List of trolleybus systems in France

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Irisbus Cristalis in Limoges
A Hess trolleybus in Nancy
Map of all trolleybus systems, past and present, in France and in the former territories under French administration

This is a list of trolleybus systems in France by region. It includes all trolleybus systems, past and present. Bold text indicates a system that is still operating.

Alsace

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
Gleislose Bahn Mühlhausen Mulhouse 9 October 1908 14 July 1918 See also Trolleybus de Mulhouse (in French) for the first system, German denomination Gleislose Bahn Mühlhausen for the first system, because Mulhouse was part of German Empire until 1918.
5 July 1946 1968
  Strasbourg 27 May 1939 31 March 1962  

Aquitaine

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Bordeaux May 1940 1954  

Burgundy

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Dijon 7 January 1950 30 March 1966  

Brittany

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Brest 29 July 1947 1970  
  Saint-Malo 1906 5 June 1907 Electrobus designed by Louis Lombard-Gérin made by Compagnie de Traction par Trolley Automoteur, and run by Société des Tracteurs Breton.[1][2]
10 July 1948 30 September 1959

Centre-Val de Loire

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Tours 5 October 1947 29 June 1968 See also Trolleybuses in Tours.

Franche-Comté

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Belfort 4 July 1952 1 August 1972  

Upper Normandy

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Le Havre 1 August 1947 28 December 1970  
  Rouen 2 January 1933 26 June 1970  

Île-de-France

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Fontainebleau 12 June 1901 30 August 1913 Louis Lombard-Gérin, first commercial trolleybus route.[1]
  Paris 2 August 1900 12 November 1900 at Vincennes, Lombard-Gérin.[1]
1912 1914 at Saint-Mandé. Mercedes-Stoll. Also January 1922 demonstration.
  ♦ Vitry-sur-Seine 7 April 1925 8 July 1935  
  ♦ Porte de Champerret – Bezons / Argenteuil 8 January 1943 31 March 1962  
  ♦ Porte de Choisy – Choisy-le-Roi and Porte d'Italie – Thiais 16 January 1950 31 March 1966  

Languedoc-Roussillon

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Nîmes – Remoulins 10 July 1924 31 December 1927  
  Perpignan 21 September 1952 June 1968  

Limousin

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Limoges 14 July 1943   See also Trolleybuses in Limoges.

Lorraine

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Forbach 19 May 1951 1 November 1969  
  Metz 14 September 1947 30 April 1966  
  Nancy 27 September 1982   See Trolleybuses in Nancy.

Midi-Pyrénées

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Montauban January 1903 1904 Lombard-Gerin. [1]

Pays de la Loire

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Le Mans 13 November 1947 1969  

Picardy

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Amiens 1946 February 1963  

Poitou-Charentes

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Poitiers 9 August 1943 3 March 1965  

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Aubagne – Cuges-les-Pins 19 September 1927 20 July 1958  
  Marseille 13 June 1903 1 September 1905 First system, Lombard-Gerin, connected Allauch and La Rose.[1]
26 April 1942 25 June 2004 [3] Second system included an interurban line to Aix-en-Provence.
  Nice 30 April 1942 12 September 1970  
  Toulon 7 May 1949 19 February 1973  

Rhône-Alpes

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Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
  Chambéry 6 October 1930 June 1940  
  Grenoble 1 August 1947 24 June 1999  
  Lyon 1 September 1905 10 September 1906 First system, Schiemann, located at Charbonnières-les-Bains.
4 September 1935 – See also Trolleybuses in Lyon.
  Modane - Lanslebourg 20 August 1923 June 1940  
  Moûtiers – Salins (-les-Thermes) 15 April 1930 March 1965  
  Saint-Étienne 1 January 1942   System included an interurban line to Firminy.
See also Trolleybuses in Saint-Étienne.
  • Note: The former TVR, or GLT, system in Caen and the Translohr system in Clermont-Ferrand are not listed, as they are not commonly considered to be trolleybus systems,[4][5] since their vehicles use(d) pantographs to collect current and therefore were not able to operate away from the surface guideway while remaining in electric mode. The GLT vehicles formerly used on the Nancy system, by comparison, were able to do so, as they used trolley poles to collect current, so the Nancy system continued to be considered a trolleybus system during its GLT era.[4]

See also

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Sources

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Books and periodicals

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  • Bruce, Ashley. Lombard-Gerin and Inventing the Trolleybus Trolleybooks, 2017, ISBN 978-0-904235-25-8.
  • Murray, Alan (2000). World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia. Reading, Berkshire, UK: Trolleybooks. ISBN 0-904235-18-1.
  • Trolleybus Magazine, various issues. National Trolleybus Association (UK). Bimonthly. ISSN 0266-7452.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Bruce, Ashley R. Lombard-Gerin and Inventing the Trolleybus. (2017) Trolleybooks (UK). ISBN 978-0-904235-25-8.
  2. ^ Prentice, John R. Prentice. "Tramway Information". www.tramwayinfo.com. Prentice. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  3. ^ Trolleybus Magazine No. 258 (November-December 2004), p. 137.
  4. ^ a b Webb, Mary (ed.) (2009). "World Urban Tram and Light Rail Systems" and "World Urban Trolleybus Systems" (lists). Jane's Urban Transport Systems 2009-2010. Coulsdon, Surrey (UK): Jane's Information Group. ISBN 978-0-7106-2903-6.
  5. ^ Box, Roland, ed. (March–April 2000). "Is it a Bus? Is it a Tram?". Trolleybus Magazine. No. 230. National Trolleybus Association. p. 26. ISSN 0266-7452.

Further reading

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  • De Coster, Roland; Hamal, Thierry; and Stas, Dominique (eds.) (1997). TRAM 2000 - Flash 1997: France. Brussels, Belgium: TRAM 2000 asbl.
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  • Media related to Trolleybuses in France at Wikimedia Commons