Status Closed | Routes 6 | |
Locale Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England Open 22 August 1928 (1928-08-22) Close 14 December 1963 (1963-12-14) Operator(s) Doncaster Corporation Transport | ||
The Doncaster trolleybus system once served the town of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Opened on 22 August 1928 (1928-08-22), it gradually replaced the Doncaster Corporation Tramways.
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Original system
By the standards of the various now-defunct trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom, the Doncaster system was a moderately sized one, with a total of 6 routes, and a maximum fleet of 47 trolleybuses. There were routes to Bentley (a loop), Beckett Road, Wheatley Hills, Racecourse/Hyde Park (another loop), Balby, and Hexthorpe, all radiating out from the town centre.
The Bentley route was the first to close, on 12 February 1956 (1956-02-12). The Beckett Road route was the last to close, on 14 December 1963 (1963-12-14).
One of the former Doncaster trolleybuses, a Roe-bodied Karrier W4, is now preserved, at the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft, Lincolnshire.
Doncaster Racecourse experiment
In 1984, the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) sponsored the building of an experimental trolleybus, in connection with plans to reintroduce trolleybuses on four bus routes in Doncaster and two in Rotherham. This vehicle had a chassis built by Hestair Dennis, adapted from the standard Dennis Dominator chassis. The body was based on the Alexander 80 seat body, adapted with trolleybooms. Unusually for a British trolleybus, it included an auxiliary diesel engine (a 48 hp 3DA Dorman) for moving away from traction wires. It had a GEC Traction traction motor and was capable of running at 40 miles per hour (64 km/h).
Power was supplied to the overhead (erected by Balfour Beatty) at 600V DC from a substation at the nearby SYPTE Leicester Road depot.
Testing began in August 1985, on a mile-long test route alongside Doncaster Racecourse. This went from a turning circle at the end of the (private) Sandall Beat Road, alongside the racecourse, and then across Leger Way into the SYPTE bus depot. On at least one occasion it operated a revenue-earning passenger service, and the vehicle is reported to have proved satisfactory in operation.
The project was shelved in 1986 due to bus deregulation as this would mean any trolleybuses would have no protection from competing operators, and the wiring was removed in September 1993.
After the experiment finished, the vehicle was preserved, and as of 2016 is at the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft awaiting electrical repairs.