Lyon has France’s largest trolleybus system. After several routes closures during the 1960s, the system has been significantly modernised and expanded over the past two decades.
Today, this network it is the basis for a considerable expansion of electric bus transport in the near future. Municipal administration and local politicians have agreed to an investment package that not only provides for the procurement of a fleet of modern trolleybuses with powerful traction batteries, but also includes the use of these vehicles on various routes that were previously served by diesel buses. Accordingly, the vehicle fleet will be significantly expanded compared to today. The catenary network will also be expanded, but longer stretches of the new lines will manage without overhead lines: the trolleybuses will then also run purely electrically in battery mode. The batteries will then be recharged without any loss of time during the journey under the sections covered by the catenary – a concept which is known as In-Motion Charging (IMC) and is already being used elsewhere. It offers new options and possibilities for this traditional mode of public transport.
