Weimar trolleybus
 |
|
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
| Basic information | |
| Country |
 Germany
|
| city | Weimar |
| opening | February 2, 1948 |
| Shutdown | April 2, 1993 |
| operator | Verkehrsbetrieb Weimar GmbH |
| Infrastructure | |
| Depots | 1 |
.jpg)
.jpg)
The Weimar trolleybus served a significant part of the inner-city regular service in Weimar from 1948 to 1993 .
history
opening
When the Weimar tram was shut down in 1937, the establishment of a trolleybus service was already planned. However, this was delayed considerably, mainly because of the Second World War . Relatively soon after the end of the war, new planning began in the then state capital of Thuringia. In spite of the politically and economically difficult times, the “Municipal Economic Enterprise (KWU) of the City of Weimar” was able to open the first trolleybus line on February 2, 1948.
It led from Ehringsdorf in the south over Goetheplatz to Weimar train station and further north to the substation and was 6.85 kilometers long. A trolleybus drove every 30 minutes. A 1.4 kilometer long bus line connecting from the substation north to Schöndorf from July 3, 1950 , was electrified so that trolleybus line 1 could be extended to this section from December 1, 1953 and ran every 15 minutes during rush hour. In the meantime, since the beginning of 1951, the company has been known as "VEB (K) Städtischer Verkehr Weimar".
Trolleybus line 2, which opened on May 3, 1954 from Berka train station via Goetheplatz to Bodelschwinghstraße (3.8 kilometers) in Oberweimar , had also been in operation as a bus route from Goetheplatz on March 5, 1951. It was extended on March 28, 1957 by 0.6 kilometers from Berka train station to Damaschkestrasse, where the new trolleybus depot had been built at the same time. The former tram depot at Kirschberg had previously been used.
Temporary end of trolleybus operation
On January 11, 1966, trolleybus line 2 was switched back to diesel buses, while the traffic on trolleybus line 1 had been served every five minutes since 1963 on the section from station to Falkenburg and from 1971 on the entire route. In addition to this single trolleybus line, there were still five bus routes in Weimar. On January 1, 1972, "VEB Kraftverkehr Weimar", which until then had only been responsible for connections to the city's surroundings, also took over inner-city traffic.
In the following years, other residential areas were only opened up by bus routes; Also on line 1 at times (1982) only buses were in use.
Short return of the trolleybuses
Due to the oil crisis in the 1980s, the trolleybus operation became more attractive again because the electricity for it could be obtained from local lignite. From September 2, 1985 trolleybuses drove on the 3.1 kilometer long line 8 from the station to Damaschkestrasse. After the fall of the Wall, a new line from Erfurter / Fuldaer Strasse to Weimar West was added from March 1, 1990 (2.2 kilometers). This was connected to the northern part of Line 1 because its southern section Goetheplatz – Ehringsdorf was "temporarily" used by buses. So now a 7.8 kilometer long line 71 was created from Weimar West via Goetheplatz and train station to Schöndorf. Between Ehringsdorf and Weimar Nord, bus route 11 ran partially parallel to trolleybus route 71.
At the beginning of 1991 the city reorganized the city traffic in the "Verkehrsbetrieb Weimar GmbH (VBW)". In the following years, generous plans for the trolleybus network, which also included the use of a duo bus , quickly alternated with the switch to diesel buses. After the trolleybus line 8 had been replaced by the bus line 2 on February 4, 1991, the only trolleybus line was the 71 from Weimar West to Schöndorf, which from May 19, 1992 to the Weimar West – Bahnhof section and from Monday to Friday was restricted.
End of electrical operation
This phase-out operation did not last long either; Trolleybuses operated for the last time in Weimar on April 2, 1993. This ended an era of public transport in which, since 1899, electric means of transport, together with the tram, had again and again performed most of its tasks in the city. For a few years there were efforts to use the environmentally friendly means of transport again. However, as early as the summer of 1993, ten bus routes with a route length of 75 kilometers were in use in city traffic; 53 buses were available for this.
