The St Helens trolleybus system once served St Helens

St Helens, Merseyside

St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000, part of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census...

, Merseyside

Merseyside

Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...

, north west England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Opened on , it gradually replaced the St Helens tramway network.

By the standards of the various now-defunct trolleybus

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...

 systems in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, the St Helens system was a medium-sized one, with a total of six routes, and a maximum fleet of 66 trolleybuses. It was closed relatively early, on . The 16 youngest trolleybuses in the fleet at that time, ones built in 1950–51, were all sold to other systems for further use. Eight Sunbeam vehicles going to South Shields system

Trolleybuses in South Shields

The South Shields trolleybus system once served the town of South Shields, then in County Durham, but now in Tyne and Wear, England. Opened on , it gradually replaced the South Shields Corporation Tramways....

 and eight British United Traction vehicles to Bradford

Trolleybuses in Bradford

The Bradford trolleybus system served the city of Bradford, West 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....

.

Only one of the former St Helens system trolleybuses is now preserved, at the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft

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:...

, Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

.

See also

• History of St Helens, Merseyside
  History of St Helens, Merseyside
  St Helens is a large town and the administrative seat of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside, England. The town was incorporated as a Municipal Borough in 1868, responsible for the administration of the four townships and manors of Ecclestone, Parr, Sutton and Windle...
  
  
• Transport in St Helens
• List of trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom

External links

• SCT'61 website - photos and descriptions of St Helens trolleybuses and early motorbuses
• National Trolleybus Archive
• British Trolleybus Society, based in Reading
• National Trolleybus Association, based in London