Trolleybuses in Lucerne

Lucerne trolleybus system

A Hess Swisstrolley crossing the Reuss, 2005.
Operation
Locale	Lucerne, Switzerland
Open	7 December 1941 (1941-12-07)
Status	Open
Routes	6
Operator(s)	Verkehrsbetriebe Luzern (VBL)
Infrastructure
Electrification	600 V DC
Statistics
Route length	37.634 km (23.385 mi)
Overview
Website	Verkehrsbetriebe Luzern (VBL) (in German)

The Lucerne trolleybus system (Alemannic German: Trolleybussystem Luzern) forms part of the public transport network of Lucerne, capital city of the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. Opened in 1941, the system had replaced the Lucerne tramway network by 1961.

As of the end of 2013, the system consists of six lines, one of which leads across the city boundary into the neighbouring towns of Emmen, Horw and Kriens. It is currently operated by Verkehrsbetriebe Luzern (VBL), has a total route length of 37.634 km (23.385 mi), and as of about 2011 was carrying 27 million passengers annually. The system is supplemented by various motor bus lines operated by the same transport company.

The system's individual trolleybus line sections went into service as follows:

The present system is made up of the following lines:

Lines 6 and 8 operate on the same overhead wires between Brüelstrasse and Schönbühl, so that on this section there are trolleybuses at 5-minute intervals during rush hour, and at 7.5-minute intervals at off-peak times. This combined section is described as double-line 6/8.

As of 31 December 2013, the VBL trolleybus fleet has 20 rigid, 26 articulated, and three bi-articulated vehicles There are also 16 trailers that can be used in combination with the rigid buses.

Along with the Lausanne trolleybus system, the Lucerne system is one of only two trolleybus systems worldwide that still utilise the rigid concace bus and the trailer consortium form of operation. In addition, the Lucerne system is, along with the Le-Fond-De-L'eau and Lausanne systems, one of only three trolleybus systems in Switzerland still using rigid vehicles. An ongoing process called operation dismantle projects re-use parts of the long serving buses as gifts to the Cuban transportation system.