Wellington Trolleybuses (SYSTEM TERMINATED - 31 OCTOBER 2017)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ส.ค. 2024
- Designline Trolley 384 made the final trip from Karori Park into Kilbirnie Depot at 12:45 a.m. on 1 November 2017. These quiet, electric vehicles have been replaced with diesel buses for the foreseeable future, pending the eventual rebuilding of these trolleys into "Wrightspeed" battery powered buses with diesel generator recharging units. NZ$11 million will be spent to dismantle the electrical network. One of my favourite cities is now considerably less desirable to visit.
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It seems extraordinary that an electric transport system is being discarded at this point in history.
When the world is going electric this is madness !
I think it is an act of stupidity.
Wonder what authorities can serve as an excuse.
I rode and photographed the system in December 2014. What disappointed me at that time was the amount of motorbus substitution and the fact the system only operated Mondays to Fridays. Did you note, three wires through the Victoria Tunnel? Excellent film.
Politicians (Left or Right) really don't seem to like trolley buses. To me, they seem like the ideal compromise between diesel buses and trams.
They've got their pro's and cons.
But they were a great fit for Wellington with its steep inclines and population density.
Great system and video footage. I cannot believe what happened. What a shame!
What a waste! I Haven’t lived in Wellington for a number of years now but I used to love these buses. You could read a book without all the noise. On a really cold day the first busses on the lines would arc out with the frost and you would have a light show. They were a great idea and in Sydney they are throwing up all the overheads for the light rail.
Someone must have rocks in there head to have gotten rid on them
Oh and how everyone thanked the drivers😀 mind you it didn’t matter what type of bus you were in it was the nice thing to do
Excellent video...thank you! The trolleybus makes it look easy climbing those hills! (I had no idea Wellington was so full of steep hills!). Here in Bournemouth in England we lost our trolleybus system 40 years or so ago. Just imagine the smell and the noisy diesel bus grinding up the Wellington hills. I'd love to see a modern system like yours here in the UK again. Fascinating...thanks again. Rob
Wow! Those buses look brand-spanking new! Sad. I wonder how those diesels are going to climb those steep hills...
I recall as a kid growing up in Chicago how devastated I was when the CTA abandoned their trolley bus system in 1973.
They were rebuilt in 2006 from Volvo B58's bought in the early 1980s.
@@danieleyre8913 Thank you! Much appreciated!
I was there a couple of weeks ago, Wellington looked different without the wires and the main street smelled of diesel, not a good image to present to tourists.
As a walker I have noticed the difference. Its quite sad that the council has externalised the cost of lung cancer and other respiratory issues. I think some one had it in their mind and that was that. Only one third party was asked for substation and switchgear improvement cost.
@@Michael-lg4wz These things are easy to remove and incredibly expensive to reinstate, accountants are the enemy of common sense, I live in the UK where one Dr Beeching recommended closing most of Britain's railways and the transport minister of the day (also to owner of Britain's largest Motorway construction company) implemented the Beeching report. Today Britain is and overcrowded island with aweful transport links because greedy men put their own interests first, New Zealand doesn't have to follow the UK, it could and should learn from the UK's mistakes.
@@Timsvideochannel1 By and large we have but our current Prime Minister Comrade Jacinda (Seems to be getting her orders from the Dems in the USA, they feted the hell out of her during Covid, all the Yank talk shows, all the witches calling her out as an excellent example of a leader, and did we mention her Chinese buddies, who appear to be governing the US and dems as well as Ms) Ardern. WHAT has the world come to!!?? Her/their policies/edicts are ruining the Blue collars of the planet, but that is after all, their 16 year plan.
It seems that the politicians in Wellington are of the same low quality as here in Sweden. Just the idea of replacing an electric system with a dieselpowered one is 50-60's thinking.
Tomas, ya get some good ones, then the bad ones get them thrown out of there. Same everywhere not just here in Welly. SMH material I agree.
At a time when cities around the world are reintroducing trolley buses and trams, what on earth are Wellington thinking?
Exactly!
While I was against losing the trolley's: Wellington's system had an antiquated & rare power supply system. And it wasn't easy nor cheap sourcing new trolley's in left-hand drive. So they would've needed a lot of money spent on them.
