Trolley Buses the Bastard Son of the Tram

In fact the trolleybus is metamorphosing apace in Europe where it is
increasingly no longer tied to being its own discreet system and is evolving
into a replacement for the diesel bus. I saw a couple of examples of such
vehicles at the Skoda works - the 15Tr which is a trolleybus with its own
diesel generator (which could just as easily be a gas generator). The idea is
that you run under the wires on the main core of the system, then you leave the
wires to run to suburban termini etc., just as diesel buses do. In other words
you can run a complete bus system with these trolleybuses, you don't need
separate trolley and diesel fleets.

The onboard generator is one optional alternative power system. Skoda is also
working on ultracapacitors. Incidentally, the trolleypoles are now lowered and
raised automatically. No need for the driver to run around the back and do it
manually.

I've provided links below to some pix - You can see one bus which spent the day moving
masses of people around the site (it was an open day) with its poles down,
generating its own power. The other stationary bus with its hatches open shows
the diesel generator at the rear.

http://www.historyworks.com.au/24Tr-a.jpg
http://www.historyworks.com.au/24Tr-b.jpg
http://www.historyworks.com.au/24Tr-c.jpg
http://www.historyworks.com.au/24Tr-d.jpg
http://www.historyworks.com.au/24Tr-e.jpg

The bus is still very quiet even when using the generator because the engine
isn't doing the driving so you don't get the screaming revs (and fuel
consumption) that you get with a direct-drive diesel. The electric motors do
all that work.

Note also the 100% low floor three-door layout used in Europe. With off-bus fare
collection people can enter and leave through any of the three doors and there
is none of the horrible internal passenger congestion you get in the stupid 60
year-old design used for Australian buses. In Sydney it's not only a question
of trams being able to do the job better; the idiots there can't even run an
optimal bus system.

IMO the main drawback of trolleybuses is the overhead wiring. Tram wires are now
refined to the point of invisibility, thanks to pantograph use, tiny fittings
and tight stringing. Trolleybus wires aren't as easy to hide and will attract
the attention of the urban design purists. Mind you I've had a few words with
GG on this subject, my opinion being that such purists are having themselves on as far
as Australian cities are concerned, Sydney being as ugly as sin for the most
part. Prague is a UNESCO World Heritage-listed city and tram wires haven't even
come into discussion. You simply aren't aware of them. It's an excuse for the
snake-oil salesmen of the in-ground systems that will succumb to the first good
old Aussie torrential flood!

Cheers!