St. Gallen trolleybus

St. Gallen trolleybus
VBSG's Hess lighTram in the Wolfganghof loop
Basic information
Country	Switzerland
city	St. Gallen
opening	July 18, 1950
operator	Verkehrsbetriebe St. Gallen (VBSG)
Transport network	east wind
Infrastructure
Route length	22.6 km
Power system	600 V DC
Depots	Steinachstrasse
business
Lines	4th
vehicles	24 (17 articulated and 7 double articulated trolleys)
statistics
Reference year	2012
Passengers	27,100,000 (entire bus network)
Map of the trolleybus network in St. Gallen

The St. Gallen trolleybus is the trolleybus system of the Swiss city of St. Gallen . The Verkehrsbetriebe St. Gallen (VBSG) operate - in addition to various bus lines - four electric lines that all meet at the St. Gallen train station . The total network length is 22.6 kilometers. With the timetable change on December 9, 2018, the route plan was fundamentally revised and supplemented. Trolleybus route 4 has been renamed to route 2, but it still runs on the same route.

Lines

line	route	Travel time	min. Cycle sequence	Max. Outlet	Art
1	Winkeln - Erlachstrasse - Train station - Neudorf - Stephanshorn	40/40 minutes	012 minutes	7 courses	Diameter line
4th	Säntispark - train station - Heiligkreuz - Wittenbach train station	40/40 minutes	15 minutes	7 courses	Diameter line
2	Wolfganghof - Erlachstrasse - Train station - Neudorf - Guggeien	36/35 minutes	012 minutes	6 courses	Diameter line
5	Riethüsli - train station - Rotmonten	18/17 minutes	010 mins	4 courses	Diameter line

From 2018 to 2021 line 4 will be served by new diesel bus trains, among other things, until new hybrid buses with mixed overhead line and battery operation are used on this line. At the same time, the new line 6 is also to be converted into a trolleybus line with mixed operation.

history

The St. Gallen trolleybus gradually replaced the St. Gallen tram in the 1950s ; the last tram ran on September 30, 1957. The individual trolleybus route sections went into operation as follows:

date	route	line	modification
July 18, 1950	Bahnhof – Riethüsli	Line 5	Tram replacement
November 15, 1950	Bahnhof – Heiligkreuz	Line 3	Tram replacement
October 1, 1957	Stocken – Erlachstrasse – Bahnhof – Neudorf	line 1	Tram replacement
1968	Neudorf – Stephanshorn	line 1	New development
1970	Railway station - Rotmonten	Line 5	Bus replacement
April 1, 1989	Stocken – Winkeln train station	line 1	Bus replacement
September 1991	Neudorf – Guggeien	line 1	Bus replacement
September 28, 1996	Erlachstrasse – Wolfganghof	line 1	Bus replacement
May 28, 2000	Winkeln – Winkeln railway station (500 meters)	line 1	New development

In the city center, the Appenzeller Bahnen run between the train station and Brühltor on the rails of the former tram and thus parallel to the trolleybus. Both share a common substation to this day . As is usual with trolleybuses, the contact wire voltage on the section concerned is only 600 volts direct current . In contrast, the Appenzeller Bahnen run on the rest of the meter-gauge network with 1500 volts direct current.

In Riethüsli, the terminus of line 5, there is still an option to change between the trolleybus and the St. Gallen – Appenzell railway after the cog railway operation on the St. Gallen – Appenzell railway line was closed in 2018 . Up until 2018, both used a common contact wire suspension over a length of around 300 meters, but were electrically isolated from each other.

The previous line number 4 and current line number 2 only existed since December 9, 2007. Before that, line 1 had three different terminals from 1991 and even four from 1996.

vehicles

Current inventory

The St. Gallen trolleybus has a total of 24 vehicles available, of which a maximum of 21 are required at the same time. These include 17 articulated trolleys and seven double articulated trolleys , all of which are low-floor throughout :

admission	Numbers	piece	Manufacturer	Electrics	Type	Art	Construction year
	171-187	17th	Hess	Box	BGT-N2C	joint	2008
	188-194	07th	Hess	Box	BGGT-N2C	Double joint	2009

The double articulated trolleys cover a large part of the carriage exit on lines 1 and 4. In contrast, only normal articulated vehicles are used on lines 3 and 5. In trade fair traffic, however, double articulated trolleys were also used on Line 3.

Former inventory

Numbers	piece	Manufacturer	Electrics	Type	Art	Years of construction	Remarks
101-118	18th	More sour	BBC	4 TP	solo	1950	1968–1975 new bodywork and battery emergency drive, since then new numbers 131–148, 1985–1992 retired
119-130	12	More sour	BBC	4IILM	solo	1957-1958	Retired from 1991–1992
101-111	11	Saurer / Hess	BBC Sécheron	GT 560 / 620-25	joint	1984	101 and 109 from September 2001 spare parts dispensers, the others withdrawn in 2008
151-154, 156-168	17th	NAW / Hess	FIG	BGT 5-25	joint	1991-1992	Retired from 2008–2009
155	01	NAW / Hess	FIG	BGGT 5-25	Double joint	1991	Rebuilt in 2005, retired in 2016
151–152, from 1957: 301–302	02	Moser / Ramseier & Jenzer	no	?	pendant	1953-1954	Retired in 1966
303-327	25th	Moser / FFA	no	?	pendant	1957	retired from 1985
328-339	12	Hess / Moser / Ramseier & Jenzer	no	?	pendant	?	Retired 1985–1992

The originally two-part and consistently high-floor articulated wagon with the number 155 was a special feature, as it was only supplemented with a low-floor second trailer 14 years after it was put into operation. At that time the type designation changed from BGT 5-25 to BGGT 5-25. The original plan was to convert eight or nine other cars of this type in this way. Due to technical problems with the prototype, it was decided to purchase the seven brand-new double articulated trolleys 188 to 194 as an alternative.

The conversion of the series 101–118 took place as follows:

131 Remodeling 1968 ex 111

132 Conversion 1968 ex 112

133 Conversion 1968 ex 104

134 Conversion 1969 ex 106

135 Conversion 1969 ex 117

136 Conversion 1969 ex 102

137 Conversion 1969 ex 103

138 Conversion 1969 ex 108

139 Rebuilding 1969 ex 109

140 Rebuilding 1969 ex 114

141 Rebuilding 1970 ex 105

142 Rebuilding 1970 ex 115

143 Rebuilding 1973 ex 116

144 Rebuilding 1975 ex 101

145 remodeling 1971 ex 118

146 Reconstruction 1971 ex 110

147 Conversion 1971 ex 107

148 Conversion 1971 ex 113

Trailer operation ended on Saturday, March 21, 1992.

Delivery abroad

Warsaw: The decommissioned motor car 126, behind it trailer number 8

Car 142 in Valparaíso

Twelve unmodified cars from the original series were sold in 1992, including trailers, to the Polish capital, Warsaw , where trolleybus operations ended in 1995. One of them then came to Gdynia as an operational museum car .
The converted cars 142, 143, 144, 146 and 147 were handed over to the Valparaíso trolleybus in Chile in 1992 , where they were in use for a few years, but have now all been taken out of service. Since November 17, 2008, car 142 has served as a waiting hall and souvenir sales point at the final stop, Plaza Barón.
VBSG delivered nine GT 560 / 620-25 vehicles to Plovdiv in Bulgaria in 2008 and 2009 .
The BGT 5-25 cars were sold to the Sarajevo trolleybus in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2010 .