@@danieleyre8913 I thought it was because they wanted to privatise GO Wellington and that was difficult with the trolleybuses operating.
@@rogermanley955 Why would that make any difference?
@@danieleyre8913 That is what the staff told me especially if they privatised route by route. I take your point re power supply.
Very interesting mix of transportation and local architecture, thanks for showing your country and city
These trolleys look smart and have a dynamic look, indeed !
What a shame, obviously somebody in a position of power is on the take :(
As an aside, the narrow long tunnel will really be SMOKY as busses moving in alternate directions will never fully ventilate.
Absolutely excellent video. My last trip to Wellington New Zealand was back in 1979, when all the buses were red in colout. Watching this video brings back some wonderful memories. Thanks for sharing. I truly hope the council reconsiders against scrapping the trolley buses. The trolley buses are an excellent form of transport and are a great help with cutting down the pollution. From what I remember, Wellington had far cleaner air than most other world cities, when I visited there back in the 1970's. Wellington has always been one of my all time favourite locations.
Don't get rid of these!
Also the first busses seen in the video are also used in Melbourne in Australia on Melbourne’s metropolitan bus network however of course the buses in Melbourne only have four wheels rather than six and are diesel driven! :)
Why close them down, they must be far more carbon friendly than diesel or petrol?
JOHN-UK. Depends on the source of the electricity.
@@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819 it's still better because electric motors are more efficient and quieter. they also require less maintenance. prob cancels out tho bc overhead lines.
@@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819 The majority of electricity generation here is from hydro electric = renewable energy.
Really enjoyed watching this - and thanks once again for sharing with us here!
i may have been that toddler at 8:03 - i used to love the trolleybuses and would be sad if i had to go on a 'square' bus (the diesels). the trolleys had the cool bulged windscreen.
i miss the trolleybuses
Double-decker trolleybuses ran for 40 years in the UK before they were scrapped mid 1960's (Newcastle-on-Tyne) due to maintenance of poles and wires. Fully laden the 6 wheelers could carry close to 140 passengers up the steepest of hills that the (then) diesels couldn't manage. What a waste of money for Wellington after two years. It would be interesting to hear what the maintenance problems were.
Fantastic. Theses should run on weekends. They are much better for the environment.
NZ does not use any nuclear power, most of our electricity comes from Hydro-power and wind power.
Alex Ellis So there is no excuse for not using trolleybuses, is there?
The trolleybuses are better for the environment.
I think trolleybuses are better for everyone, and the environment.
John Benton
Unfortunately the dickheads at NZBus and WRC don't think like that, which is why they are being withdrawn in 2017 and being replaced with hybrids. The sad reality is that those F8ckers all drive around in ice cars, and have their own personal parking spaces - they never actually use public transport themselves.
Great production, gongringer. What super shots from high above Aro Valley terminus. :-)
I think they are great, but getting rid of them?. I remember in 1962 when the trams were replaced by diesel buses and the outrage that caused at the time, its a step backwards . I haven't been to Kiwi for 50 years, it was great to watch this video brought back some memories. Trevor, UK.
I always had the Idea people in NZ were somewhat bright.
Did not count on the inherent stupid of politicians.
You got that right our politicians were rather dumb at the time but they are kind of better now.
The diesel buses are so LOUD too, standing in town having a chat finally to that great specimen you see every lunch hour, then just as shes giving you her Twitter acct, the bloody noisy bus goes past and ya cant hear a darn thing...and shes gone before you get your fingers out of your ears.
Very interesting footage as I drove the "Big Red Buses" back around 1970. I remember that Trolley #1 and maybe #2 were garaged at the Kilbirnie depot. They had wooden frames with canvas bodies as I recall and were not very nice to drive. Overall, I enjoyed driving trolleys and as I did what was called, weekly changes, driving a different route every week, I knew every bit of the wire and was pretty quick when I wanted to be and rarely spat a pole off. The run up Aro Street was also very interesting as I lived in Durham Street when young and my father and I were on the last tram to Aro Street in 1857. The first school I went to was Mitcheltown Primary, which was situated around the corner to the left and up a driveway in Holloway Road, but moved on to Te Aro Primary a couple of years later. I've been back to NZ a couple of times in the last twelve months and reckon Wellington will be gridlocked in five years or so and nothing will move.
