Trolleybuses in Brighton

Brighton trolleybus system

Model of former Brighton trolleybus no 51, in Maidstone system livery.
Operation
Locale	Brighton, East Sussex, England
Open	1 May 1939 (1939-05-01)
Close	30 June 1961 (1961-06-30)
Status	Closed
Routes	9
Operator(s)	Brighton Corporation Transport (1939–1961) Brighton, Hove & District Omnibus Co. Ltd. (1945–1961)
Infrastructure
Stock	52 (maximum) (BCT) 11 (B,H&D)

The Brighton trolleybus system once served the town of Brighton, East Sussex, England. Opened on 1 May 1939 (1939-05-01),^[1][2] it gradually replaced the Brighton Corporation Tramways network.

By the standards of the various now defunct trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom, the Brighton system was a moderately sized one, with a total of nine routes.^[1] It was also unusual, in that it had two operators.

The main operator of the system was Brighton Corporation Transport, which owned the wires, and at its peak had a fleet of 52 trolleybuses. The other operator, Brighton, Hove & District Omnibus Co. Ltd., introduced a fleet of eight trolleybuses to the system on 1 January 1945 (1945-01-01) with three more following later, and ran them on four of the system's routes.^[1] The whole system was closed relatively early, on 30 June 1961 (1961-06-30).^[1][2]

Two of the former Brighton trolleybuses are now preserved. One is at the Science Museum annexe at Swindon, and the other is at the East Anglia Transport Museum, Carlton Colville, Suffolk.^[3] The latter vehicle, no 52, is preserved in the livery of Maidstone Corporation, which acquired it and used it on the Maidstone trolleybus system, following the closure of the Brighton system.^[4]

See also

• Transport in Brighton and Hove
• List of trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom

References

Notes

Further reading

• Henbest, Andrew (2005). Brighton Trolleybuses. Midhurst, West Sussex, UK: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-1-904474-34-0. 
• Kaye, David (1967). The Trolleybuses of Brighton and Hove. Hastings, East Sussex, UK: Reading Transport Society. OCLC 155923514. 
• Kraemer-Johnson, Glyn; Bishop, John (2007). Trolleybus Memories Brighton. Hersham, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-3199-9. 
• Roberts, John (1984). British Bus & Trolleybus Systems: Brighton Hove & District. Glossop, Derbyshire, UK: Transport Publishing Company. ISBN 0-86317-109-5. 

External links

Media related to Trolleybuses in Brighton at Wikimedia Commons

• SCT'61 website – photos and descriptions of Brighton Corporation trolleybuses and early motorbuses.
• Brighton Hove & District Transport trolleybus historical site
• National Trolleybus Archive
• British Trolleybus Society, based in Reading.
• National Trolleybus Association, based in London.

Historic trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom
England	Ashton-under-Lyne Birmingham Bournemouth Bradford Brighton Chesterfield Cleethorpes Darlington Derby Doncaster Grimsby Halifax Hartlepool Hastings Huddersfield Ipswich Keighley Kingston upon Hull Leeds London Maidstone Manchester Mexborough and Swinton Newcastle upon Tyne Nottingham Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Oldham Portsmouth Ramsbottom Reading Rotherham St Helens Southend-on-Sea South Lancashire South Shields Stockport Teesside Walsall Wigan Wolverhampton York
Wales	Aberdare Cardiff Llanelli Pontypridd Rhondda
Scotland	Dundee Glasgow
Northern Ireland	Belfast
Museums	Black Country Living Museum East Anglia Transport Museum London Transport Museum North West Museum of Road Transport The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft