Trolleybuses in Geneva

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.

Geneva trolleybus system
Van Hool no. 1612 at Place de Bel-Air in 2017
Operation
Locale	Geneva, Switzerland
Open	11 September 1942 (1942-09-11)
Status	Open
Routes	6
Operator(s)	Transports Publics Genevois
Infrastructure
Electrification	600 V DC
Stock	91
Overview Map of the system (May 2017)
Website	Transports Publics Genevois (in French)

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 Cologny, 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 1950, line 7 to Aïre;
• in 1959, line 33 to Cointrin.

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.

On 11 December 2011, the municipalities of Bernex and Confignon ceased to be served by trolleybuses, when the lines to those communities were converted into tram lines.

Lines

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

2	Genève-Plage–Onex-Cité	22/24 stops
3	Gardiol–Crêts-de-Champel	25/24 stops
6	Vernier-Village–Genève-Plage	24/22 stops
7	Hôpital–Tours Lignon	18/20 stops
10	Aéroport–Rive	18/19 stops
19	Vernier-Village–Onex-Cité	29/31 stops

Fleet

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

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]

Current fleet

Geneva's present trolleybus fleet consists of 76 articulated and ten bi-articulated vehicles:

	Fleet nos.	Quantity	Manufacturer	Electrics	Type	Configuration	Low-floor	Built
	702, 705-706, 708, 711	5	NAW / Hess	ABB	BGT-N2A	Articulated	yes	1993
	731–768	38	Hess	Kiepe	BGT-N2C	Articulated	yes	2004-2005
	781–790	10	Hess	Kiepe	BGGT-N2C	Bi-articulated	yes	2005–2006
	1601–1633	33	Van Hool	Kiepe	ExquiCity 18	Articulated	yes	2014

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

• List of trolleybus systems in Switzerland
• Trams in Geneva

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)

External links

Media related to Trolleybuses in Geneva at Wikimedia Commons

• "Trolleybus city: Genève (Schweiz)". Trolleymotion.
• Geneva database / photo gallery and Geneva trolleybus list at Urban Electric Transit – in various languages, including English.