The footage of Route 5 in Hataitai is now an historical record, as the wiring has been taken down and the service is diesel operated.
Perfect vehicles for up hill 100% torque all the time
It seems like there are many documentaries and news articles on the dismantling of transit systems across the globe during various periods of time. Especially true with trams/street cars in the US during the 1950s & 60s. In those articles it even discusses that it was a poor decision and the negative impact it had on cities......... Yes, it seems like there are some places that still take that course of action. The system seem like it added a uniqueness to the town. I’m wondering if down the road people will look back and say, “What a shame, we should have never gotten rid of those trolley buses.”
Cue the video to 3:50, and you will see a signal on a yellow post on the left side of the tunnel portal. It will change from red to a white B symbol to allow the trolley bus to enter the tunnel. It is interlocked with a signal at the other end of the tunnel so two buses should not be in the tunnel at the same time.
A guy i know used to drive for that company and cars arent allowed through so one day he was about to enter the tunnel when he saw a car about to enter from the other end, he basically played First to blink, with the oncoming car only to notice the car wasnt doing the usual when a bus catches you and reverses out or doesnt even bother entering until the bus has gone through. This guy kept coming to where they reached a stalemate and stopped, the driver of the car disembarked and yelled at the Driver, What are you gunna do now Big Hero, my cars stolen and im off, and he proceeded to run out the way the bus had came and this caused a hell of a mess, my driver friend was an Hour behind schedule all day as a result. I told my friend, Ya got to give a little, before ya take a little, da dum de dum da da da. By the same token, I have received a Ticket on a Sunday morning (When there is only 1 bus each hour) for going thru the tunnel (Hataitai Bus Tunnel, to be correct) only to find not one, but TWO cop cars there on the other side having what i can only think was a Sunday prayer meet tween the burly Sgt and the not so burly female driver of the non Sgt car. Two Hundie Bucks is what the fine was, must have been on weekend rates plus time and a half on Sundays at that price.
Only just now caught your wonderful video. A nice reminder of what a lovely city Wellington (My home town) is. Some great points made in the comments here but I doubt that the Greater Wellington Regional Council would wish to let good sense get in the way. It was exactly the same with the trams, the last of which ran in 1962. I remember the fight to try to keep them but, alas, to no avail. Electric transport is clean, quiet, the engines have few moving parts, acceleration is better (as could be observed in the hill scenes). London's hybrid buses are very noisy and as far as I can see the electric bit is rarely engaged. But in our noisy polluted cities something as clean and quiet as a trolley bus is such an anachronism, isn't it?
I just went to Wellington hopeing I would see them, all I saw were regular buses and Auckland buses with the AT Logo still on them....
why the hell the councilors would want to scrap these high tech trolleybuses? in Birmingham UK there are plans for the similar system and most of European cities wouldn't dare scrapping them!
Malcolm George
Because the overhead wire system is quite expensive to maintain, and it's difficult to change a route, once established.
Besides, they could change to battery powered busses, and just convert the old trollies to battery power, and have a few fast charge stations here and there, much cheaper to maintain.
Batteries are very expensive, and as far as i know the trolleys will be replaced with hybrids (diesels).
Madness to dismantle. Most Trolleybus systems have 300amps on tap for the vehicles to use better than diesel or battery powered.
Thank you for the video👍
Thank you for this informative video.
I'm sure the neighbors on those hilly streets will be thrilled that hi revving diesels go past every few minutes. Route flexibility? Nonsense. Batteries? they don't last but 5 years if your lucky, I know this first hand from my electric bike experience. Trading one set of problems for new problems in the hope of saving some money is foolish. It would be one thing if the fleet were ancient and the country were completely bankrupt and unable to replace them. This is a perplexing situation and really diminishes my high opinion of New Zealander's. In 4 years, no one has posted any reasonable argument for abandoning the wires and expensive coaches. This reeks of high level political corruption such as has plagued most of the world since the beginning of time.
