Trolleybuses in Wellington were part of the
Wellington public transport system from 1924 until 1932 and again from 1949 until 2017. It was the last
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 trol ...
system operating commercially in
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...
and the last major system operating in a country where
driving is on the left side of the road.
History
First era
On 29 September 1924 the first trolleybus route was inaugurated with a single
AEC 602 trolleybus running from
Thorndon along Hutt Road to
Kaiwharawhara
Kaiwharawhara is an urban seaside suburb of Wellington in New Zealand's North Island. It is located north of the centre of the city on the western shore of Wellington Harbour, where the Kaiwharawhara Stream reaches the sea from its headwaters ...
(then known as Kaiwarra).
[A Brief History]
The Wellington Trolley Bus Page[Blee, Ian (November 1978). "Under Two Wires in New Zealand, Part 3 – Wellington". ''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 103, pp. 137–140. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .]
A trolleybus was chosen over an extension to the
Wellington tramway system because a large water main on the route precluded tram track construction. Patronage was not very high, and as
bus services in the area were introduced and expanded in the years following, patronage declined further and the service was withdrawn on 30 May 1932.
["Another Trolleybuses Revived" ''Bus & Coach Preservation'' January 2018 pages 38–47]
Second era
A second and more extensive network was approved in 1945, when it was decided to gradually replace trams with trolleybuses, preferred for being more manoeuvrable and more modern. Trolleybuses were also preferred over diesel or petrol buses due to better traction on steep slopes. The first route opened on 20 June 1949 to Roseneath continuing beyond the Oriental Parade tram terminus. It was extended to Hataitai
Hataitai is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, 3.5 kilometres southeast of the city centre. The suburb extends over the southeastern flank of Mount Victoria and down a valley between the Town Belt and a ridge al ...
School in October 1949. The next route opened to Aotea Quay to serve a new Social Security Department building. It ceased ten years later when that office moved, and was notable as the only trolleybus terminus in New Zealand where trolleybuses reversed to turn round.[Wellington Trolley buses]
Engineering Heritage New Zealand
Tram conversion started in 1951 with the opening of the route to Wadestown, followed by Karori
Karori is a suburb located at the western edge of the urban area of Wellington, New Zealand, 4 km from the city centre and is one of New Zealand's most populous suburbs, with a population of in
History Origins
The name ''Karori'' used ...
(1954), Northland (1956), Seatoun
Seatoun, an eastern suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, lies on the east coast of the Miramar Peninsula, close to the entrance to Wellington Harbour ( Port Nicholson), some seven kilometres southeast of the CBD. The suburb s ...
and Miramar (1958), Aro Street and Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, the latter extended beyond the tram terminus to Mornington (1960), Lyall Bay (1963) and Island Bay
Island Bay is a coastal suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, situated south of the city centre.
Island Bay lies on the bay which shares its name, one of numerous small bays off Cook Strait and west of Lyall Bay. 500m offshore in ...
(1964). The building of Wellington Airport across the Rongotai
Rongotai is a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, located southeast of the city centre. It is on the Rongotai isthmus, between the Miramar Peninsula and the suburbs of Kilbirnie and Lyall Bay. It is known mostly for being the location of the W ...
isthmus required a deviation from the Coutts Street route that the trams had taken. The short Northland route closed in 1972. As late as 1984, a route was converted from diesel to electric operation, with the network reaching its maximum extent at around 50 kilometres.["Wellington – Trolleybus Capital of Australasia"]
''Trolley Wire
The Sydney Tramway Museum (operated by the South Pacific Electric Railway) is Australia's oldest tramway museum and the largest in the southern hemisphere. It is located at Loftus in the southern suburbs of Sydney.
History
Construction of t ...
'' issue 241 May 1990 pages 21–23 In 1990 the Wadestown to Roseneath route closed.[
Operation of the system was privatised in 1992, when the Wellington City Council sold its transport operations to ]Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are dra ...
. The council retained ownership of the system's infrastructure with Stagecoach maintaining it under contract. In November 2005, the trolleybus network was included in the sale of Stagecoach's New Zealand operations to Infratil.
