Trolleybuses in Manchester

Manchester trolleybus system
A Manchester trolleybus departing from the Stevenson Square terminus, 30 December 1966, the day before the final service.
Operation
Locale	Manchester, England
Open	1 March 1938 (1938-03-01)
Close	31 December 1966 (1966-12-31)
Status	Closed
Routes	9
Operator(s)	Manchester Corporation Transport
Infrastructure
Stock	189 (maximum)

The trolleybus system in Manchester, England, opened on 1 March 1938 (1938-03-01),[1][2] and gradually replaced certain routes of the Manchester tramway network.[3] Manchester was a belated convert to trolleybuses having already started a programme of tram to diesel bus conversion in the mid-1930s and this, overall, continued to be the preferred option for tram conversion that was completed in 1949.[4]

By the standards of the various now defunct trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom, the Manchester system was a large one, with a total of 9 routes, and a maximum fleet of 189 trolleybuses.[2] It closed on 31 December 1966 (1966-12-31).[2][5]

Manchester's trolleybuses were also on certain routes jointly operated with the Ashton-under-Lyne trolleybus system, between 1925 and 1966.[1]

Two former Manchester trolleybuses are preserved, one at the Greater Manchester Transport Museum, Cheetham Hill, and another at the Trolleybus Museum in Sandtoft, Lincolnshire.[6]

See also

• History of Manchester
• Transport in Manchester
• List of trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom

References

Notes

1. Joyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). British Trolleybus Systems, pp. 98–101, 159. London: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-1647-X.
2. Short, Peter. "Former UK systems". British Trolleybus Society. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
3. "Manchester Corporation Transport 1901-1969".
4. The Manchester Bus, Eyre & Heaps, TPC, Glossop, 1989
5. Murray, Alan (2000). World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia, p. 73. Yateley, Hampshire, UK: Trolleybooks. ISBN 0-904235-18-1.
6. Zebedee, John (30 November 2010). "A List of Preserved Trolleybuses in the UK". British Trolleybus Society. Retrieved 20 March 2011.

Further reading

• Booth, Gavin (2007). Bus Operators 1970: North West England and Yorkshire. Hersham, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-3202-6.
• Eyre, D M (1967). Manchester's Trolleybuses. Manchester, UK.
• Eyre, Michael; Heaps, Chris; Townsin, Alan (1989). The Manchester Bus. Glossop, Derbyshire, UK: Transport Publishing Co. ISBN 0-86317-151-6.
• Eyre, Mike; Heaps, Chris (2008). The Manchester Trolleybus. Hersham, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-3245-3.
• Lockwood, Stephen (2010). Manchester & Ashton Trolleybuses. Midhurst, West Sussex, UK: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-1-906008-73-4.
• Rowe, Bob (2006). Ashton & Manchester's Trolleybuses. Glossop, Derbyshire, UK: Venture Publications. ISBN 978-1-905304-13-4.

External links

Media related to Trolleybuses in the City of Manchester at Wikimedia Commons

• SCT'61 website - photos and descriptions of Manchester trolleybuses and early motorbuses