Siegen trolleybus
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The Siegen trolleybus is a former trolleybus system in the North Rhine-Westphalian city of Siegen and its surrounding area. It was the second largest trolleybus operation in Germany after the Moers trolleybus , existed from October 16, 1941 to January 4, 1969 and replaced the earlier Siegen tram . In both cases the operating company was Siegener Kreisbahn GmbH .
history
First considerations to convert the tram traffic of the Siegen Kreisbahn to trolleybus operation existed as early as 1936. Due to the lack of material in the period before the Second World War , this could not be implemented.
During the war years, only a few bus routes were converted to trolleybus operations. The following routes were electrified:
- October 16, 1941: 8.7 kilometers from Siegen train station via Eiserfeld to Niederschelden
- February 16, 1942: 0.6 kilometers from Niederschelden to Niederschelderhütte
- December 28, 1942: 4.6 kilometers from Eiserfeld to Eisern
- April 3, 1943: 1.7 kilometers from Eisern to Rinsdorf
- May 3, 1944: 4.8 kilometers from Siegen train station via Oberstadt to Kaan-Marienborn
- August 1, 1944: 7.8 kilometers from Kreuztal via Eichen and Krombach to Littfeld
On December 20, 1944, the opening of the 0.5 kilometer long section in Giersbergstrasse was planned. After test drives had already been completed, the route was never put into operation due to the severe bomb damage. The route to the Heidenberg , which was also still under construction in 1944 , was never completed.
After operations here ceased on March 15, 1945, the re-commissioning began in the summer of 1945:
- July 16, 1945 from Eisern to Rinsdorf
- November 1, 1948 from Siegen train station via Eintracht and Eiserfeld to Rinsdorf
- November 1, 1948 from Siegen train station via Eintracht and Eiserfeld to Niederschelderhütte
- October 1, 1949 from Siegen train station via Seelbach to Freiheit
- October 1, 1949 from Kreuztal via Eichen and Krombach to Littfeld
In the following years, some lines were built and put into operation or switched to the trolleybus:
- June 3, 1951: 4.5 kilometers from Rinsdorf to Wilnsdorf
- May 30, 1952: 11.6 kilometers from Siegen train station via Weidenau, Geisweid and Buschhütten to Kreuztal
- May 30, 1952: 1.2 kilometers from Kreuztal to Ernsdorf
After the maximum extension was reached in 1952 with a route of 46.2 kilometers and a line length of 74.1 kilometers, the trolleybus operation began to be gradually discontinued in 1958. After the line to Kaan-Marienborn was discontinued in 1958, the following six lines were still operated electrically:
| line 1 | Siegen train station – Weidenau – Geisweid – Buschhütten – Langenau – Kreuztal – Ernsdorf |
| Line 2 | Geisweid – Weidenau – Siegen train station – Eiserfeld – Niederschelden – Niederschelderhütte |
| Line 3 | Geisweid – Weidenau – Siegen train station – Eiserfeld – Eisern |
| Line 12 | Siegen Bahnhof – Eiserfeld – Eisern – Rinsdorf – Wilnsdorf |
| Line 13 | Siegen station – freedom |
| Line 14 | Kreuztal – Eichen – Krombach – Littfeld |
From 1959 the network was further reduced as follows:
- June 28, 1959: Line 13
- July 1962: Eiserfeld – Eisern – Rinsdorf – Wilnsdorf (line 12)
- January 1963: Siegen train station – Eiserfeld – Niederschelden-Niederschelderhütte (line 2)
- August 1, 1963: Line 14
- 4th January 1969: Siegen train station – Weidenau – Geisweid – Buschhütten – Langenau – Kreuztal – Ernsdorf (line 1)
vehicles
In Siegen, among other things, trolleybuses of the types ÜHIIIs (13 cars, numbers 51 to 63) and HS 160 OSL-G were used, a specialty was the use of French Vetra trolleybuses.
literature
- A. Jacobs: The trolleybus system in Siegen (Westphalia). In: Verkehrstechnik , Volume 23, Issue 6 (March 20, 1942), pp. 85–87.