Trolleybuses in Geneva

Geneva trolleybus system
Van Hool no. 1612 at Place de Bel-Air [fr] in 2017
Operation
LocaleGeneva, Switzerland
Open11 September 1942 (1942-09-11)
StatusOpen
Routes6
Operator(s)Transports publics genevois
Infrastructure
Electrification600 V DC
Stock91
Overview
Map of the system (2023)
Websitehttp://www.tpg.ch Transports publics genevois (in French)

The Geneva trolleybus system (French: Réseau trolleybus de Genève) forms part of the public transport network in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the second largest trolleybus system in Switzerland, after the Lausanne system.

Opened in 1942, the system supplements the Geneva tramway network. It is operated by Transports publics genevois (TPG), and currently also serves the neighbouring municipalities of Bernex, Cologny, Confignon, Le Grand-Saconnex, Lancy, Meyrin, Onex and Vernier.

History

Geneva's first trolleybus line, inaugurated on 11 September 1942, linked Champel with Le Petit-Saconnex, replacing the former tram line. Like the tramway network, it was operated by the Compagnie Genevoise des Tramways Électriques (CGTE). In subsequent years, other tram lines were closed and replaced with trolleybus lines:

  • in 1950, line 4;
  • in 1959, line 6;
  • in 1961, line 2.

Additionally, two trolleybus lines replaced former bus lines:

In 1971, line 4 was closed. In 1976, the name of the operator, CGTE, was changed to Transports Publics Genevois (TPG). On 25 September 1989, line 5 was merged into line 6. For more than a decade, some services on the extended line 6 were operated by conventional buses (fully trolleybus line 26 was supporting it till Châtelaine), but on 24 June 2001 the line reverted to operation solely by trolleybuses.

Lines

Since the reorganisation of Geneva's tram and trolleybus lines on 11 December 2011, the trolleybus lines have been as follows:

Genève, Plage – Bernex, Cressy 29 stops
Grand-Saconnex, Gardiol – Genève, Crêts-de-Champel 25 stops
Vernier, village – Genève, Plage 25 stops
Genève, Bout-du-Monde – Vernier, Lignon-Tours 26 stops
Genève-Aéroport, Terminal – Genève, Rive 19 stops
Vernier, village – Onex, cité 31 stops

Fleet

Current fleet

Geneva's present trolleybus fleet consists of 94 articulated and ten bi-articulated vehicles:

Fleet nos. Quantity Manufacturer Electrics Type Configuration Low-floor Built
731–768 38 Hess Kiepe BGT-N2C Articulated yes 2004-2005
781–790 10 Hess Kiepe BGGT-N2C Bi-articulated yes 2005–2006
1601–1656 56 Van Hool Kiepe ExquiCity 18 Articulated yes 2014–2021

Past fleet

The following table summarises Geneva's former trolleybuses:[1]

Rigid FBW 51 type vehicle no 847, photographed in 1971.
Fleet nos. Quantity Manufacturer Electrics Type Built Out of service
801-812 12 Saurer / CGTE SAAS Rigid (two-axle) 1942-48
821-835 15 Saurer / Hess SAAS Rigid (two-axle) 1950-51
836-846 11 FBW MFO Rigid (two-axle) 1947 (ex-VBZ)
847-856 10 FBW MFO Rigid (two-axle) 1949-51 (ex-VBZ)
861-878 18 Berna / SWP SAAS Rigid (two-axle) 1959-60 1988
881-892 12 Berliet SAAS Rigid (two-axle) 1963 1975
601-621 21 Berna / SWS SAAS Articulated 1965 1992
631-648 18 FBW / Hess SAAS Articulated 1975 2005
651-674 24 Saurer / Hess SAAS Articulated 1982 2005 - 2014
681-700 20 NAW / Hess BBC Articulated 1988 2014
701-713 13  NAW / Hess ABB Articulated 1993 2021
721 1 NAW / Hess ABB Bi-articulated 2004 2016

A number of Geneva's former trolleybuses, fleet nos. 32, 96, 602–605, 607, 611–613, 615–617, 621, 643 and 644, were exported to Chile in the early 1990s. Some of these exported vehicles remained in service on the Valparaíso trolleybus system for many more years, the last two being withdrawn in 2013 and 2014.[2]

The unique NAW/Hess bi-articulated vehicle, fleet no. 721, was created in autumn 2003, by adding a third body section to the 1993-built fleet no. 709 of type BGT-N. It was the first Swiss bi-articulated trolleybus and served as a prototype for the production vehicles of type BGGT-N2C. All of the bi-articulated vehicles are used on line 10.

See also

References

Specific

  1. ^ Bögli, Werner; Dietschy, Marc; Kallmann, Roland; Lacreuze, Jean-Marc; Longuet, René; Rahm, Erich; Compagnie génevoise des tramways électriques (1976). Le tram à Genève: Histoire imagée de la Compagnie génevoise des tramways électriques et de ses précurseurs, 1862-1976 [The Trams of Geneva: Pictorial History of the Compagnie Génevoise des Tramways Électriques and of its Predecessors, 1862-1976] (in French). Genève: Éditions du Tricorne. OCLC 3480301.
  2. ^ Trolleybus Magazine No. 318 (November–December 2014), p. 154. National Trolleybus Association (UK). ISSN 0266-7452.

General

  • Schwandl, Robert (2010). Schwandl's Tram Atlas Schweiz & Österreich. Berlin: Robert Schwandl Verlag. ISBN 978 3 936573 27 5. (in German and English)

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