Kathmandu trolleybus system | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() A Shanghai SK541 in Kathmandu, August 1993. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | Kathmandu, Nepal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Open | 28 December 1975 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Close | November 2008 (suspended) November 2009 (official closure) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Closed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Routes | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operator(s) | Nepal Trolley Bus Service (NTBS) (to 2001) Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) (from 2003) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Infrastructure | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stock | 32 (maximum) [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Route length | 13 km (8 mi) [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Kathmandu trolleybus system once served Kathmandu, the capital city of the then Kingdom of Nepal. It was the only trolleybus system ever to be constructed in that country. [1]
Opened on 28 December 1975 , [1] [2] the system was a gift to Nepal from the People's Republic of China. It endured a somewhat chequered history, particularly in the first decade of the 21st century. Operation was suspended completely for almost two years, from 19 December 2001 until 1 September 2003, [3] because of maintenance, financial and political issues. When service was reinstated in 2003, it did not cover the route's outer half, between Koteshwor and Surya Binak, serving only about 5 km between Tripureshwor and Koteshwor. [4]
Operations on the system were suspended again, and for the final time, in late November 2008 , [2] [3] and the system was formally closed (without ever resuming operation) in November 2009. [3]
A Warsaw trolleybus system formed part of the public transport network of Warsaw, the capital city of Poland, during two separate periods. The first trolleybus system was established in 1946 and lasted until 1973. It had a maximum of 10 routes. The second system, comprising only one route, was in operation from 1983 until 1995.
Trolleybuses in Wellington were part of the Wellington public transport system from 1924 until 1932 and again from 1949 until 2017. It was the last trolleybus system operating commercially in Oceania and the last major system operating in a country where driving is on the left side of the road.
Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos del Distrito Federal (STE) is a public transport agency responsible for the operation of all trolleybus and light rail services in Mexico City. As its name implies, its routes use only electrically powered vehicles. It was created on 31 December 1946 and is owned by the Mexican Federal District government. STE is overseen by a broader Federal District authority, Secretaría de Transportes y Vialidad, which also regulates the city's other public transport authorities, including Sistema de Transporte Colectivo, Red de Transporte de Pasajeros del Distrito Federal and Metrobús, as well as other forms of transportation in the district. STE's passenger vehicle fleet consists exclusively of trolleybuses and light rail vehicles, and in 2007 its network carried 88 million passengers, of which 67 million were on trolleybus services and 21 million on light rail.
The Mexico City trolleybus system serves Mexico City, the capital city of Mexico, and is operated by Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos.
Trolleybuses in Naples provide a portion of the public transport service in the city and comune of Naples, in the region of Campania, southern Italy. Two independent trolleybus systems are in operation, both publicly owned. That of Azienda Napoletana Mobilità (ANM) opened in 1940, whereas the smaller trolleybus network of Compagnia Trasporti Pubblici di Napoli (CTP) opened in 1964. As of 2021, the ANM system has five routes – one of which are temporarily suspended – and the CTP has one. Worldwide, Naples is one of only two metropolitan areas possessing two independent trolleybus systems as of 2011, the other being São Paulo, Brazil.
The Cagliari trolleybus system forms part of the public transport network of the city and comune of Cagliari, in the region of Sardinia, Italy.
The Parma trolleybus system forms part of the public transport network of the city and comune of Parma, in the region of Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. In operation since 1953, the system presently comprises four urban routes.
The Sanremo trolleybus system or San Remo trolleybus system, also known as the Italian Riviera trolleybus, is focused on the town and comune of Sanremo, in the region of Liguria, northwestern Italy.
The Bradford trolleybus system served the city of Bradford, Yorkshire, England for much of the 20th century. It was one of the first two trolleybus systems to be opened in the United Kingdom, along with the Leeds system.
The Lausanne trolleybus system forms part of the public transport network of Lausanne, in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. The system has been in operation since 1932 and is the third-oldest surviving trolleybus system in the world, after those of Shanghai and Philadelphia.
The Ashgabat trolleybus system formed part of the public transport network in Ashgabat, the capital city of Turkmenistan. It was the only trolleybus system ever in that country.
Trolleybuses in São Paulo provide a portion of the public transport service in Greater São Paulo, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, with two independent trolleybus systems. The SPTrans system opened in 1949 and serves the city of São Paulo, while the Empresa Metropolitana de Transportes Urbanos de São Paulo (EMTU) system opened in 1988 and serves suburban areas to the southeast of the city proper. Worldwide, São Paulo is one of only two metropolitan areas possessing two independent trolleybus systems, the other being Naples, Italy.
The Guadalajara trolleybus system serves Guadalajara, the capital city of the state of Jalisco in Mexico.
The La Chaux-de-Fonds trolleybus system forms part of the public transport network in La Chaux-de-Fonds, in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
The St. Gallen trolleybus system forms part of the public transport network of St. Gallen, the capital city of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
The trolleybuses of Roma Condesa are permanently parked trolleybuses in the Roma and Condesa neighborhoods of Mexico City that were used for art and other projects. Most were Japanese buses that were donated to Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos by the Kansai Electric Power Company in Japan in 1994, for possible operation, which never came to fruition, and in 2000 they were repurposed by Cuauhtémoc borough in a programme to create educational centers. However, the Trolebuses Educativos programme lasted only a few months. Some of the trolleybuses remained in use as simple reading rooms, but others sat abandoned until 2005, when the “Galería Trolebús” was begun to promote non-traditional art projects. The gallery ceased operations in 2009 due to financial problems, but the buses continued to be used for art projects until about 2014. Two other trolleybuses involved were not Japanese vehicles.
The Lugano trolleybus system was a trolleybus system that formed part of the public transport network of Lugano, in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland, for nearly half a century. Opened in 1954, the system had progressively replaced the Lugano tramway network by 1959, and was significantly expanded between 1975 and 1981. However, it was closed in 2001, and the overhead wires had been completely removed by the summer of 2002.
Media related to Trolleybuses in Kathmandu at Wikimedia Commons