Trolleybuses in Modena
Encyclopedia
The Modena trolleybus
system forms part of the public transport
network of the city and comune
of Modena
, in the region
of Emilia-Romagna
, northern Italy
.
In operation since 1950, the system has undergone several phases of expansion and contraction over the decades, including a re-launching since the start of 2000. It presently comprises three lines, and is one of the largest trolleybus systems in Italy.
In 1952, after almost two years of service, it became necessary to revise the system, in light of observed traffic flows. In particular, it was necessary to add an "interstational" service (an extended line 5), departing from Modena Piazza Manzoni railway station. There was also a new line 6.
On 30 September 1954, a new line 7 was activated (piazza Torre - via Farini - cavalcaferrovia - Sacca), to provide a proper service to the new Sacca district, located north of the Milan–Bologna railway. This line remained in operation for little more than one year; the comune lacked the resources to extend the line westward to the village of Madonnina (and in particular to equip the homonymous overpass with overhead wires). The line was therefore operated by conventional bus until 1959, when the Madonnina extension was finally electrified, and the opportunity was taken for a second reorganization of the system.
Specifically, on 8 December 1963 line 6 was extended to the Sacco district, to serve the new INA Casa public housing
district, and on 14 June 1965 line 4 was "temporarily" suspended, to allow the construction of the Crocella overpass (on which it was planned to install the overhead wire to extend the line). Then, on 24 July 1965, the line was diverted to the new Hospital. The line along la Crocetta was abandoned, and later permanently deleted (on 18 June 1966) and replaced by the new line 7, routed by the Sant'Agostino barrier to Modena railway station, and following the new routing at viale Monte Kosica. Also, line 4 to Madonnina was abandoned.
On 2 October 1967, an extension of line 6 was inaugurated from viale Buon Pastore to via Conco, including a level crossing
over the SEFTA line to Sassuolo. This extension operated for many years (until 2000), and was constructed from scratch. The following years saw only contractions of Modena's trolleybus system. The closure in 1964 of the railway to Mirandola, and the planned closure (implemented in 1969) of the railway to Vignola, reduced the importance of Modena's "little station" (Modena Piazza Manzoni railway station), and trolleybus lines 1 and 2. Both lines were therefore closed on 21 August 1968, together with line 3, which was transformed into a conventional bus line and prolonged. Finally, on 2 October 1972, under the pretext of establishing a one-way Viale Fabrizi, line 5 was closed.
Less than a year later, on 15 June 1974, a further change took place, transforming line 7 and extending the EO shuttle bus service to the railway station. At the end of the period of austerity, after the need to ensure high frequencies, the EW and NS shuttles could be deleted, and lines 6 and 7 reactivated. The line 6 trolleybus assumed the designation 6/, being the reinforcement of a longer, conventional bus route. The network was then stable for nearly two decades, because all of the investment funds of AMCM (absorbed in 1988 by ATCM) were directed, throughout the 1980s, to the renewal of the fleet of trolleybuses, which had become obsolete.
All of these challenging works necessitated interruption of the system from 30 October 1995 until 13 May 2000, when the renovated line 7 was reopened. The new line 6 followed on 13 December 2000, and the new line 11 on 11 June 2001.
In detail, in addition to the reconstruction of the two old lines 6/ and 7, the following routes were created from scratch:
In recent years, line 7 has been extended from the Hospital to via Gottardi, curiously through the halls of the Hospital itself, while line 6 has ceased operating to the railway station, leaving unused the new line at viale Berengar.
This article is based upon a translation of the Italian language version as at July 2011.
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
system forms part of the public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
network of the city and comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
of Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
, in the region
Regions of Italy
The regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of the state, constituting its first NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, of which five are constitutionally given a broader amount of autonomy granted by special statutes....
of Emilia-Romagna
Emilia-Romagna
Emilia–Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of and about 4.4 million inhabitants....
, northern Italy
Northeast Italy
Northeast Italy is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics , a first level NUTS region and a European Parliament constituency...
.
In operation since 1950, the system has undergone several phases of expansion and contraction over the decades, including a re-launching since the start of 2000. It presently comprises three lines, and is one of the largest trolleybus systems in Italy.
