British Trolleybus Systems

Book excerpt: Although there had been experiments with the use of a new form of transport - the ‘trackless tram’ (better known as the trolleybus) - during the first decade of the 20th century, it was in June 1911 that Bradford and Leeds became the country’s pioneering operators of trolleybuses. Some of the earliest operators were in Lancashire, northern England and Scotland; indeed Scotland can lay claim to having both the first system in Britain to close – Dundee in 1914 – and the last to open – Glasgow in 1949. This volume – one of four that examines the history of all trolleybus operators in the British Isles – focuses on Lancashire, Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.