The İzmir trolleybus system formed part of the

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

network in the city of

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, from 1954 to 1992.Murray, Alan (2000). ''World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia'', pp. 37, 73, 101 and 103. Yateley, Hampshire, UK: Trolleybooks. . Operated by

ESHOT Elektrik Su Havagazı Otobüs Troleybüs ( en, Electricity, Water, Coal Gas, Bus, Trolleybus) or ESHOT is a bus service operating in the İzmir. ESHOT, along with İZULAŞ are the two main bus transit service in İzmir. Buses serve all districts, ...

, the system was one of five

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...

systems to have existed in Turkey, along with ones in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, Malayta, and Sanliurfa. Prior to the opening of the Malatya system, in 2015,''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 321 (May–June 2015), p. 90. National Trolleybus Association (UK). ISSN 0266-7452. the İzmir system had been the last surviving trolleybus system in Turkey at the time of its closure in 1992. Trolleybuses operated mainly in Konak, with lines to

Buca Buca (, ) is a district of İzmir Province, Turkey. It is one of the main urban districts of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. History Buca was one of the preferred settlement areas of İzmir's community of Levantines. The great mansions they bu ...

, Balçova and Tepecik.

History

Trolleybuses replaced the declining tramways of İzmir. The first trolleybuses, built by

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

,Haseldine, Peter (May 1979). "Turkish Delight". ''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 106, pp. 66–69. National Trolleybus Association. . arrived in İzmir on May 14, 1954, on a ship from Germany.Orhan Berent (2005)
İzmir Troleybüsleri (Trolleybuses of İzmir)
Retrieved 2012-01-21. The first trolleybus line opened on July 28, 1954, or August 16, 1954, between Konak and Güzelyalı. The original fleet totalled eighteen vehicles, MAN trolleybuses (model MKE 3) with Rathgeber bodies, numbered 1–18.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 170 (March–April 1990), pp. 46–48. National Trolleybus Association. . The fleet was expanded in 1957 with a purchase of 20 Fiat 2411F trolleybuses, numbered 19–38. The İzmir system was the only Turkish trolleybus system ever to use

articulated An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were sometim ...

trolleybuses, but it had only three such vehicles, total. They were built by Fiat/Viberti in 1958 and were numbered 39–41. ESHOT never acquired any more articulated trolleybuses. In the 1960s, the high cost of importing new trolleybuses led the company to convert a batch of

Büssing Büssing AG was a German bus and truck manufacturer, established in 1903 by Heinrich Büssing (1843–1929) in Braunschweig. It quickly evolved to one of the largest European producers, whose utility vehicles with the Brunswick Lion emblem were w ...

motorbuses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

into trolleybuses. There were three such conversions in 1962, numbered 42 and 44–45, and 18 more in 1968, numbered 46–63. After the closure of the

trolleybus system, in 1984, İzmir acquired most of its trolleybuses. These were built in 1962 by Alfa Romeo-Fiat, and a total of 75 were acquired secondhand from Istanbul. This was the last fleet of trolleybuses to enter service in İzmir. As of mid-1989, the active trolleybus fleet included 19 of the 1957 Fiat 2411F vehicles, all three of the 1958 Viberti-bodied Fiat articulated vehicles, one 1959 Fiat 2411F (No. 43), and 67 ex-Istanbul Alfa Romeo-Fiat vehicles built in 1962. The last of the MAN trolleybuses that opened the system were retired in 1987 and the last Büssing vehicles in 1988 or 1989. Route 3 was withdrawn on June 9, 1989, leaving four routes still operating: 1, 2, 70 and 80. With its fleet falling apart, ESHOT discontinued trolleybus service in 1992, with different sources giving the date as either March 6, 1992, or September 1992.

Routes

*10 Gümrük–Alsancak - Line later became Route 1. *11 Fahrettin Altay–Alsancak - Line later became Route 2. *12 Fahrettin Altay–Lausanne Square *21 Fahrettin Altay–Montrö *30 Fahrettin Altay–Tepecik - Line later became Route 4. *40 Fahrettin Altay–Kahramanlar - Line later became Route 3. *50 Hatay-Montrö - Line later became Route 86. *70 Montrö–Buca *Fuar Line - A line that circled the International Fairgrounds.

References

{{reflist Izmir Transport in İzmir Izmir

History

Routes

See also

References