Beginnings
In 1949, the comune of Modena decided to replace the city's tram network with a trolleybus system, believed to be more efficient and modern. The first two lines of the planned system (3/ Centro - San Faustino and 5 viale Buon Pastore - San Cataldo) were activated on 22 January 1950; in the following months, the system was expanded gradually at the expense of the trams, with all of the initial lines (1 to 5) opening by 21 October 1950.In 1952, after almost two years of service, it became necessary to revise the system, in light of observed traffic flows. In particular, it was necessary to add an "interstational" service (an extended line 5), departing from Modena Piazza Manzoni railway station. There was also a new line 6.
On 30 September 1954, a new line 7 was activated (piazza Torre - via Farini - cavalcaferrovia - Sacca), to provide a proper service to the new Sacca district, located north of the Milan–Bologna railway. This line remained in operation for little more than one year; the comune lacked the resources to extend the line westward to the village of Madonnina (and in particular to equip the homonymous overpass with overhead wires). The line was therefore operated by conventional bus until 1959, when the Madonnina extension was finally electrified, and the opportunity was taken for a second reorganization of the system.
Expansion and contraction
In later years, new extensions came into service, but were accompanied by the first closures. Conventional buses were starting to be seen as more flexible, at intersections as traffic became chaotic, and in enabling Modena's transport network to cover urban expansion without the need for new infrastructure.Specifically, on 8 December 1963 line 6 was extended to the Sacco district, to serve the new INA Casa public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
district, and on 14 June 1965 line 4 was "temporarily" suspended, to allow the construction of the Crocella overpass (on which it was planned to install the overhead wire to extend the line). Then, on 24 July 1965, the line was diverted to the new Hospital. The line along la Crocetta was abandoned, and later permanently deleted (on 18 June 1966) and replaced by the new line 7, routed by the Sant'Agostino barrier to Modena railway station, and following the new routing at viale Monte Kosica. Also, line 4 to Madonnina was abandoned.
On 2 October 1967, an extension of line 6 was inaugurated from viale Buon Pastore to via Conco, including a level crossing
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
over the SEFTA line to Sassuolo. This extension operated for many years (until 2000), and was constructed from scratch. The following years saw only contractions of Modena's trolleybus system. The closure in 1964 of the railway to Mirandola, and the planned closure (implemented in 1969) of the railway to Vignola, reduced the importance of Modena's "little station" (Modena Piazza Manzoni railway station), and trolleybus lines 1 and 2. Both lines were therefore closed on 21 August 1968, together with line 3, which was transformed into a conventional bus line and prolonged. Finally, on 2 October 1972, under the pretext of establishing a one-way Viale Fabrizi, line 5 was closed.
Austerity
The long sequence of closures was stopped, at least in part, by the so-called austerity, and the concomitant spread of ecological awareness. Indeed, the scarcity of fuel available for private traffic had necessitated increased frequency of public transport. However, to avoid excessively intensive bus traffic in the streets of Old Town, it was decided to divert the conventional buses onto the ring roads. This left only the trolleybuses in the city centre, to operate the two north-south and east-west bus lines, the high frequency lines. Limited availability of trolleybuses enabled the continued operation of the important line 7, but forced the closure of line 6. The reform came into force on 1 October 1973.Less than a year later, on 15 June 1974, a further change took place, transforming line 7 and extending the EO shuttle bus service to the railway station. At the end of the period of austerity, after the need to ensure high frequencies, the EW and NS shuttles could be deleted, and lines 6 and 7 reactivated. The line 6 trolleybus assumed the designation 6/, being the reinforcement of a longer, conventional bus route. The network was then stable for nearly two decades, because all of the investment funds of AMCM (absorbed in 1988 by ATCM) were directed, throughout the 1980s, to the renewal of the fleet of trolleybuses, which had become obsolete.
Revival
It was only in the 1990s that the trolleybus system faced a new golden era as a plan (known as the "Husler Plan", after its editor, the Swiss engineer Willi Husler) was prepared for the reform of the entire system. It provided for upgrades and extensions, and the opportunity was taken to rebuild the system to the most modern dictates, by reconstructing the overhead wire to make it suitable for higher speeds, and increasing the voltage from 600 V to 750 V.All of these challenging works necessitated interruption of the system from 30 October 1995 until 13 May 2000, when the renovated line 7 was reopened. The new line 6 followed on 13 December 2000, and the new line 11 on 11 June 2001.