Corporateering, big business has a l w a y s been and a l w a y s will be crooked; it's n e v e r been about economising. Of all the hand-wringing comments here yours, however, has made me realise the forthcoming troublesome, frequent disposals of batteries.
parabéns Nova Zelândia , parabéns Wellington por esses maravilhosos trólebus , queria tanto em São Paulo SP Brasil , trólebus com ar condicionado e tudo mais
Very nice video. I thought these looked like a Designline bus. The Designline standard bus was tried in NYC, but none were ordered after the trial. But it's good to see the three axle trolleybus is alive and well again.
The hybrid ones were part of a 90 bus test order. After one broke down on the bridge, they upgraded the turbine system (Capstone C30) to a larger Capstone C65.
The buses failed the test phase after only 5 buses were delivered, and they all were sent back
Budapest and elsewhere have 3 axle trolley buses, and some multsection bodies
i drove the buses there in 1973/4 it was a good shift to go 8 hours and the poles stayed i liked the food in the canteen over the road at wakefield st i think
Man I tell you if I didn't know any better I'd say these yellow trolley buses kinda favor the RTS at the front of them. These are sick and hecka awesome
The electric motor of this trolleybus was made by Eletra from there in Brazil.
Wow Wellington has come of age with its bus fleet
but I remember mearly all the houses on the video from when I was a kid living in Wellington im 68 now so in 58 yrs bugger all has changed in that way
parabéns Go transportes de Wellington Nova Zelândia
3:19 is not Mount Victoria tunnel, it's Hataitai.
they look so new they could have lasted another 10-20 years before replacement but no, they had to get rid of the system just after the beautiful buses were purchased, they look like cute caterpillars
I first saw the Wellington trolleybuses in 1975 when they were red (I only had a still camera then). I was so pleased to see that the system was still running, until you said that it is to be closed down- I wonder who will stand to benefit when the contract is placed for a new fleet of vehicles? Loved your video, and I hopefully will get a few shots on my own camcorder next year (2016) whilst in Wellington.
Why they closed it?
i grew up in wellington and remember the trams and then silver ghosts slipping silently in the fog down cleveland st. then when older and when i was man enough to, i drove the big reds. diesels and electrics. the electrics were the msot amazing thing for torque. i can not beleive theyre going. cant you fill them with batteries and put solar panels on the roof?
sad thing the council is scrapping it to replace with diesel bus; it must be corruptions!
In Phila PA, USA. National Coach bought out privately held local transport co. and then, despite public promises, proceeded to dismantle trolley{streetcar rail} lines & several trackless trolley lines and shortened others. They replaced them with diesel buses from GMC. Guess what company owned National Bus! G M Corp.
Very sad i hate dieselbuses :(
Quite obvious.
I can't believe they are going to close this down! short sited!
Timosha21 ifof8f
They turned out to be too expensive to run, that's why they ended it. But yeah, environmentally, I think it's pretty bad.
Just council hearsay. The council neglected to maintain the electrical system and decided to scrap modern trolley buses because the new bus franchise holder had a diesel bus fleet, as it turns, Wellington has had lots of problems with its new buses, the council made the wrong decision.
At risk of being redundant; the Wellington system displayed 2 advantages of this mode. HILL CLIMBING at speed as seen in USA in San Francisco and Seattle and nearby Vancouver Canada AND operation in tunnels and SubWays as in Boston Mass area. Undouptedly diesel replacements will struggle up hills, especially pulling away at starts uphill puts diesels at inefficient power range.
As for politicians, this seems a double money grab. Buying lots of Diesels and then spending lots more trying to convert the less then ten year old TBs to battery use.
After reading this heading I am HORRIFIED! I am in San Francisco (which also has trolley buses) and this means that I HAVE to come down to Wellington THIS YEAR (2016) to ride these! Is to mean that Wellington being currently the only trolley bus system in Southern Hemisphere (and perhaps the only one driving on the LEFT on the planet) will all go diesel!?
