Editing Trolleybus (section)

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2010}}
[[File:First Trolleybuss of Siemens in Berlin 1882 (postcard).jpg|thumb|right|The [[Elektromote]], the world's first trolleybus,<ref>[http://www.siemens.com/history/en/innovations/transportation.htm#toc-2 ''Elektromote''], Siemens History website on 14 August 2015</ref> in Berlin, Germany, 1882]]

The trolleybus dates back to 29 April 1882, when Dr. [[Werner von Siemens|Ernst Werner Siemens]] demonstrated his "[[Electromote|Elektromote]]" in a [[Berlin]] suburb.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Di̇Kmen |first1=İsmail Can |last2=Eki̇Ci̇ |first2=Yunus Emre |last3=Karadağ |first3=Teoman |last4=Abbasov |first4=Teymuraz |last5=Hamamci |first5=Serdar Ethem |date=2021-01-30 |title=Electrification in Urban Transport: A Case Study with Real-time Data |journal=Balkan Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=69–77 |doi=10.17694/bajece.837248 |issn=2147-284X|doi-access=free }}</ref> This experiment continued until 13 June 1882, after which there were few developments in Europe, although separate experiments were conducted in the United States.<ref name="ABruce">Ashley Bruce, ''Lombard-Gerin and Inventing the Trolleybus'' (Trolleybooks, 2017, {{ISBN|978-0-904235-25-8}}), p. 88 ''et seq''.</ref> In 1899, another vehicle which could run either on or off rails was demonstrated in Berlin.<ref name="CSDunbar">Charles S. Dunbar, ''Buses, Trolleys and Trams'' (Paul Hamlyn Ltd, 1967, no ISBN), p. 81 ''et seq''.</ref> The next development was when [[Louis Lombard-Gérin]] operated an experimental line at the [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|Paris Exhibition of 1900]] after four years of trials, with a circular route around Lake Daumesnil that carried passengers. Routes followed in six places including Eberswalde and Fontainebleau.<ref name="HMartin">Henry Martin, ''Lignes Aeriennes et Trolleys pour Automobile sur Route'' (Libraire Polytechnique Ch., 1902, no ISBN), p. 29 ''et seq''.</ref> [[:de:Max Schiemann|Max Schiemann]] on 10 July 1901 opened the world's fourth passenger-carrying trolleybus system, which operated at Bielatal (Biela Valley, near [[Dresden]]), Germany. Schiemann built and operated the [[Biela Valley Trolleybus|Bielatal system]], and is credited with developing the under-running trolley current collection system, with two horizontally parallel overhead wires and rigid trolleypoles spring-loaded to hold them up to the wires. Although this system operated only until 1904, Schiemann had developed what is now the standard trolleybus current collection system. In the early days there were many other methods of current collection.<ref name="ABruce"/> The [[Cédès-Stoll]] (Mercédès-Électrique-Stoll) system was first operated near Dresden between 1902 and 1904, and 18 systems followed. The [[Lloyd-Köhler]] or Bremen system was tried out in [[Bremen]] with 5 further installations, and the [[Cantono Frigerio system]] was used in Italy.

Throughout this period, trackless freight systems and electric canal boats were also built.

[[File:Reading Trolleybus at Three Tuns.jpg|thumb|A double-deck trolleybus in [[Trolleybuses in Reading|Reading]], England, 1966]]
[[Leeds]] and [[Bradford]] became the first cities to put trolleybuses into service in Great Britain, on 20 June 1911.<ref name="CSDunbar"/> Supposedly, though it was opened on 20 June, the public was not admitted to the Bradford route until the 24th. Bradford was also the last city to operate trolleybuses in the UK; the system closed on 26 March 1972. The last rear-entrance trolleybus in service in Britain was also in Bradford and is now owned by the [[Trolleybuses in Bradford|Bradford Trolleybus Association]]. [[Birmingham]] was the first UK city to replace a tram route with trolleybuses, while [[Wolverhampton]], under the direction of Charles Owen Silvers, became world-famous for its trolleybus designs.<ref>Dunbar p. 84</ref> There were 50 trolleybus systems in the UK, London's being the largest. By the time trolleybuses arrived in Britain in 1911, the Schiemann system was well established and was the most common, although the Cédès-Stoll (Mercédès-Électrique-Stoll) system was tried in West Ham (in 1912) and in [[Keighley]] (in 1913).<ref>Dunbar p. 83</ref><ref name="King">J. S. King, ''Keighley Corporation Transport'', (Advertiser Press Ltd, 1964, no ISBN) p. 39 ''et seq''.</ref>

