Trolleybuses in Basel
The Basel trolleybus system was part of the public transport network of Basel, Switzerland, for nearly six decades. Opened in 1941, it combined after 1997 with the Basel Regional S-Bahn, the Basel tramway network and Basel's urban motorbus network to form an integrated all-four style scheme until its closure in 2008.
The trolleybus system was operated by Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe, which also operates Basel's motorbus network and some of the trams on its tramway network. At its height, the trolleybus system consisted of three lines, two of which ran into the neighbouring municipality of Riehen, north of Basel.
History
The individual sections of the Basel trolleybus system went into service as follows:| 31 July 1941 | Claraplatz–Rosengartenweg–Friedhof am Hörnli | Line A Line 31 | Replacement for motor bus line A |
| 25 October 1948 | Friedhof am Hörnli–Habermatten | Line 31 | Extension over new section |
| 9 February 1956 | Rosengartenweg–Käferholzstrasse | Line 34 | Replacement for motor bus line 34 |
| 24 October 1968 | Wanderstrasse–Badischer Bahnhof | Line 33 | Replacement for motor bus line 33 |
| 18 April 1973 | Käferholzstrasse–Habermatten | Line 34 | Extension over new section |
Line 34 was converted to motorbus operation on 9 September 2000. A conversion of line 33 followed on 13 December 2004. After the latter closure, Basel's only remaining trolleybus line was the long line 31.
A popular initiative to rescue the trolleybuses then occurred, but on 17 June 2007 the initiative was rejected by a 27,403 to 23,645 majority of the electors. Subsequently, the final trolleybus run on line 31 took place on 30 June 2008.
Fleet
A total of 52 trolleybuses were procured for the Basel trolleybus system. All of them were supplied new, apart from nos. 921 and 922, which were acquired second-hand from the Kaiserslautern trolleybus system in Germany:| Manufacturer | Type | Configuration | Quantity | Fleet numbers | Service years |
| FBW | 51 | Rigid, dual-mode | 2 | 10–11; from 1947/48: 50–51; from 1956: 350–351 | 1941–1975 |
| Saurer | 4 BPO | Two-axle, cab over | 2 | 12–13; from 1947/48: 52–53; from 1956: 352–353 | 1941–1958 |
| Saurer | 4 TP | Two-axle | 2 | 54–55; from 1956: 354–355 | 1948–1975 |
| FBW | 51 | Two-axle | 12 | 56–64; from 1956: 356–368 | 1955–1995 |
| Schindler | APG | Articulated | 10 | 901–910 | 1968–1996 |
| FBW | 91 GTS | Articulated | 10 | 911–920 | 1975–2000 |
| Daimler-Benz | O305 GT | Articulated | 2 | 921–922 | 1986–2000 |
| Neoplan | N 6020 | Articulated, low-floor | 12 | 923–934 | 1992–2008 |
in 2006, still wearing BVB fleet livery
Up until the closure of the system, motorbus no. 48 served as an overhead wire de-icer, and for that purpose was fitted with trolley poles.
Some of the retired trolleybuses were transferred to Pazardzhik and Ruse in Bulgaria as well as Braşov in Romania. Trolleybus no. 358 is now in the possession of the Lausanne-based RétroBus Léman museum society.