The Bournemouth trolleybus system once served the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, then in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, but now in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England. Opened on , it gradually replaced the Bournemouth tramway network. By the standards of the various now-defunct

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 troll ...

systems in the United Kingdom, the Bournemouth system was a medium-sized one, with a total of 22 routes, and a maximum fleet of 104 trolleybuses. It was also the second largest trolleybus system in southern England, after the

London system The London System is an in chess where White opens with 1.d4 and develops the to f4, then supports the d4-pawn with pawns on e3 and c3. The other bishop is developed to d3 (or occasionally e2) and the knights typically to f3 and d2. This set-u ...

. It was closed on .

Notable features

The most notable feature of the Bournemouth system was probably the

Christchurch trolleybus turntable Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, which is said to be one of only five such turntables ever to have been constructed worldwide. It is now a Grade II listed building. The turntable was manually operated and was in use from 19 June 1936 until the closure of the system. Also notable was the style of bodywork employed on most of the Bournemouth's trolleybuses. Many featured two staircases and the traditional open rear platform was supplemented with a front passenger exit fitted with folding doors.

Preservation

Several of the former Bournemouth system trolleybuses are now preserved, in their distinctive yellow and maroon livery. Two are at the

East Anglia Transport Museum The East Anglia Transport Museum is an open-air transport museum, with numerous historic public transport vehicles (including many in full working order). It is located in Carlton Colville a suburb of Lowestoft, Suffolk. It is the only museum ...

(fleet numbers 282 and 286), and two Sunbeam MF2B trolleybuses plus one other (fleet numbers 99, 297 and 301) are at

The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft is a transport museum which specialises in the preservation of trolleybuses. It is located by the village of Sandtoft, near Belton on the Isle of Axholme in the English county of Lincolnshire. Description Th ...

. One is in private ownership in England and another is in the

National Transport Museum of Ireland The National Transport Museum of Ireland (), the main project of the Transport Museum Society of Ireland, is based in the grounds of Howth Castle in Ireland. It is the current form of a project begun in the 1940s and restructured in the early ...

References

Notes

External links

Bournemouth trolleybus picture gallery
– photos and descriptions of Bournemouth trolleybuses and early motorbuses History of Bournemouth

Transport in Bournemouth {{England-transport-stub

Notable features

Preservation

See also

References

Notes

Further reading

External links