The network was threatened with closure over the years, mainly on grounds of cost. In 2014, the Greater Wellington Regional Council recommended closure of the entire system. Public consultations on the proposal were followed by a final decision to close the entire system by 2017. The published reasons included cost of infrastructure maintenance and upgrading, inflexibility of a wire linked network, plus slower speeds and less reliability than diesel buses. The Hataitai loop was replaced by diesel buses in October 2015.[Beginning of the end for Wellington's trolley buses as axe falls on Hataitai route]
''Dominion Post'' 5 October 2015
The closure was questioned after the results of the 2017 New Zealand general election. The Labour Party had gained victory by entering into a coalition with the Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
and New Zealand First
New Zealand First ( mi, Aotearoa Tuatahi), commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Win ...
, both of the latter who were on record as saying that they wanted to upgrade and maintain trolleybus services in Wellington. However, new transport minister Phil Twyford stated that the government would not step in to save the network. Twyford claimed that the costs of paying out the demolition contracts would be far too high, which came under heavy criticism from Wellington residents and council members in support of the trolleys. On 31 October 2017 the system closed. Work to remove the infrastructure began in October 2017 with all works scheduled for completion by late-2018.
Operations
Trolleybuses were an integral part of the Wellington bus service. In the system's last years, they were operated by NZ Bus
NZ Bus is New Zealand's largest bus company, operating in Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington. Formerly a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group and later Infratil and Next Capital, it is now owned by Kinetic Group.
History
In October 1992 Stagecoach p ...
under the GO Wellington brand. They served the southern, western, and eastern parts of Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...
, using overhead wires owned by Wellington Cable Car Limited, a subsidiary of Wellington City Council and powered at 550 volts DC. The steepest grade on the system was 1 in 10.[Blee, Ian (January 1979). "Under Two Wires in New Zealand, Part 3 – Wellington (continued)". ''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 104, pp. 5–11. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .]
Routes
The following routes were operated:
Routes operated all day every day, except route 6 (Monday-Friday peak hours only), 9 and 10 (Monday-Friday only, not evenings). There were insufficient trolleybuses to operate all journeys on these routes, and diesel buses operated daily. In the system's last years, some journeys on route 6 ran beyond the wires to Molesworth Street, and were operated by diesel buses, evening services were usually operated by diesel buses, and trolleybuses did not run at the weekend.
Route descriptions
The main city-centre corridor was along the Golden Mile from Wellington railway station
Wellington railway station, or Wellington Central station, is the main railway station serving Wellington, New Zealand, and is the southern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk, Wairarapa Line and Johnsonville Line.
The station opened ...
(terminus of all routes except the 3) via Lambton Quay and Willis Street (served by all routes) to Courtenay Place (served by routes 1, 2, 3, and 6).
To the west, route 3 traveled to Karori Park via Glenmore Street and the Karori Tunnel, connecting into the Golden Mile south of the railway station.
To the south-west, routes 7 and 9 ran along Willis Street (northbound), Victoria Street (southbound) before splitting – the 7 climbed the hill southwards to Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, Mornington and Kingston, the 9 ran west up the Aro Valley.
To the south, four routes ran to Newtown (1 and 3 via the Basin Reserve, 10 and 11 via Taranaki Street), with the 1 continuing south to Island Bay
Island Bay is a coastal suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, situated south of the city centre.
Island Bay lies on the bay which shares its name, one of numerous small bays off Cook Strait and west of Lyall Bay. 500m offshore in ...
, the 10 terminating at Wellington Zoo
Wellington Zoo is a zoo in the green belt of Wellington, New Zealand.
History
Wellington Zoo was opened in 1906 by the late Prime Minister Richard Seddon after he was given a young lion – later named King Dick – by the Bostock and Womb ...
, and the 3 and 11 turning east to Kilbirnie
Kilbirnie ( Gaelic: ''Cill Bhraonaigh'') is a small town of 7,280 (as of 2001) inhabitants situated in the Garnock Valley area of North Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland. It is around southwest of Glasgow and approximately from Paisl ...
, where they met routes 2 and 6 via the bus tunnel and Hataitai
Hataitai is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, 3.5 kilometres southeast of the city centre. The suburb extends over the southeastern flank of Mount Victoria and down a valley between the Town Belt and a ridge al ...
