Rheydt trolleybus
 |
|
|---|---|
| Basic information | |
| Country |
 Germany
|
| city | Rheydt |
| opening | May 18, 1952 |
| Shutdown | June 16, 1973 |
| operator | Stadtwerke Rheydt |
| Infrastructure | |
| Route length | 27.6 km |
| Depots | 1 |
| business | |
| Lines | 4 (1957) |
| vehicles | 24 |
The trolleybus Rheydt was the trolleybus system of the formerly independent city of Rheydt in North Rhine-Westphalia , which was incorporated into Mönchengladbach in 1975 . The Rheydt trolleybus existed from 1952 to 1973 and gradually replaced the Rheydt tram operated from 1881 to 1959 . The responsible transport company in both cases was Stadtwerke Rheydt. The trolleybus was replaced by omnibuses after its closure .
history
The introduction of the trolleybus in Rheydt was decided on February 1, 1951 by the municipal utilities and finally by the city council on February 22. A network around 30 kilometers long was planned. Line 4 between Rheydt and Rheindahlen was the first to go into operation on May 18, 1952 , after its grand opening had taken place the day before. On July 13, it was extended via Giesenkirchen to Schelsen . Line 6 finally followed on December 7, 1952. Another extension took place on September 9, 1953 between Limitenstrasse and Rheydter Hauptbahnhof , and an extension to Wanlo on December 4, 1954. The network thus reached a maximum extension of 27.6 kilometers , 8.1 kilometers of which were single-lane. In addition to lines 4 and 6, the amplifier lines 14 and 16 operated, which were given these separate line numbers from 1957.
Since the depot on the electricity road was not connected to the overhead line network, the 20 trolleybuses of the type ÜHIIIs - they had the road numbers 51 to 70 - had gasoline auxiliary drives from Volkswagen . With their help, they could cover short distances without a power supply from the overhead line. There were also four Daimler-Benz O 320 T trolleybuses with road numbers 71, 87, 88 and 89.
With the auxiliary drive, two lines of the Deutsche Bundesbahn electrified in 1968 were later passed. This affected the Mönchengladbach – Stolberg railway , which was electrified at that time between Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof and Rheydt- Odenkirchen , and the Aachen – Mönchengladbach railway . In this context, the trolleybus overhead line at the level crossings on Bonnenbroicher Strasse in Geneicken (near the cable works), on Düsseldorfer Strasse in Odenkirchen and on Poststrasse in Wickrath had to be cut.
In 1969 those responsible decided to convert the trolleybus to diesel bus operation by adopting a procurement plan for standard diesel buses. Line 14 ran electrically for the last time on September 26, 1970, line 4 on March 30, 1972 and the two lines 6 and 16 on June 16, 1973. During its entire operating time, the Rheydt trolleybus carried 121 million passengers, the vehicles in total back around 30 million kilometers.
literature
- Jürgen Lehmann: Tram and trolleybus in Rheydt . Kenning Verlag, Nordhorn 1991, ISBN 3-927587-01-X .
- Ludger Kenning, Jürgen Lehmann (Hrsg.): Trolleybuses in Germany . Volume 2: North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse. Kenning, Nordhorn 2011, ISBN 978-3-933613-31-8 ( Trolleybuses in Germany, Volume 2 ).
Web links
- The trolleybus operation in Rheydt 1952–1973 by Jürgen Lehmann
- History of local transport in Mönchengladbach and Rheydt at www.niederrheinbus.de
Individual evidence
- ^ Article of the RP on the opening of the trolleybus operation in Rheydt from May 19, 1952
- ^ Railways in Rheydt . bahnen.de, archived from the original on June 18, 2008 ; Retrieved April 10, 2017 .
- ^ The trolleybus operation in Rheydt 1952–1973 on Jürgen Lehmann's homepage