Trolleybuses in Tehran
Tehran trolleybus system | |
---|---|
Operation | |
Locale | Tehran, Iran |
Open | 14 September 1992 |
Status | Open |
Routes | 1 |
Infrastructure | |
Stock | 30 Škoda 15Tr (as of 2016) [1] |
Statistics | |
Route length | 13.9 km (8.6 mi) (2005)[2] |
The Tehran trolleybus system (Persian:سامانهٔ اتوبوس برقی تهران, Samazh-e Atubus-e Berqi-ye Tehran) serves Tehran, the capital city of Iran.[3] Opened in 1992, it is the only trolleybus system ever to have existed in Iran.[4] At its maximum extent, the system had five routes, served by at least 65 trolleybuses. The system closed in 2013,[3] but reopened in 2016 with one route and a fleet of around 30 modernised Škoda 15Tr.[1][5]
History
The system commenced operations on 14 September 1992Imam Hossein Square) and Terminal-e-Sharq, running along Damavand Khiyaban (Damavand Street).[3] A fleet of 35 Škoda 15Tr articulated trolleybuses opened the system, and 30 more of the same type arrived in 1992 to expand the fleet to 65 vehicles.[3] The still-new system then grew with the opening of several more routes and extensions.
,[3][6] on a route about 7 km (4.3 mi) in length, between Meydan-e-Emam-Hoseyn (Visitors in 2014 found that the system had ceased operation, and by October at least, all of the wiring had been taken down.[3] It was subsequently determined that the closure had apparently taken place sometime in 2013, but the exact date remains unknown.[3] Around 10 trolleybuses were still being stored at the southern depot in October 2014.[3] Although it was reported after the closure that a return of electric buses was planned,[7] there was no indication, at that time, of whether these would be trolleybuses or some other type of electric bus.[3]
In 2016, a visitor to the city in May discovered that the system had reopened, and was told that this had occurred on, or shortly after, 21 March 2016.[1] Although around 30 vehicles are reported to have been refurbished for the reopening of the system, only three were observed in service in May 2016, running on a 1.8 km (1.1 mi) route.[1] In April 2018, a visitor found that the service had been re-extended along another previously closed section, by about 2.5 km (1.6 mi),[8] making the overall route in operation around 4.3 km (2.7 mi) long. Eleven refurbished trolleybuses were observed in service.[8]
Lines
In the 2000s
As of 2005, trolleybuses were operating on five routes, all starting at Meydan-e-Emam-Hoseyn (Imam Hossein Square),[2] near Imam Hossein station of the Tehran Metro Line 2. The total route length, not counting shared sections, was 13.9 kilometres (8.6 miles).[2]
Northeastern lines
The two routes running northeastwards, lines 1 and 2, operated almost entirely in a segregated busway located in the middle of the wide carriageway (along Damavand Khiyaban), stopping only at purpose-built stops located about every 500 metres, effectively making these routes trolleybus-BRT (but they were not called such).[2]
Line 1 was the primary northeastern route, and was 6.9 km (4.3 mi) long. Line 2 was an express line following the same route, but serving fewer stops.[2] Both lines terminated at Terminal-e-Sharq. Sometime between 2005 and autumn 2010, both of these routes were closed, and their wiring was taken down.[3][2]
Southern lines
The other three trolleybus routes, lines 3, 4 and 5, ran south from Meydan-e-Emam-Hoseyn along Hefdah-e-Shahrivar (Shahrivar Street) and operated in mixed-traffic. Both route sections were served both by limited-stop services and local (making all stops) services.[2]
Line 3 terminated at Meydan-e-Chorasan, and line 4 continued farther south, to Bozorgrah-e-Be'sat. Line 5 branched off Hefdah-e-Shahrivar along Khiaban-e Shush (Shush Street), and terminated initially at Meydan-e-Shush (Shush Square),[2] which is the location of Shush Metro Station on metro line 1.
