Ulm trolleybus

Ulm trolleybus

Legend Eselsberg 6 Kelterweg Fort Unterer Eselsberg Traminerweg Ruländerweg Gooseberry Trail Burgundy Trail Multscherschule Teacher valley New cemetery 5 Michelsberg Clinics Frauensteige Schillerhöhe Kienlesberg Neutorstrasse Central Station Stone bridge Schiller Street Depot Munsterplatz Ulm City Hall Herdbrucker Strasse Danube Ring bridge Neu-Ulm Petrusplatz Neu-Ulm District Court Neu-Ulm Schützenstrasse 5 Neu-Ulm Gartenstrasse Neu-Ulm train station Neu-Ulm Reuttier Strasse Neu-Ulm Augsburg Gate Gänstorbrücke over the Danube Basteistrasse Zundeltor 6

The Ulm trolleybus was a trolleybus operation in the city ​​of Ulm in Baden-Württemberg . It existed from May 14, 1947 to October 23, 1963 and supplemented the Ulm tram . Lines 5 and 6 were electrically operated, and both ran across the Danube to the neighboring Bavarian town of Neu-Ulm . As with the tram, the operating company was Stadtwerke Ulm / Neu-Ulm GmbH (SWU).

history

After the Söflingen district was connected to the Ulm tram network on October 18, 1906 , further lines to the New Cemetery and to Friedrichsau on the Danube were planned. Because of the high construction costs of a tram, the city of Ulm considered installing a trolleybus, then known as the trackless tram , using the Mulhouse tram in Alsace , which opened in July 1907, as a model. In the same year it was decided to wait for the further development of the trolleybus, which meant that the plans for a tram were not implemented for the time being.

The idea of ​​installing a trolleybus in Ulm came up again in the 1930s due to the technical progress of this means of transport. In November 1935, the manufacturer Brown, Boveri & Cie. (BBC) the Ulmer Verkehrsbetriebe its vehicles. In 1939, planning began for a trolleybus line from Münsterplatz via Hafenbad and Frauenstrasse to the New Cemetery. On October 28, 1941, the city council decided to convert tram line 4 from the hospital via the main train station to Kuhberg to trolleybus operation, but this was never realized. The execution of the planned tram lines 5 and 6 as trolleybus lines was postponed for the time being. However, the application by the city of Ulm to switch tram operations to trolleybuses and deliver the necessary vehicles was rejected by the Reich Ministry of Transport , as labor and raw materials were needed for more urgent projects because of the Second World War . However, the project should be implemented after the end of the war.

The Schiller Bridge over the Danube used by tram line 2 from Ulm Central Station to Neu-Ulm Railway Station was blown up during the war and replaced by a wooden makeshift bridge. As a result, tram operations between Ulm and Neu-Ulm could not be resumed immediately. Instead, the city of Ulm planned a new trolleybus line 5 from the Zundeltor on Berliner Platz (today Willy-Brandt-Platz) via Neu-Ulm station and Ulm main station to the New Cemetery. In May 1947, a catenary was built between the Zundeltor and the Neu-Ulm train station and on May 24th, the planned operation began on this 3.5-kilometer section. By November 1947, the section from Neu-Ulm train station to Schillerstraße (today Ehinger Tor) was also provided with a catenary, so that operations could begin on November 20th. On July 10, 1948, the extension from Schillerstraße via the main station to the New Cemetery was opened, with the entire line 5 being in operation. On May 3, 1952, bus line 6, which had been in service since December 1951, was electrified from the main train station to Eselsberg . At the same time, a new trolleybus route was built from Ulm Central Station via Münsterplatz , Ulm Town Hall and Herdbrücke to Neu-Ulm, and line 5 was relocated to this route. The route previously used by line 5 from the main train station via the Schillerbrücke to Neu-Ulm was now served by the new line 6, which also took over the section via the Neu-Ulm train station to the Zundeltor from line 5.

So there were now the following lines:

• Line 5, 3.3 kilometers: Neuer Friedhof - Ulm Hauptbahnhof - Münsterplatz - Neu-Ulm Schützenstrasse
• Line 6, 7.2 kilometers: Eselsberg - Ulm main station - Schillerbrücke - Neu-Ulm Schützenstraße - Neu-Ulm train station - Zundeltor

From December 17, 1954, line 6 crossed the Danube via the Ringbrücke, today's Adenauerbrücke, instead of the Schillerbrücke as before . From October 15, 1956, line 6 on Eselsberg was led over a large loop of houses . In 1958, line 5 between the main train station and the Neuer Friedhof was converted to diesel buses. In 1962, the city of Ulm decided to shut down the trolleybus network. On March 17, 1963, the operation of line 6 and on October 23, 1963 the rest of the operation of line 5 was discontinued and the catenary dismantled.

vehicles

The local Kässbohrer vehicle works built their own vehicles for the Ulm trolleybus operation . The two-axle trolleybuses consisted of old Henschel chassis from the pre-war period, on which a new body was placed. They were powered by electric motors from the Italian electrical engineering group Compagnia Generale di Elettricità (CGE), the rest of the electrical equipment came from Brown, Boveri & Cie. (BBC). On May 15, 1947, the first trolleybus was presented to the public. Scheduled operations with two vehicles began on May 24th. In September 1947 four more cars were put into operation, in 1948 two more followed and in 1949 the last trolleybus of this series was put into operation. The total of nine cars had road numbers 101 to 109.

Since there was no trolleybus overhead line to the depot at the beginning of the trolleybus operation, a bow wagon was built so that the trolleybuses could also drive on this section with their own power. The hoop trolley consisted of an assembly ladder with a pantograph that rolled on the tram rails and took the power from the tram contact line. This was hung behind the trolleybus and connected to its pantographs by cables.

From 1954 to 1958 a second series of seven two-axle trolleybuses with the numbers 110 to 116 was delivered. Like the first series, they had Henschel chassis, GCE engines and BBC equipment. With their auxiliary diesel drive , which consisted of a generator and a Volkswagen engine, they could also drive on sections without a contact line. This second series had roof edge glazing.

All trolleybuses were always used solo. After the cessation of operations, they were all scrapped.

See also

• List of former trolleybus systems

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} David Hruza: traffic junction Ulm (Danube) . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-88255-245-4 , p. 86-89 .
2. ↑ Route map of the Ulm trolleybus ( memento from April 21, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
3. ↑ Closure dates for the individual route sections at sufk-köln.de, accessed on January 15, 2016.
4. ↑ The Ulmer trolleybus ( Memento of 21 December 2004 at the Internet Archive ) on www.bahnen.de
5. ↑ Ludger Kenning: Trolleybuses also drove in Ulm. on Turntable Online
6. ^ David Hruza: Traffic junction Ulm (Danube) . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-88255-245-4 , p. 88-89 .