Smaller trackless trolley systems were built in the US early as well. The first non-experimental system was a seasonal municipal line installed near [[Hull, MA|Nantasket Beach]] in 1904; the first year-round commercial line was built to open a hilly property to development just outside [[Los Angeles]] in 1910. The trackless trolley was often seen as an interim step, leading to [[tram|streetcars]]. In the US, some systems subscribed to the all-four concept of using buses, trolleybuses, streetcars (''trams, trolleys)'', and [[rapid transit]] subway and/or elevated lines (metros), as appropriate, for routes ranging from the lightly used to the heaviest trunk line. Buses and trolleybuses in particular were seen as entry systems that could later be upgraded to rail as appropriate. In a similar fashion, many cities in Britain originally viewed trolleybus routes as extensions to tram (streetcar) routes where the cost of constructing or restoring track could not be justified at the time, though this attitude changed markedly (to viewing them as outright replacements for tram routes) in the years after 1918.<ref>Dunbar, p. 90</ref> Trackless trolleys were the dominant form of new post-World War I [[Railway electrification|electric traction]], with extensive systems in among others, Los Angeles, [[Chicago]], [[Trolleybuses in Greater Boston|Boston]], [[United Electric Railways|Rhode Island]], and [[Trolleybuses in Atlanta|Atlanta]]; [[Trolleybuses in San Francisco|San Francisco]] and [[Trolleybuses in Philadelphia|Philadelphia]] still maintain an "all-four" fleet.
Some trolleybus lines in the United States (and in Britain, as noted above) came into existence when a trolley or tram route did not have sufficient ridership to warrant track maintenance or reconstruction. In a similar manner, a proposed tram scheme in Leeds, United Kingdom, was changed to a trolleybus scheme to cut costs.<ref>{{cite news
  | title = Plan for city trolleybus comeback
  | work = BBC News
  | date = 15 June 2007
| url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_yorkshire/6755469.stm
  | access-date=3 June 2009
}}</ref>

[[File:СМЕ из ЗиУ-9 в Ленинграде.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Multiple-unit train control|MU]] [[ZiU-9]] in Soviet Union, 1987]]
Trolleybuses are uncommon today in North America, but their use is widespread in Europe and Russia. They remain common in many countries which were part of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Trolley with an internal combustion engine. Electric cars of the USSR. Excerpt of a Cargo Trolley Bus|url=https://gtshina.ru/en/uluchsheniya-v-salone/trolleibus-s-dvigatelem-vnutrennego-sgoraniya-elektromobili-sssr/|access-date=20 October 2020|website=gtshina.ru}}</ref> Generally trolleybuses occupy a position in usage between street railways (trams) and motorbuses. Worldwide, around 300 cities or metropolitan areas on 5 continents are served by trolleybuses (further detail under [[#Use and preservation|Use and preservation]], below).

