Winterthur

Two generations of trolleybuses during a TVS extra course at the loop Waldegg in 1998

After the now usual trolleybus system was introduced successfully in Lausanne in 1932, other Swiss cities started to be interested in this system. Winterthur was the first city in German-speaking Switzerland, which decided to build a trolleybus. First, the tramway line between Hauptbahnhof (main station) and Wülflingen was replaced, in 1941 the line to Seen was added, which led to a single through route Wülflingen - Hauptbahnhof - Seen (line 2). In 1948, the trolleybus network was expanded by the newly electrified line 3 Hauptbahnhof - Rosenberg. The era of the tram in Winterthur ended in autumn 1951, when the remained tram line 1 Oberwinterthur - Hauptbahnhof - Töss was converted to a trolleybus line. With the circular route to Breite (connected with the line 3), the development of the network stopped in 1960 for several years. The next large expansion followed in 1991, when the line 6 from Hauptbahnhof to Oberseen was opened, hence the network reached its biggest dimensions, which stayed for only four years. The line to Breite (since the 80ies line 4) was taken out of service in 1995, due to road works and later completely deconstructed. After a reorganisation of the bus network in 2006, nowadays there exist three trough routes 1, 2 and 3. The current line 3 was created by connecting the line from Rosenberg with the former line 6 to Oberseen.

Trolleybus fleet

Numbers	Type	In use	Comments	Preserved vehicles
11-19	Rigid trolleybus	1938-1966	No. 11-13 were the first trolleybuses in German-speaking Switzerland
20-25	Rigid trolleybus	1948-1972	No. 22 Defrosting vehicle 1978-1995	25 (TVS), 22
30-39	Rigid trolleybus	1951-1983
40-41	Rigid trolleybus	1951-1967	1950 purchased from Bern (there No. 1-2, built in 1940)
161	Bus trailer	1953-1968	Sold to Autobusbetrieb Sernftal, 2010 returned	161 (SBW)
45-46	Rigid trolleybus	1954-1983
50-57	Rigid trolleybus	1960-1996		50
101-105	Articulated trolleybus	1958-1989	No. 101 oldest preserved articulated trolleybus in Switzerland	101 (SBW)
106-119	Articulated trolleybus	1965-2001	Some buses sold to Burgas and Ruse (Bulgaria)	118
120	Articulated trolleybus	1974-1989	Engine out of a discarded rigid trolleybus
121	Articulated trolleybus	1978-1995	First trolleybus with three-phase asynchronous motor	121 (TVS)
122-131	Articulated trolleybus	1982-2007	Eight buses sold to Baia Mare (Romania)	131
141-155	Articulated trolleybus	1988-2012
156-160, 161II	Articulated trolleybus	1992-2011
171-180	Articulated trolleybus	since 2005	Solaris Trollino
101II-121II	Articulated trolleybus	since 2010	Hess Swisstrolley 3
122II-123II	Articulated trolleybus	since 2012	Hess Swisstrolley 3 (analog 101II-121II)
124II	Articulated trolleybus	since 2014	Hess Swisstrolley 3 (analog 101II-121II)

Note: No. 101 built in 1958 represents the eldest preserved articulated trolleybus of Switzerland. It belongs to the historic fleet of  Stadtbus Winterthur (SBW). The former bus trailer No. 161 is - still in the livery of the previous owner - also part of this collection.