The Lucerne

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 ( gsw, Trolleybussystem Luzern) forms 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 of

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

of the canton of

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 1941, the system had replaced the Lucerne tramway network by 1961. As of the end of 2013, the system consists of six lines, one of which leads across the city boundary into the neighbouring towns of Emmen,

Horw Horw (; Swiss German: ''Horb'') is a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. History Horw is first mentioned in 1231 as ''Horwe''. Geography Horw has an area of . Of this area, 32.6% is used for agri ...

and

Kriens Kriens is a city and a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. The municipality lies at the foot of the mountain Pilatus, and is a western suburb of Lucerne. History In the oldest documents of the Bened ...

. It is currently operated by

Verkehrsbetriebe Luzern Verkehrsbetriebe Luzern (VBL) (Lucerne Transit Agency) is the main provider of public transport in the Swiss city of Lucerne. It operates some 92 buses and 74 trolleybuses on 25 daytime routes, as well as 5 overnight services (known as ''Nachster ...

(VBL), has a total route length of , and as of about 2011 was carrying 27 million passengers annually. The system is supplemented by various

motor bus 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 ...

lines operated by the same transport company.

History

The system's individual trolleybus line sections went into service as follows:

Lines

The present system is made up of the following lines: Lines 6 and 8 operate on the same

overhead wire An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipmen ...

s between Brüelstrasse and Schönbühl, so that on this section there are trolleybuses at 5-minute intervals during rush hour, and at 7.5-minute intervals at off-peak times. This combined section is described as double-line 6/8.

Fleet

As of 31 December 2013, the VBL trolleybus fleet had 20 rigid, 26

articulated 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 someti ...

, and three bi-articulated vehicles There were also 16

trailers Trailer may refer to: a Transportation * Trailer (vehicle), an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle ** Bicycle trailer, a wheeled frame for hitching to a bicycle to tow cargo or passengers ** Full-trailer ** Semi-trailer **Horse trailer ...

that can be used in combination with the rigid buses. In the 2010s, the Lucerne system was one of only two trolleybus systems worldwide, along with the Lausanne trolleybus system, that still operated trolleybuses towing passenger trailers. However, trailer use on the Lucerne system ended on 10 October 2017,''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 337 (January–February 2018), p. 37. following the delivery of more new articulated trolleybuses, and such usage also ended in Lausanne – the last trolleybus system in the world to use trailers – on 4 May 2021.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 358 (July–August 2021), p. 162. Type BGT 5-25 originally comprised 20 vehicles, nos. 181–200. Of the 30 rigid versions of that type, the BT 5-25, to be acquired by the VBL, three vehicles had been retired by 2012: nos. 251, 255 and 256. In 2014, ten vehicles from that series were sold to the Valparaíso trolleybus system, in Chile: Nos. 265, 266, 268–270, 272, 273, 275, 276, 278.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 320 (March–April 2015), p. 54. .

Depot

The ''Weinbergli''

depot Depot ( or ) may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica * Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica * Depot Island Formation, Greenland Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...

is located on the route of lines 6, 7 and 8.

References

Notes

External links

Trolleybus city: Luzern (Schweiz)
(in German) as archived 2021 (information through 2015 only).
Trolleybus city: Luzern (Schweiz)
(in English, but with less information) as archived 2021. * {{Urban public transport in Switzerland Transport in Lucerne

1941 establishments in Switzerland