<!-- Do not add cities to this list. It is intended to be only a list of examples, not a complete list (other Wikipedia articles exist for that purpose), and it should not include more than 1 city per country except for countries with many trolleybus systems (and still should not include more than 2 per country). -->[[File:沪A57050D 20.jpg|thumb|The Shanghai trolleybus system is currently the oldest in the world.]]
[[File:WYMT 34980 leaving Wuyang Community (20240326134517).jpg|thumb|Some [[coal mining|coal mines]] also operate separate trolleybus systems to serve workers. Wuyang Coal Mine in [[Xiangyuan County|Xiangyuan]], [[Changzhi]], [[Shanxi]] has the last remaining mine trolleybus system in China.]]
This mode of transport operates in large cities, such as [[Trolleybuses in Belgrade|Belgrade]], [[Trolleybuses in Lyon|Lyon]], [[Trolleybuses in Pyongyang|Pyongyang]], [[Trolleybuses in São Paulo|São Paulo]], [[Trolleybuses in Seattle|Seattle]], [[Trolleybuses in Sofia|Sofia]], [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]], and [[Trolleybuses in Zürich|Zurich]], as well as in smaller ones such as [[Trolleybuses in Dayton|Dayton]], [[Trolleybuses in Gdynia|Gdynia]], [[Trolleybuses in Lausanne|Lausanne]], [[Trolleybuses in Limoges|Limoges]], [[Trolleybuses in Modena|Modena]], and [[Trolleybuses in Salzburg|Salzburg]]. As of 2020, [[Trolleybuses in Kyiv|Kyiv]] has, due to its history in the former Soviet Union, the largest trolleybus system in the world in terms of route length while another formerly Soviet city, [[Trolleybuses in Minsk|Minsk]], has the largest system in terms of number of routes (which also date back to the Soviet era).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Transport in Kiev, Ukraine|url=https://www.classicbuses.co.uk/kiev.html|access-date=20 October 2020|website=www.classicbuses.co.uk}}</ref> [[Landskrona]] has the smallest system in terms of route length, while [[Mariánské Lázně]] is the smallest city to be served by trolleybuses. Opened in 1914, [[Trolleybuses in Shanghai|Shanghai's trolleybus system]] is the oldest operating system in the world. With a length of 86&nbsp;km, route #52 of [[Crimean Trolleybus]] is the longest trolleybus line in the world. ''See also [[Trolleybus usage by country]].''

Transit authorities in some cities have reduced or discontinued the use of trolleybuses in recent years, while others, wanting to add or expand use of [[Zero-emissions vehicle|zero-emission vehicles]] in an urban environment, have opened new systems or are planning new systems. For example, new systems opened in [[Trolleybuses in Lecce|Lecce]], Italy, in 2012; in [[Malatya]], Turkey, in 2015;<ref name="tm321p90">''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 321 (May–June 2015), p. 90.</ref> and in [[BRT Marrakesh|Marrakesh]], Morocco, in 2017.<ref name="RGI-2017sep">{{cite news|url=https://www.railwaygazette.com/projects-and-planning/marrakech-trolleybus-route-inaugurated/45245.article |title=Marrakech trolleybus route inaugurated 
|magazine=[[Metro Report International]] |publisher=Railway Gazette International |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619234203/https://www.railwaygazette.com/projects-and-planning/marrakech-trolleybus-route-inaugurated/45245.article |archive-date=19 June 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Beijing Bus|Beijing]] and [[Trolleybuses in Shanghai|Shanghai]] have been expanding their respective systems, with Beijing expanding to a 31-line system operated with a fleet of over 1,250 trolleybuses.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/local/2020-01/15/c_1125462807.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116183217/http://www.xinhuanet.com/local/2020-01/15/c_1125462807.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 January 2020|title=北京多措并举治理PM2.5 一微克一微克往下抠-新华网|website=www.xinhuanet.com|access-date=14 March 2020}}</ref> Trolleybuses have been long encouraged in North Korea with the newest city to have a network being [[Manpo]] in December 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pyongyangtimes.com.kp/?bbs=34493|access-date=2 September 2021|website=www.pyongyangtimes.com.kp|title=PyongyangTimes &#124; home }}</ref> Since the year 2022, the city of Prague is constructing a new trolleybus system.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.praguemorning.cz/trolleybuses-are-back-to-prague-after-50-years/ | title=Trolleybuses Are Back to Prague After 50 Years | date=15 October 2022 }}</ref> Meanwhile, in 2023, plans for a trolleybus line in Berlin were scrapped in favour of a solution with battery-powered vehicles.<ref name="berlinaus"/>