Trolleybus La Chaux-de-Fonds shut down
Transports régionaux neuchâtelois (TRN), the operator at that time, had already announced to close the trolleybus network in La Chaux-de-Fonds in April 2011. As reasons they declared the construction site on the station square and the considerable renewal of overhead lines on the line 1 (now 301). Therefore the fleet was reduced continuously since the end of 2011. The four articulated Solaris Trollino 18 No. 141-144 were returned to the manufacturer and are running in Salzburg (Austria) nowadays. One of the five Hess Swisstrolley 2 was retired with accidental damage and two were given to Neuchâtel, what was logical since the operators of both networks had merged to the new company TransN.
At the end there were only two Hess Swisstrolleys (No. 121-122) and three Solaris Trollino 12 (No. 631-633) left in La Chaux-de-Fonds, but No. 632 was abandoned with damages. Thus mostly motor buses and some of the 2012 purchased seven hybrid buses ran on trolleybus lines. The final close-down happened according to news paper articles around the 20th May 2014. Eye witnesses still saw trolleybuses running on the 16th May 2014, but report that the overhead lines on the station square were already demolished during the following week. The final decision about the future of La Chaux-de-Fonds' trolleybus network will be made in 2016, when the construction works are finished. The continuation of electric operation would also mean that the city would stick to the advantages of this environmental friendly and silent mode of transportation, which has proved its worth on the steep roads in La Chaux-de-Fonds over decades. You can find further details on this topic on trolleymotion.ch.
Since the use of the previous fleet has definitely ended with the shut-down, we have once again arranged some impressions.