Former trolleybus routes
| line | Routing | In operation from | In operation until | annotation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ehringsdorf - Falkenburg - Goetheplatz - train station - substation | 2.2. 1948 | 11/30 1953 | New line, line extended |
| Ehringsdorf - Falkenburg - Goetheplatz - train station - substation - Schöndorf | 1.12. 1953 | 28.2. 1990 | Route Goetheplatz - Schöndorf in line 71, otherwise closed | |
| 2 | Berkaer Bahnhof - Goetheplatz - Oberweimar, Bodelschwinghstraße | 3.5. 1954 | 27.3. 1957 | New line, line extended |
| Damaschkestrasse - Berkaer Bahnhof - Goetheplatz - Oberweimar, Bodelschwinghstrasse | 28.3. 1957 | 10.1. 1966 | shut down | |
| 8th | Damaschkestrasse - Berkaer Bahnhof - Goetheplatz - Bahnhof | 2.9. 1985 | 1.2. 1991 | New line, closed |
| 71 | Weimar West - Goetheplatz - train station - substation - Schöndorf | 1.3. 1990 | 18.5. 1992 | Route Goetheplatz - Schöndorf taken over from line 1, otherwise new line |
| Weimar West - Goetheplatz - train station | 19.5. 1992 | 2.4. 1993 | shut down |
vehicles
history
Regular service was started in 1948 with six standard size II war busses on the Henschel basis and with electrical equipment from Siemens. Four LOWA vehicles followed between 1952 and 1956 .
The high level of wear and tear on the heavily used trolleybuses resulted in a large demand for vehicles. Since new vehicles were temporarily hardly available, the transport company also had to procure many used vehicles from closed trolleybus companies in the following years. At that time, twelve Škoda 8Tr from the years 1958 to 1960 (six new ex works, six used from Magdeburg, Greiz, Gera and Dresden) and 17 Škoda 9Tr from the years 1964 to 1969 (ten new ex works, seven used from Magdeburg, Erfurt and Berlin). In 1982/1983 Weimar received twelve brand-new Škoda 14Tr cars, in 1986 an Ikarus 260T, in 1985 and 1989 a total of 15 articulated trolleybuses of the type Ikarus 280T (version 280.93) also ex works. On the other hand, four Škoda 14Trs were delivered to Potsdam in 1985, two Ikarus 280Ts to Eberswalde in 1987 and another Škoda 14Tr to Potsdam in 1990. The very last new acquisition in 1991 consisted of five Ikarus 280Ts, which were delivered to Suhl in 1990 , but were never put into operation there. In Weimar they were included in the inventory under the company numbers 214 to 218.
In November 1991 car 2532 of the type MAN SL 172 HO was tested for a short time in Weimar by the Solingen trolleybus .
After the trolleybus operation was discontinued, most vehicles were sold abroad. In 1992, while it was being phased out, six Škoda 14Trs were handed over to Sibiu and the only Ikarus 260T to the Budapest trolleybus . Ten Ikarus 280T were brought to Chelyabinsk in 1993 , and three more to the Timișoara trolleybus in Romania in 1996 , where they were still in use until 2008.
The Škoda 14Tr built in 1983 with the number 8009 and five Ikarus 280Ts built in 1985 were retired in 1992 without being sold to other companies.
The Škoda 14Tr number 8003, which is one of the vehicles delivered to Potsdam in 1985, was preserved. Today it runs as a historic car number 3 with the registration BAR-HP 47 on the Eberswalde trolleybus .
numbering
Originally the vehicles were numbered consecutively, starting with 1; Numbers that had become vacant through retirement were reassigned. The highest number was 24. With the affiliation of the company to VEB Kraftverkehr Weimar, the numbering system customary there was introduced, which provided for consecutive numbering from 8000 and ended with 8034. The numbers 8013, 8015, 8017 and 8018 were not occupied, as the vehicles in question had been taken out of service before the transfer. After the company was handed over to Stadtwerke Weimar in 1991, the Ikarus 280T were given the numbers 201 to 218, the remaining two-axle vehicles were given the numbers 241 to 246.
See also
literature
- Tram and trolleybus in Weimar, in the tram magazine No. 104 (issue 1996/6)
- Werner Stock: Trolleybus systems in Germany, Bielefeld 1987, ISBN 3-926882-00-X
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Photo from 1951 in: Rathauskurier | Official Journal of the City of Weimar . Unofficial part, No. 6, April 1, 2017, Volume 28, Page 8994
- ↑ The entire section was created on the basis of the following source: Weimar, Obus, vehicle list. Accessed December 30, 2018 .
- ↑ After the trolleybus operation in Weimar was stopped in 1993, cars 214 and 215 came to Chelyabinsk , Russia , and cars 217 and 218 to the Timișoara trolleybus in Romania. Car 216 was scrapped in Budapest after his time in Weimar .
- ↑ Mariupol, trolleybus no. 1301. Retrieved on December 30, 2018 .
- ^ Tram atlas 2004 Romania, pages 109 and 124