Trolleybuses in Naples

History

The first trolleybus service in Naples was inaugurated on 8 May 1940 by Azienda Tranvie Autofilovie Napoli (English: Tramway-Trolleybus Company of Naples) (ATAN), which also operated the urban tram system. At its maximum extent, the ATAN system had 31 trolleybus routes (albeit, counting many shortworkings and variations with overlapping sections). ATAN was reorganised in 1995 as the Azienda Napoletana Mobilità (ANM).

The Tranvie Provinciali di Napoli (TPN), a separate company that operated suburban buses and a suburban tramway, opened the second trolleybus network in Naples on 21 January 1964(or 26 January), on a route connecting central Naples with Piazzale della Libertà in Secondigliano. This unnumbered route was extended by several kilometres to Aversa in 1967, after which time the TPN system was often referred to as the "Naples–Aversa" trolleybus system in transport publications. In 1978, TPN was reorganised as the Consorzio Trasporti Pubblici di Napoli (CTP), renamed in 2001 to Compagnia Trasporti Pubblici di Napoli (still CTP). The routes were given numbers in the early 1980s, the two routes at that time being M13 (Naples – Aversa) and M15 (Naples – Secondigliano/Rione 167). The M prefix stood for Maddalena depot (located on Viale Maddalena in Naples), TPN's/CTP's only depot/garage for many years. That depot closed in 1999, and after two years of temporary accommodation in leased facilities, CTP's trolleybuses moved to Teverola depot in 2001, but the trolleybus routes retained their longstanding M prefix to avoid confusion among riders.

All of the overhead trolley wiring in central Naples is owned by ANM, the limit of the CTP-owned wiring being the southwest end of Via Don Bosco (just east of Piazza Carlo III). However, CTP trolleybuses are allowed to operate through to Piazza Garibaldi (along Corso Garibaldi), powered from ANM-owned wires, under a longstanding agreement between the two public agencies.

Services

Five of the current eight trolleybus routes are suburban routes, connecting Naples with other municipalities, while the other three (routes 201–203) operate entirely within Napoli proper.

ANM routes

As of 2017, the ANM system includes the following five trolleybus routes:

Route 255/ suppressed from 27 November 2014.

Route 203 is the newest route; it began operation on 2 September 2009. Routes 201 and 202 opened in 2004 and 2006, respectively. The three surviving suburban routes are much older; routes 254 and 255 opened in January 1962 and route 256 in May 1963.

In 2012 the line 256 is attested at Via Lagno in Portici and renamed 256/, thereby breaking the link for San Giorgio a Cremano. Successively suppressed.

CTP routes

The CTP system currently has two trolleybus routes:

Route M13 was extended from Aversa to Teverola in December 2001, and route M15 was withdrawn at that time. With a one-way length of approximately 22 km, route M13 is the longest trolleybus route in western Europe. Route M11 began operation in June 2005, but did not require any new wiring; its 2 km section closest to Piscinola metro station is not equipped with overhead wires, and the trolleybuses serving the route use their auxiliary diesel engines along that section, while the remainder of the route uses overhead wiring already in place for route M13.

Planned expansion

There are currently plans to construct some new routes, in some cases making use of overhead wiring from former routes that remains in place but is currently disused. The plans include the conversion of the following ANM bus routes into trolleybus routes:

These plans were already in place in 2005, along with plans to convert bus route C47 (Piazza G.B. Vico – Piazza Medaglie d'Oro) to trolleybuses, which in effect would have been a restoration of former trolleybus route 247 (closed in 1973), However, this plan for route C47 was cancelled in 2010. In the relatively recent past (in 2000), ANM also had plans to restore trolleybus routes 253 (Naples – Ercolano) and 257 (Naples – Bellavista – Ercolano), which previously operated until the mid-1980s and from 1973–76, respectively, but whose disused wiring was retained for many years. However, those plans have been dropped, and the disused wiring was removed in 2004.

Fleets

All 100 vehicles are equipped with diesel engines to allow limited operation away from the overhead wires.

ANM's fleet also includes one preserved historic trolleybus, a 1961-built Alfa Romeo 1000F trolleybus, No. 8021. ANM's modern, low-floor AnsaldoBreda trolleybuses began to enter service in October 2000, replacing Alfa Romeo vehicles, and the last of the latter were withdrawn in early March 2001. The agency preserved three of them (nos. 8021, 8038 and 8306). No. 8021 was fully restored to historic condition and livery in 2003. It is not used for normal service, but operates occasionally on special excursions, and on certain summer Sundays it runs in public service on a special city-centre-only loop route to promote awareness of public transport's positive role in helping to preserve the environment. The power supply of the ANM system was raised in 2001–03 from 600 volts to 750 V, but No. 8021's motors have not been modified to allow it to operate at the higher voltage. On days when the historic trolleybus is operated, the voltage of the entire trolleybus system must be temporarily reduced to 600 V. The modern AnsaldoBreda vehicles are able to operate at either voltage.

Depots

The only trolleybus depot available to the ANM network is the Stella Polare depot. However, some ANM trolleybuses are stored at the Via Ferraris and Carlo III bus depots, which they use their diesel engines to enter and exit.

CTP has several depots for its mostly motorbus fleet, but the only one equipped for trolleybuses is the Teverola depot, which was built in 1994 and since 2001 has been the outer terminus of route M13.