There is (or was, as of September 2010) a trolleybus line "K" in Rosario, Argentina. Each ride is about AR$ 10.00 apiece, fairly cheap, even cheaper with a 5-ride ticket. Sao Paulo in Brazil has a trolleybus system as well. I am not aware of any LHT trolleybus systems in the southern hemisphere.
Why are they run only at weekends? and why are the idiots thinking about replacing them with diesels? These are silent clean and rapid and look new.
He said they only run on Weekdays.
How do the trolleybus drivers know that the road ahead is clear before starting into the single-lane Mount Victoria tunnel? Is there a signal light or are they in radio contact with the on-coming drivers?
+CrabCityKidsTV There is a signal light at the tunnel portals to tell the bus drivers that it is their turn to use the tunnel.
New Zealand?
Шикарная техника, ничего не скажешь!
Nice vid !!!!
Nice buses, In my city, trolleybuses doesn't exists anymore.
não tem catracas , como o usuário paga?
GO Wellington trolebus show👍esse poderia vir para SP, fazer parte da frota de trolebus da região.
Outrageous!
Dear sirs: the Willington Transit and city council must be composed with a bunch of crap ass pee brains. Our city of Calgary and Edmonton got rid of their trolley buses because of civic management promotions; also because of not wanting to upgrade the overhead system strung over the thoroughfares. We eliminated ours Forty-five years ago and our capital city of Edmonton Eight years ago in 22010. They used the same flimsy excuse both times. thanks, Glenn Dickson.
Can a trolleybus drive around a blockage in their path (such as a disabled car) or are they forced to back-up until they reach a cross street and then make a detour?
ummm "trolley" that means those buses they have those sticks on the top trough which they get electricity from the cables above so their movement is restricted, yes they can pass broken car, other bus or truck, but they cannot detour on first intersection. only where cables with power are...
Trolleybuses can access either carriageway, as their overhead current-collecting poles are able to operate at up to 90 degrees from the straight ahead. Unlike trams, which are stuck to their rails.
@@zoki.to974 Trolleybuses from the 1960's in the UK had back-up batteries to get them to the side of the road in the case of power failure. In one instance they travelled a whole city block (UK size) on batteries to avoid a fire adjacent to existing route.
LOOOOOOVITT!! Nice video!!
Bloody hell Wellington; 04.00 - you've got a severe graffiti problem. I'll come and take care of it if you let me live in NZ 😊
Magnifique ! :D :D Merci pour ce film, gongrinper. ;)
C'mon why dismantling those amazing busses. Really don't know what local governments have in their minds
Why?!
Because apparently 6 million $/year in up keep is more expensive than the environmental effects of diesel buses
Nice video. Do you know the title of the music at the end of your video ?
I used iMovie to edit this video; you can add titles, sound effects, music, etc. I chose Stingers from the music menu, and the selection is Synthetic Design 02.caf It is one minute long and as part of iMovie the Artist is shown as Apple Inc. For the opening title for the video, I used Concrete Jungle from the Ambience menu to provide a background sound of traffic. I use this more for still photos in my latest video: Trolleybuses Return to Route 41.
@@gongringer Oh okay thank you very much for your answer
II read a newspaper clip saying there not much success in getting the wrightspeed system to work.
Will it work or will be dumbed in some paddock somewhere watch this space.
Just another thought Wellington throw away tourist dollars
Bello e veramente accurato
Excellent filming with some imaginative viewpoints! A total tragedy that the system has fallen foul of short-sighted pen-pushers who hate electric traction. London had the world's largest ever trolleybus network but that too was trashed by imbeciles.
Why must gazillions of you clones be lenient with crooks by likening them to (quote) _imbeciles_ .. your hand-wringing, virtue signalling's merely impotent, right.. .. . .
trainrover ~ What are you babbling on about now? They have an excellent point.........unlike you. Why must things like you always have to make a contradictory, useless point over nothing. Most people on here agree that the dismantling of this system is pointless and not beneficial for the city. Do you support this decision? Regardless.......up your meds (mg) and next time don’t skip your morning dose of medication! See what can happens when you do little one! 🤪
And what contribution will the WRC decision make to NZ's self-publicising as "100% virgin pure NZ"?