. From Kilbirnie, routes 2 and 11 ran east to Hobart Street, where the 2 headed north to Miramar, and the 11 continued east to Seatoun
Seatoun, an eastern suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, lies on the east coast of the Miramar Peninsula, close to the entrance to Wellington Harbour ( Port Nicholson), some seven kilometres southeast of the CBD. The suburb s ...
; routes 3 and 6 ran south to Lyall Bay.
Vehicles
The initial service from 1924 until 1932 was operated by an AEC 602.
For the expanded network, 10 Crossley
Crossley, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, was a pioneering company in the production of internal combustion engines. Since 1988 it has been part of the Rolls-Royce Power Engineering group.
More than 100,000 Crossley oil and gas engines ...
Empires were purchased in 1949. These were followed by BUT RETB/1s bodied by Commonwealth Engineering (38), Metro Cammell Weymann (52) and New Zealand Motor Bodies (19) between 1951 and 1964, the last 38 chassis being manufactured under subcontract by Scammell. Sixty-eight Hawke Coachwork and Coachwork International
Coachwork International was a bus manufacturer in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Founded in 1926 as New Zealand Motor Bodies, in 1983 it merged with Hawke Coachwork to form Coachwork International. It ceased trading in 1993.
History New Zealand ...
Volvo B58s were delivered between 1981 and 1986, with 20 unused New Zealand Motor Bodies bodied Volvo B10Ms purchased from the Auckland Regional Authority
The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) was the regional council (one of the former local government authorities) of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The ARC ...
after it cancelled plans to renew its network.[ The B10Ms were later converted to diesel buses.][Volvo B10M Buses & Coaches]
Omnibus Society
A prototype DesignLine trolleybus was delivered in March 2003 followed by another two in May 2005. Delivery of the 57-vehicle production series began in December 2007 and finished in September 2009. Using some components from the Volvos, they had a greater passenger capacity than previous trolleybuses, were low-floor
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...
and incorporated other improvements. They were able to operate for short distances off-wire from batteries. The electrical equipment was provided by Eletra Industrial of Brazil.
In April 2016, NZ Bus announced that it would repower several buses, including all of its trolleybuses, with Wrightspeed
Revo Powertrains is an electric vehicle powertrain company based in Alameda, California founded by Tesla co-founder Ian Wright.
The name Revo Powertrains is a Fictitious Business Name filed with Alameda County, California by Wrightspeed, Inc. (a ...
gas-turbine hybrid powertrain
Hybrid vehicle drivetrains transmit power to the driving wheels for hybrid vehicles. A hybrid vehicle has multiple forms of motive power.
Hybrids come in many configurations. For example, a hybrid may receive its energy by burning gasoline, but sw ...
s. However this was not completed before the trolleybuses were withdrawn.
manufactured under subcontract by Scammell
Vehicles were initially painted silver, until an all red livery was adopted in 1958.[ Stagecoach applied its corporate white with orange and blue stripes livery.
]
Preservation
Several former Wellington trolleybuses have been preserved:
*the Foxton Trolley Bus Museum has BUTs 90 and 119 and Volvo 268
*the Tramway Historical Society, Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
have BUT 103 and Volvo 258
*the Wellington Tramway Museum
The Wellington Tramway Museum is located at Queen Elizabeth Park on the lower North Island of New Zealand, near the overbridge at McKay's Crossing between Paekakariki and Paraparaumu. Trams have been in operation on a line through the park ...
has BUT 91
*The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft
The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft is a transport museum which specialises in the preservation of trolleybuses. It is located by the village of Sandtoft, near Belton on the Isle of Axholme in the English county of Lincolnshire.
Description
The ...
repatriated BUT 82 to England in 2012 and returned it to operational condition[Wellington 82]
The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft
See also
* Transport in New Zealand
*List of trolleybus systems
This is a list of cities where trolleybuses operate, or operated in the past, as part of the public transport system. The original list has been divided to improve user-friendliness and to reduce article size. Separate lists—separate articles ...
References
Notes
External links
Knewstubb's Trolley Bus Web Site archive
Flickr gallery of DesignLine trolleybuses taken in 2010
*
{{Trolleybus systems in Oceania
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...
Public transport in the Wellington Region
Trolleybus transport in New Zealand
Wellington City
1924 establishments in New Zealand
1932 disestablishments in New Zealand
1949 establishments in New Zealand
2017 disestablishments in New Zealand