Trolleybuses in Genoa

Genoa trolleybus system

No. 2111 on Via XX Settembre, in the city centre
Operation
Locale	Genoa, Liguria, Italy
First era: 1938 (1938)–1973 (1973) Status Closed Routes 8 (maximum) Electrification 550 Volts DC Route length 26.6 km (16.5 mi) (maximum)
Current era: since 1997 (1997) Status Open Routes 1 Operator(s) AMT Electrification 750 V DC Website AMT Genova (Italian)

The Genoa trolleybus system (Italian: Rete filoviaria di Genova) forms part of the public transport network of the city and comune of Genoa, in the region of Liguria, northern Italy. In operation since 1997, the system currently comprises only one route. Between 2008 and 2012, two routes were being operated.

From 1938 to 1973, Genoa was served by a more extensive system, which reached a maximum length of 26.6 km (17 mi) and eight routes in 1964.

Genoa's first trolleybus system was activated on 13 April 1938, to complement the Genoa tram network and replace its steeper sections. On 30 January 1951, trolleybuses replaced trams on the important uphill bypass.

At the time of its greatest extent (1955), the first trolleybus system consisted of nine lines totalling 27 km. Its trolleybus routes served only the central areas of the city, as opposed to the tram network, which stretched across Greater Genoa ().

In subsequent years, the original system was gradually reduced, by replacing the trolleybus routes with bus routes, until its total closure on 10 June 1973.

Trolleybuses were reintroduced to Genoa on 26 June 1997, when route 30 was electrified between Foce and Via di Francia. Service was operated by a newly built fleet of 20 Breda two-axle trolleybuses.

Operation of the new trolleybus system was suspended from June 2000 to December 2002, for cut-and-cover tunnel construction for the Genoa Metro at Piazza De Ferrari. Only a few months later, in May 2003, a four-year suspension of trolleybus service on the western part of the system, west of Piazza delle Fontane Marose in the city centre, began. This was a result of the conversion of Via Balbi from a two-way to a one-way street (westbound only). The latter required the permanent diversion of route 30's eastbound routing to follow Via Gramsci, and some time passed before the new eastbound routing was fitted with overhead trolley wiring. In the meantime, trolleybus service operated as route 30-barrato (Foce – Piazza delle Fontane Marose), while diesel buses served the full route 30. Trolleybus service west of the city centre was reactivated on 13 February 2007.