Fifty years ago and a pollution-free, quiet form of public transport was a common sight in the Black Country – and now experts are hoping to bring it back.
The trolleybus is being hailed as the ideal transport system and experts are hoping to put the idea to city and town leaders, including London Mayor Boris Johnson, at a conference in Dudley.
On September 4 and 5, the Black Country Living Museum will be sacrificing a slice of its Victorian image by doing away with its old trolleybuses.
They will be replaced with the latest battery-powered technology, which is now used successfully in Rome.
“Thanks to Sunbeam and Guy Motors, Wolverhampton was the largest trolleybus manufacturer and they are the ideal form of city centre transport,” says Stan Letts from the Transport Group at the Black Country Living Museum.
“The Trolleybus Conference for Great Britain is being sponsored by the London Bus Company and we are expecting a lot of interest from people keen to improve public transport.
“Unlike trams, a trolleybus system does not cost a fortune or take years to install.
“Also, it doesn’t require any major road works or utility re-routing. Add to this the greater acceleration, improved fuel efficiency and reduced maintenance requirements.
“More than 350 cities worldwide already benefit from trackless electric traction.
“Once again the UK finds itself falling behind in the quest for green transport technology.”
For the duration of the conference there will be a Van Hool AG300T trolleybus operating at the museum for delegates and the general public to sample.
Saturday, July 7 marked 21 years since the Black Country Living Museum welcomed trolleybuses onto the site and Stan says they regularly get good feedback from visitors.
“Thousands of litres of diesel are used every day by buses in Wolverhampton and Dudley but trolleybuses don’t leave any carbon footprint,” says Stan, who used to work as timetables officer for the Midland Red bus company. “It used to cost a lot to maintain the overhead cables but when you have a ride on them you realise they make a lot of sense and just how good they are.
“The last one ran in Wolverhampton on March 5, 1967 but it would be good to see them back.”
Leeds won funding for a 12.5 mile trolleybus network and other cities, including Sheffield, are also considering trolleybuses after the Department for Transport refused to support new tram lines or extensions to existing lines.
Trolleybuses were superseded by diesel buses, which were cheaper and more reliable and could travel on any street rather than being limited to those with power lines.
But modern articulated trolleybuses, which operate in dozens of European cities, have either batteries or small diesel engines that enable them to operate under their own power if the lines come down or the route is blocked.
Trolleybuses also have faster acceleration, going from 0-30mph in 10 seconds compared with 15 seconds for a diesel bus.
“When the nationalised electricity that was the end of cheap power,” says Stan.
“At that time diesel was cheap and so it wasn’t long before every town and city in the UK decided to scrap their trolleybuses.
“At the time people were apathetic, they just wanted something that would get them to work.
“But it is true that you never miss what you have until it is gone an trolleybuses are more cost efficient than trams.”
The first electric tramway in Wolverhampton was opened to public acclaim at the famous Wolverhampton Industrial and Art Exhibition in West Park in May 1902.
After the First World War the system was in a state of disrepair and it was Wolverhampton businessman Charles Mander who suggested changing the system to operate on electric overhead cables instead.
The starting point for the switch over was on the Dudley Road on March 26, 1921.
By the start of the 1930s trams had all but disappeared to be replaced by trolleybuses which were deemed more efficient.
New routes over Penn, Bradmore, Merry Hill and Finchfield, Oxbarn Avenue and Jeffcock Road were completed by 1937.
The first move to close the operation was made in June 1957 due to the extra costs for new trolleybuses coupled with the inflexible nature and fixed power supply.
The last trolleybus route was the Dudley route in the spring of 1966.
“The Van Hool AG300T trolleybus will give visitors to the museum the chance to sample the unique qualities that only electric traction can provide, not least of which is the ability to produce its own fuel,” says Stan.
“There will also be experts on hand in the fields of the manufacture, planning, operation and maintenance of modern trolleybuses and their systems, all of them eager to share their knowledge
“If the Government is serious about improving the environment then the trolleybus is something they definitely have to consider.”
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