Valparaíso trolleybus

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Valparaíso trolleybus
At the final stop, Estación de Trolebúses
At the final stop, Estación de Trolebúses
Route length: 4.5 km
Power system : 500-550 volts  =
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Plaza Aduana
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Operating route
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La Matriz
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Plaza Echaurren
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Serrano
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Plaza Sotomayor
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Reloj Turri
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Pasaje Ross
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Almirante Martinez
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Melgarejo
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Aníbal Pinto
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Servicio de Salud
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Bellavista
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Arco Británico
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Municipalidad
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Plaza Victoria
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Calle Buenos Aires
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Las Heras
   
Rodriguez
   
Freire
   
Francia
   
hospital
   
Uruguay
   
Barroso
   
Juana Ross
   
to the depot
   
Bienestar Armada
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Colón
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to the depot
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Rancagua
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from the depot
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Rancagua
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Pedro Montt
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Estación de Trolebúses
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The trolleybus Valparaíso , in Spanish Trolebús de Valparaíso , is the only trolleybus operator in Chile today . It is operated by the private joint-stock company Trolebuses de Chile SA , or TCSA for short . The only electrified line is 4.5 km long, the city opens Valparaíso as a diameter line in an east-west direction and is from the line 802 in the dense clock served. It is also available as line 8 in the local bus system Plan de Transporte Metropolitano de Valparaíso ( TMV) integrated. As a special feature, the Valparaíso trolleybus was classified by the Chilean state on July 3, 2003 as a cultural asset that is particularly worthy of preservation , called monumento nacional in Spanish .

history

The trolleybus Valparaíso went into operation on December 31, 1952 as the second network in the country, in the capital Santiago de Chile the means of transport had existed since 1947. In Valparaíso the trolleybus replaced the tram , which was opened as a horse-drawn tram in 1863 and electrified in 1903. On the other hand, their depot on Avenida Independencia, also built in 1903, was still used . Initially, the trolleybuses only ran between Estación de Trolebúses and Plaza Victoria (through Avenida Pedro Montt); the entire route to Plaza Aduana only went into operation on January 7, 1953. In February of the same year, the second route through Avenida Colón was finally opened.

Traditionally, the two Chilean trolleybus networks were run by the same company. This state-owned company initially operated under the name Empresa Nacional de Transportes Colectivos SA ( ENT ), then from 1953 as Empresa de Transportes Colectivos del Estado ( ETCE ). At the end of the 1970s, the interest of the Chilean state in continuing to operate the two networks sank, which resulted in the cessation of operations in Santiago de Chile on June 18, 1978 and in Valparaíso on November 30, 1981.

However, some business people managed to resume operations in Valparaíso on April 26, 1982. To do this, they founded the private limited company Empresa de Transportes Colectivos Eléctricos LTDA. , also abbreviated to ETCE . The trolleybus in Santiago de Chile also went into operation again in 1991, but it was finally discontinued in 1994. Since then, the means of transport in Chile can only be found in Valparaíso.

In 2000, the ETCE had to give up its previous trolleybus depot on Avenida Independencia. A provisional site on Avenida España served as a replacement, but was not connected to the catenary network. In order to avoid cumbersome towing trips, the trolleybuses in use were parked along the route at night. In 2006 this area had to be closed again due to the sale of a property. After a short interlude on a site in the small town of Placilla, ten kilometers away - and thus even further away from the overhead line infrastructure - the trolleybuses have been back in their traditional depot from the tram era since 2008.

On May 10, 2007, the operating company declared itself bankrupt due to economic problems and announced that operations would cease on June 15, 2007. In particular, it had to assert itself against the competition sponsored by the city government in the form of diesel-powered midibuses from various private companies. Their line structure was reorganized in January 2007, they are characterized by a lower fare, a larger network and higher speeds, although they offer less comfort. But before that there were financial difficulties, for example electrical operation had to be stopped for three weeks in 2002 due to unpaid electricity bills.

However, after the government paid subsidies shortly before the deadline, the continued operation of the trolleybus was secured. In this context, the company changed from a GmbH to an AG, also in 2007. At the same time, it changed its name from ETCE to TCSA. However, due to the continued tense financial situation, the former second trolleybus line with the number 801 had to be discontinued on September 1, 2007. It was largely identical to the existing route, only in the direction of Plaza Aduana it did not run via Avenida Colón, but on a direct route through Avenida Pedro Montt.

Today the trolleybus company has a total of 60 employees. The substation is located on Calle Aldunate, near the central Plaza Victoria. It comes from Westinghouse Electric and works on the Ignitron principle.

vehicles

Pullman car 709
The Pullman car 859 from Santiago has a modernized front end
Interior of car 832
Cars parked next to the depot

Delivered to Valparaíso

When the company opened in 1952, ENT purchased 30 Pullman Standard TC-48 solo cars from the United States from the Pullman Palace Car Company . They were the last trolleybuses produced by this manufacturer and were given the road numbers 701 to 730 in Valparaíso. The electrical equipment in this series comes from General Electric (GE). Five of them, the 709, 714, 715, 721 and 723, are still in operation; they were listed as a historical monument in 2003 .

