The Neuchâtel

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

system (french: Réseau de trolleybus de Neuchâtel) is part of the

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

network in

Neuchâtel , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France), ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Opened in 1940, it gradually replaced the urban lines of the Neuchâtel tramway network. The system currently also serves the neighbouring municipalities of

Auvernier Auvernier is a village in the district of Boudry in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. The municipalities of Auvernier, Bôle and Colombier merged on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Milvignes.Peseux,

Corcelles-Cormondrèche Corcelles-Cormondrèche () is a former municipality in the district of Boudry in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. On 1 January 2021 the former municipalities of Corcelles-Cormondrèche, Peseux and Valangin merged into the municipality ...

, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise and La Tène. It is operated by '' Transports publics Neuchâtelois'' (TN), which also runs an interurban tramway to

Boudry Boudry a municipality in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. History Boudry is first mentioned in 1278 as ''Baudri''. There are numerous prehistoric settlements around Boudry. These include the neolithic stilt houses on the banks of ...

and various conventional bus lines.

Current routes

As of 2019 there are three trolleybus routes in Neuchâtel (route 107 is a

radial route A radial route is a public transport route linking a central point in a city or town, usually in the central business district (CBD), with a suburb (or satellite) of that city or town. Such a route can be operated by various forms of public tran ...

; the other two routes are

cross-city route A cross-city route is a public transport route linking one suburb (or satellite) of a city or town with another, usually relatively distant, suburb (or satellite). Such a route can be operated by various forms of public transport, including co ...

s):

History

The individual sections of trolleybus line in Neuchâtel went into service as follows:Hill, Ian H. (July–August 1986). "The Trolleybuses of Neuchâtel: Part 1". ''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 148, pp. 74–85. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . Note: Opening dates above indicate the start of trolleybus service, where known. In cases of new trolleybus routes converted from tram lines, trams were replaced by a temporary motorbus service while the overhead wiring was modified, and thus the first day of trolleybus service did not immediately follow the last day of tram service. Opened in 1949, route 4 included interurban trolleybus service to

Cernier Cernier is the former capital of the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelo ...

, in the

Val-de-Ruz Val-de-Ruz ( frp, Vâl-de-Ruely) is a municipality in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Font ...

, replacing a tramway as far as Valangin and

motorbus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

service of the Val-de-Ruz transport company (VR) between there and Cernier. Service was jointly operated by TN and by VR, which operated the (opened in 1948), with TN trolleybuses reaching Cernier and VR trolleybuses reaching Place Pury in Neuchâtel. However, most journeys on TN route 4 operated only between Neuchâtel and Valangin. Trolleybus route 4 and VR's Valangin–Cernier section both closed on 2 November 1969, and that was the final day of trolleybus service between the Val-de-Ruz and Neuchâtel. Route 6 was converted to diesel buses on 19 March 2001 and discontinued entirely in June 2001, with realignment of the roadway in front of the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

following.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 239 (September–October 2001), p. 120. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . Routes 1 (city centre – St. Blaise) and 2 (city centre – Serrières) were through-routed for many years, from the opening of route 1 in 1957 until 1981, with trolleybuses displaying route number "1" when bound for St. Blaise and "2" when bound for Serrières.Hill, Ian H. (November–December 1986). "The Trolleybuses of Neuchâtel: Part 3". ''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 150, pp. 129–134. They were separated in 1981, but re-connected in 1985, and the full route became route 1 at the latter date, with route "2" ceasing to exist. On 8 July 1991, route 1 replaced route 3, making route 1 Cormondrèche–Place Pury–St. Blaise–Marin, and the Place Pury to Serrières section was taken over by route 7.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 180 (November–December 1991), pp. 129, 149. On 29 May 1994, route 7 reverted to operating Place Pury–Hauterive, and the designation route "2" was revived for the Place Pury–Serrières section. At the opposite end of route 7, the trolleybus wires were extended from Hauterive to Marin, for access to a new depot opening there in September 1994, and starting on 3 October 1994 three route 7 trips per day operated through to or from Marin.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 199 (January–February 1995), p. 27. In June 1996, route 7 began serving Marin at all times and days except evenings and Sundays, but with half of its scheduled non-rush-hours trips still terminating at Hauterive.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 209 (September–October 1996), p. 127.

Fleet

Neuchâtel's present trolleybus fleet consists of 36 exclusively

articulated vehicles An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were sometim ...

, the last two-axle vehicles having been withdrawn in spring 1992.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 187 (January–February 1993), p. 25. The type BGT 5-25 fleet originally comprised 21 vehicles, but fleet nos. 103, 104, 106, 110 and 111 have since been replaced by low-floor vehicles. As there were no low-floor trolleybuses in the fleet prior to the delivery of the BGT-N2C type Swisstrolleys, lines 1 and 7 were operated between 2004 and 2010 by a mixed fleet of trolleybuses and low-floor diesel buses. Under that arrangement, the travelling public was offered at least some

barrier-free Universal design is the design of buildings, products or environments to make them accessible to people, regardless of age, disability or other factors. It addresses common barriers to participation by creating things that can be used by the ma ...

trips – which were identified in the timetable.

References

Notes

Books

External links

Association Neuchâteloise des Amis du Tramway
(Neuchâtel Association of Friends of the Tramway) – official site
Trolleybus city: Neuchâtel (Switzerland)
Trolleymotion. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trolleybuses in Neuchatel Transport in Neuchâtel Neuchatel Neuchatel 1940 establishments in Switzerland