Letter: Cars, trams and trolleybuses

Letter: Cars, trams and trolleybuses Sir: There is a better solution to urban chaos than the tramcar. For silent, speedy operation in town centres the trolleybus beats the tramcar any day. On holiday recently I was glad to see that this vehicle still exists in Belgium and Austria. I saw examples in daily use in Ghent, Innsbruck and Salzburg. I rode on an articulated trolleybus from a hotel on the outskirts to the centre of Salzburg.

It had good acceleration, good bus-type accommodation, and being unconstrained by tracks, was able to move to the side of the road for easy access. Its rubber tyres made for noise-free comfort. In 1952 London had the highest concentration of trolleybuses in the world. Some were even built during World War II to reduce consumption of precious imported fuel in favour of home-produced coal. Some double-deckers had a maximum capacity of 54 passengers. The only disadvantage was that two overhead wires were needed, but this was counterbalanced by the fact that trolleybuses run on ordinary roads, with no track laying or maintenance.

D L SMITH

Daventry, Northamptonshire