A 3.2 km (2.0 mi) extension of line 5 from Meydan-e-Shush to Meydan-e-Rah Ahan (Rah Ahan Square) and the railway station there opened in March 2010.[9] However, at an unknown date thereafter, Meydan-e-Emam-Hoseyn (Imam Hossein Square) was converted into a pedestrian zone, and the trolleybus service was cut back by about 1 km to Meydan-e-Shohada.[3] This deprived the trolleybus system of its main role as a fast surface connection to the metro station at Meydan-e-Emam-Hoseyn,[3] causing a decline in ridership that is believed to have been a factor in the c. 2013 closure decision.
Late 2010s
The system reopened on, or shortly after, 21 March 2016. In May 2016, the only service observed in operation was a 1.8-km route between Meydan-e-Khorasan (Khorasan Square) and Bozorgrah-e-Be'sat.[1] Extensions were reported to be planned.[5] A visitor in April 2018 found that the service had been extended from Meydan-e-Khorasan to Meydan-e-Shohada, a reinstatement of a former route section, using renewed overhead wires, adding approximately 2.5 km (1.6 mi) to the route length.[8]
Fleet
The backbone of the Tehran trolleybus fleet has been 65 Škoda 15Tr articulated buses,[4] of which around 30 are believed to be serviceable in 2016.
The Škodas were built in the then Czechoslovakia in 1991 (fleet numbers 794–828) and 1992 (fleet numbers 921–950).
Around 2006, a two-axle prototype vehicle was built; it was based on a Volvo B10M.[6]
At an unknown date after the 2013 suspension, refurbishment of some of the 15Tr trolleybuses began, with around 30 being refurbished by 2016, when the system reopened.[1] The work included modernisation of their front and rear ends and the replacement of the side windows with bonded, tinted ones. They had also been repainted in a new livery of overall white, except black around the windows, with a "yellow flash" along the side and blue shading on some portions.[1]
Depots
Before the 2013 suspension, Tehran's trolleybuses were based at two depots; the two groups of vehicles could be distinguished by their liveries.
The trolleybuses used on lines 1 and 2 wore a green-yellow-white livery (the system's original livery) and were based at the northeastern depot, at Terminal-e-Sharq. These were the 1992 vehicles, carrying fleet numbers mostly in the 900 series.[2]
Those operating lines 3, 4 and 5 were liveried blue and white (in some cases with yellow highlights) and were based at the southern depot, near Bozorgrah-e-Be'sat. They carried 800-series fleet numbers (the 1991 vehicles).[2]
In the 2016-reopened system, only the southern depot, near Bozorgrah-e-Be'sat, is in use.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Trolleybus Magazine No. 328 (July–August 2016), pp. 118–119. National Trolleybus Association (UK).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trolleybus Magazine No. 265 (January–February 2006), pp. 16–17. National Trolleybus Association (UK).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Haseldine, Peter (March–April 2015). "Tehran Closure". Trolleybus Magazine No. 320, pp. 40–43. National Trolleybus Association (UK). ISSN 0266-7452.
- ^ a b Murray, Alan (2000). World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia, pp. 57 and 99. Yateley, Hampshire, UK: Trolleybooks. ISBN 0-904235-18-1.
- ^ a b Budach, D. (11 July 2016). "Teheran: Trolleybuses return!". TrolleyMotion. Archived from the original on 2 July 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ a b "Trolleybus city: Teheran (Iran)". TrolleyMotion. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ "Electric Buses to be Back Soon". Financial Tribune. Tehran, Iran. 29 September 2014. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ a b c Trolleybus Magazine No. 340 (July–August 2018), pp. 148, 150. National Trolleybus Association (UK).
- ^ Trolleybus Magazine No. 298 (July–August 2011), pp. 89–90. National Trolleybus Association (UK).
External links
Media related to Trolleybuses in Tehran at Wikimedia Commons
- Trolleybus city: Tehran (Iran) TrolleyMotion. (German, with automated translation to English and other languages available on-site)
- Tehran database / photo gallery and Tehran trolleybus list at Urban Electric Transit – in various languages, including English.
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