939.
- ↑ Dipl.-Ing. Eberhard Nickel: Study trolleybus-tram network use in Leipzig. (PDF; 3.0 MB) LVB GmbH, October 24, 2012, accessed on January 3, 2013 .