Trolleybuses are environmentally vastly superior to anything with a battery, but in Wellington they're giving their citizens a dose of real diesel pollution while they put the clock back on the trolleybuses.
Makes so much sense don't need expensive battery's,better than the crapy diesel buses we have in this part of the U.K.
Parabéns 👏👏👏😎☝️ exemplo de cidade e de pais nossos governantes brasileiros precisam vem isso em quanto nós temos perdendo tempo gosto muito de trólebus aqui na minha cidade do Recife já te vermos TB mais esses governantes acabaram com nossos trólebus CTU infelizmente salve Moisés Recife Pernambuco Brazil 😎✌️🇧🇷
I would have kept them with the electric double deckers.
I find it quite strange that the drivers are wearing "high visibility" vests when they are driving bright yellow buses. I had to have one when I was driving tours in France, but only wore it if you had to get out of the coach on a breakdown or when loading luggage.
+Eezee Listen That might be because if a pole comes adrift the driver needs to get out to reposition it. One night a few years ago a following car ran into the driver and killed him.
+John Hammond Ah yes, and I guess the temptation to "just pop out" without putting the jacket on would be so easy - would be nice if the company or the organisation could design an integrated shirt and/or jumper with yellow high visibility - I never liked having to wear an additional item especially as they were never tailored/comfortable.
nice!
What country is this ?
🇳🇿.
@@davidbatthews3811 Fuck you !!
@@spiritwalker1988 Why so hostile
Surely the trolley system with its wires, poles, hills and tunnels and its recently modernised , trolley buses ( built in 1978/79 and updated in 2007-8 with new bodies and new features such as batteries for temporary off power running) were an icon of Wellington and should have been marketed as a significant attraction to international tourists and a super way of getting around Wellington. But no. Clean transport, european tourists and sophisticated public transport are not really priorites here. WEllington councils are very left wing and prioritise public housing estates and the creation of jobs for the low skilled and poor academic performers and the trolley bus system with its ageing DC system, old substations and requirements for lots of expensive and highly skilled electrical workers was not much liked. In New Zealand for the last 40 years most governments have encouraged most with good degrees or talented to leave the country , and probably at least a million have permanently. Of the highly intelligent under 60, probably three quarters have left the school once they finished university or lost their NZ job and professional income. Among the skilled workers probably half. WEllington should be an exciting boutique city like San Francisco, but the last couple of Governments have opted for draconian anti alcohol policies and New Zealand's legendary 24/6 bars and supermarkets open all day and night selling alcohol have been subject to new restrictive licensing and over zealous enforcement which far exceeds the letter of the council or legal fiat. In Wellington the overiding policy is to employ the locals in bars and cafes and the policy of the socially and economically liberal governments than opened everything economically and socially ( in say Labour 84-90 government the economic and social/ sexual liberals were often too different groups) but the the National government since about the time of the Christchurch earthquake in 2010/11 and the World cup in 2011 has been closing everything exciting.
Bus in Wellington the best
I've visited Wellington and while I do think it was a dumb decision to completely get rid of these things, the removal of the overhead wires allows for electric double-deckers to operate. you win some, you lose some
Actually Moscow does the same thing
I was on the last trip.
YET so many city's are bring back trams
Belos ..!! Optimus
oh and yes we used to race on our bikes through the tram tunnel and hoped we didnt get caught
I cant remember getting caught
que trólebus e esse? atenção ambiental transportes quando da renovação da frota de trólebus que tal alguns desses? acho que nunca muito moderno
2:14 little ark
Looks like Seattle Washington
At least electric double deckers serving and on order
а звук как у наших зиу)))) заебно наверное по горам на нем ездить
wow looks so....
yellow.
Super video trolleybuses
Terminated ??
Big mistake !!!
😡😡😡😡😡
GO WELLINGTON SP
இந்த முன்னேற்றங்களை. எல்லாம். பார்க்கும். போது. நம் நாடு. நாற்பது வருடங்கள். பின்னடைவில். இருக்கிறது.
foco
PMSP isso é trólebus , Ambiental Transportes isso é trólebus , nossos trólebus são antiquados perante Wellington
Looks like they're wasting a lot of NZ$.