Trolleybuses in Bradford explained

Bradford trolleybus system
Locale:	Bradford, Yorkshire, England
Status:	Closed
Routes:	17
El:	(?) V DC parallel overhead lines
Stock:	187 (maximum)

The Bradford trolleybus system served the city of Bradford, Yorkshire, England for much of the 20th century. It was one of the first two trolleybus systems to be opened in the United Kingdom, along with the Leeds system.^{[1] [2]}

Both systems commenced operations on 20 June 1911.^{[1] [2]} However, the public service on the Bradford system did not start until four days later.^{[1] [2]} The Bradford system lasted the longest of all the UK's urban trolleybus systems.^[2] Having been one of the first two such systems to open, it was also the last one to close, on 26 March 1972.^[1] Just before its closure, it was also the longest-lived surviving trolleybus system in the world, but with the Bradford closure that distinction passed to the Shanghai, China, trolleybus system, opened in 1914.^[3]

Many of the former Bradford trolleybuses are now preserved at various locations around the UK, including eleven of them at the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft, Lincolnshire.^[4]

See also

• Transport in Bradford
• List of trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom

References

Further reading

• Book: Brearley . Harold . A History of Bradford Trolleybuses . 1960 . Lingfield, Surrey, UK . Oakwood Press .
• Book: Brearley . Harold . History of Bradford Trolley Buses, 1911-1960 . 1961 . Lingfield, Surrey, UK . Oakwood Press .
• Book: King, John Stanley . Transport of delight: the Bradford trolleybus, 1911-1972. 1972. National Trolleybus Association. Guildford, Middlesex, UK. 978-0-85024-005-4 .
• Book: King, J.S. . Bradford Trolleybuses. 1994. Venture Publications. Glossop, Derbyshire, UK. 978-1-898432-03-6 .
• Book: Lockwood, Stephen . Bradford Trolleybuses. 2003. Middleton Press. Midhurst, West Sussex, UK. 978-1-904474-19-7 .
• Book: Lumb, Geoff . Bradford and its Trolleybuses. Colour Prestige series, no. 2. 2003. Venture Publications. Glossop, Derbyshire, UK. 978-1-898432-94-4 .
• Book: Stainforth, J. A. L. . The Bradford trolleybus system: being the history of Britain's first and last trolleybuses. 1974. West Riding Transport Society. Huddersfield, Yorkshire, UK. 978-0-905043-00-5 .
• Book: Uden . M J . Sixty years of Bradford Trolleybuses . 1971 . Surrey, UK . National Trolleybus Association . 9781904474197 . 219881275 .

External links

• Bradford Trolleybus Association
• National Trolleybus Archive
• British Trolleybus Society, based in Reading
• National Trolleybus Association, based in London

Notes and References

1. Book: James . Joyce. John Stanley. King. A. G. . Newman. British trolleybus systems. October 1986. 978-0-7110-1647-7 .
2. Web site: British Trolleybus Systems. Bruce. Ashley . British Trolleybuses website. 11 March 2011.
3. "Shanghai Anniversary" (November–December 2004). Trolleybus Magazine No. 258, pp. 134–135. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .
4. Web site: A List of Preserved Trolleybuses in the UK. Zebedee. John. 30 November 2010 . British Trolleybus Society. 14 July 2011.