In detail, in addition to the reconstruction of the two old lines 6/ and 7, the following routes were created from scratch:
- staz. Autolinee - via Santi, which largely follows the line 5 branch line to San Cataldo that was closed in 1972;
- extension from via Conco to via Forlì;
- viale Berengario;
- corso Canal Grande (in place of via Farini);
- Sacca overpass - viale Gramsci;
- extension from Sacca to Sant'Anna;
- new line from piazzale Risorgimento to viale dello Zodiaco, including the line 3 branch line to San Faustino closed in 1968.
In recent years, line 7 has been extended from the Hospital to via Gottardi, curiously through the halls of the Hospital itself, while line 6 has ceased operating to the railway station, leaving unused the new line at viale Berengar.
Services
The lines comprising the present Modena trolleybus system are:| 6 | via Santi - barr. Sant'Agostino - corso Canal Chiaro - piazza Risorgimento - viale Buon Pastore - via Forlì |
|---|---|
| 7 | viale Gramsci - stazione FS Modena railway station Modena railway station is the main station serving the city and comune of Modena, in the region of Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. Opened in 1859, it forms part of the Milan–Bologna railway, and is also a terminus of two secondary railways, linking Modena with Verona and Sassuolo,... - viale Monte Kosica - barr. Sant'Agostino - largo Garibaldi - Policlinico - via Gottardi |
| 11 | Sant'Anna - Sacca - stazione FS - corso Canal Grande - corso Canal Chiaro - piazza Risorgimento - via Giardini - viale dello Zodiaco |
Retired trolleybuses
The following trolleybuses have been used on the Modena system, but are now retired:- Fiat 668/F 122 Cansa CGE (4 trolleybuses, nos 11-14), originally destined for Catania;
- Fiat 668/F 131 Cansa Marelli (12 trolleybuses, nos 15-26), entered service between 1949 and 1950 - the last remaining were retired in 1972, upon the closure of line 5; no 17 was bought by a private purchaser, and is still visible, although in poor condition, in a private forest at Serramazzoni (MO);
- Fiat 2401 Cansa Marelli: (2 trolleybuses, nos 27-28), entered service in 1953 - due to several problems with the steering and electrical systems, these units were withdrawn in 1967;
- Fiat 2411 Cansa CGE (6 trolleybuses, nos 29-34), registered in 1959 - the last units ceased service in 1986; no 33, was maintained for training drivers until the end of the 1980s, and has been preserved as a historic vehicle - after a careful external restoration, it is now located at the outdoor storage of ATCM Modena;
- Fiat 2411 Menarini Marelli (6 trolleybuses, nos 35-41), acquired in 1964, served until 1986 - no 37, when retired, was taken to the National Museum of Transport in La Spezia, where it still awaits restoration;
- Fiat 2411 Cansa CGE (4 trolleybuses, nos 42-45 (ex 61, 62, 63 and 65 ATAM Livorno)), purchased upon the closure of the Livorno trolleybus system in 1974 - retired in 1986, and were purchased in 1991 by the Dopolavoro Ferroviario di Livorno for museum purposes.
Current fleet
Modena's present trolleybus fleet is made up of only the following three types:- IvecoIvecoIveco, an acronym for Industrial Vehicle Corporation, originally an alliance of European commercial vehicle manufacturers such as Fiat , Unic and Magirus. Iveco is now an Italian truck, bus, and diesel engine manufacturer, based in Turin...
2471 SocimiSocimiSocietà Costruzioni Industriali Milano, better known as Socimi, was an Italian manufacturing company based in Milan. It was a manufacturer of trams, metro trains; traction motors for these and for trolleybuses; and bodies for motorbuses and trolleybuses...
8883 (14 trolleybuses, nos 11-24), entered service in 1986; - MAN NGT 204F Autodromo BusOtto (10 articulated trolleybuses, nos 25-34), entered service in 2000;
- MAN Neoplan Electroliner (5 trolleybuses, nos 01-05), entered service in late 2008 (01-03) and at the end of 2009 (04-05).
See also
- Modena railway stationModena railway stationModena railway station is the main station serving the city and comune of Modena, in the region of Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. Opened in 1859, it forms part of the Milan–Bologna railway, and is also a terminus of two secondary railways, linking Modena with Verona and Sassuolo,...
- List of trolleybus systems in Italy
External links
- History of the system, on the ATCM official site
- Images of the Modena trolleybus system, at photorail.com
This article is based upon a translation of the Italian language version as at July 2011.