Taken from Santiago de Chile

In the 1970s, more and more cars were transferred from Santiago de Chile to Valparaíso, where they became increasingly superfluous due to route closures. It is not known how many copies were given to Valparaíso in total over the years. These were cars from a series of 100 of the type 43-CX produced in the second half of the 1940s. They also come from the Pullman Palace Car Company, but outwardly differ somewhat from the vehicles procured for Valparaíso. Your electrics are also from General Electric. Eleven cars of this series (801, 802, 804, 806, 818, 821, 822, 824, 832, 859 and 888) were given a new body in 1986, recognizable by the different front and side windows. Nine of these classic cars are still in use, including the eight modernized cars 116 (until 1991 number 820), 801, 802, 806, 821, 832, 859 and 888, as well as the non-modernized car 814. The 800 series are those oldest scheduled trolleybuses in the world, they are also under monument protection.

In 1991 the ETCE procured eight brand new solo trolleybuses from the People's Republic of China on the occasion of the imminent reopening of operations in the capital . The Shenfeng SY-D60C cars come from the manufacturer Norinco and have been added to the inventory under road numbers 601 to 608. Four of them later reached Valparaíso, of which wagons 601 and 604 have now been scrapped, wagon 603 was retired in 2014, only wagon 607 is still in use.

Taken from Switzerland

Delivery from the 1990s

In 1991 and 1992 the company finally acquired a total of 31 used Swiss trolleybuses from the 1950s and 1960s, including articulated vehicles for the first time . The used cars of various makes are from the trolley Geneva , the trolleybus Schaffhausen , the trolleybus St. Gallen and the trolley Zurich and reached Chile as follows:

September 22, 1991 Zurich FBW / SWS / MFO GTr51 joint 105, 107, 109, 111, 129, 132
January 1992 Geneva Berna / SWS / SAAS 4 GTP joint 609, 618
Zurich FBW / Ramseier & Jenzer / SAAS 91 GTL joint 73
April 9, 1992 St. Gallen Saurer / Hess / SAAS 4 TP solo 142-144, 146-147
November 25, 1992 Geneva Berna / SWP / SAAS 4 GTP joint 602-605, 611-613, 621
December 6, 1992 Geneva Berna / SWP / SAAS
FBW / Hess / SAAS
4 GTP
91 GTS
Joint
joint
607, 615-617
643-644
Schaffhausen Berna / SWP / Ramseier & Jenzer / SAAS
Berna / SWP / Ramseier & Jenzer / SAAS
4 GTP
4 TP-A
Joint
solo
102-103
203

Some of the Swiss wagons were destined for the line in the capital that was reopened in 1991 and never came to the company discussed here. All Swiss wagons taken over in the 1990s have now been taken out of service, the last being in August 2017 the Schaffhausen Car 203 from 1966 went out of service. The last Swiss articulated car was the 503 (formerly Zurich 129), which was retired at the end of December 2016, and since then only solo cars have been used in Valparaíso.

Delivery from 2014/15 and 2017

NAW car 265

Ten NAW / Hess / Siemens BT 5-25 retired from the Lucerne trolleybus in autumn 2014 were sold to Valparaíso for the symbolic price of 5000 Swiss francs each. These are the numbers 265, 266, 268–270, 272, 273, 275, 276 and 278, which were previously required for trailer operation in Lucerne and kept their vehicle numbers in Valparaíso. The first car was transported by truck to Hamburg in May 2014, where it was shipped to Valparaíso, where it arrived on June 28, 2014. The other nine cars followed by January 6, 2015. After legal hurdles relating to the operation of imported vehicles and being repainted in the green-beige color scheme, the vehicles entered passenger service on March 24, 2015.

In January 2017, the operator Trolebuses de Chile SA announced that it would take over five more vehicles from Lucerne in 2017.

business

There are a total of 26 trolleybuses in the TCSA portfolio. In addition, there is the former St. Gallen car 142, which has served as a waiting hall and souvenir sales point at the final stop, Estación de Trolebúses, since November 17, 2008 . A tower car is also available for the maintenance of the overhead line .

The operating times are Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., operations are closed on Sundays. As planned, up to 18 courses are in use at the same time during rush hour , with a three-minute cycle being offered. In the off-peak hours, every six minutes is driven. A short extension from the previous Estación de Trolebúses terminus to the Barón station of the Valparaíso Metro is under construction.

Web links

Commons : Trolleybus Valparaíso  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Trolleybus Magazine Number 212 (July-August 1997), pages 42-43. ISSN  0266-7452 .
  2. Stabilization of the operational sequence  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Report on www.trolleymotion.ch from January 4, 2010@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.trolleymotion.ch  
  3. Blickpunkt Tram 6/2002
  4. Further processing of the 60-year-old classic cars  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Notification on www.trolleymotion.ch of December 10, 2012@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.trolleymotion.ch  
  5. K. Budach: Last articulated trolley out of service, report on trolleymotion.eu, accessed on April 4, 2017 ( Memento of the original from April 4, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.trolleymotion.eu
  6. Sandro Flückiger, Roman Zai: 1941-2016: 75 years of trolleybuses in Lucerne , vbl-historic 2016, p. 69f
  7. Interview with the director of Trolebuses de Chile SA on January 9, 2017 (Spanish) on www.mercuriovalpo.cl
  8. Completely new use  ( page no longer accessible , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.trolleymotion.ch  
  9. Datos del servicio on trolleybusvalparaiso.blogspot.com
  10. Ceremonial commissioning and decommissioning of all older used cars , report by K. Budach on trolleymotion.eu, accessed on April 6, 2017 ( memento of the original from April 7, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.trolleymotion.eu