Classic of Huddersfield’s trolley bus history set to ride again

Feb 11 2010 by Kevin Core, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

LOW-EMISSION electric-powered public transport – it’s the stuff of environmentalists’ dreams.

They were a reality, but unfortunately in Huddersfield we got rid of the trolleybuses – as anyone who was around in the 1960s will remember.

Now one piece of transport history, trolleybus number 541, has been saved and restored to working order by a group of enthusiasts.

Robin Helliar-Symons, chairman of the National Trolleybus Association, said: “It’s ironic that the last trolleybuses operated in 1972 and the first oil crisis was in 1973.

“They ran off overhead wires but were different to trams as a tram travels on rails, a trolleybus is on rubber tyres.

“There has to be two overhead wires for power supply and return but trams don’t need that because the earth return is through the rails. With rubber tyres there’s no earth return so you have to provide it with the second wire.

“In the 1960s it was a dying form of transport so there was an immediate interest from specialist groups.

“They got together with the intention of saving them.

“As a result there are over 100 trolleybuses and quite a large number of these have been well restored.”

Ordered in September 1945, Huddersfield 541 was in service in the ’60s and replaced older vehicles which had suffered a lack of maintenance in the war.

It went out of service in February 1964 and 541’s last journey was to Crosland Hill, when route 60 was converted to normal bus operation.

It was kindly donated by the then Huddersfield Corporation to the association.