A new intercity trolleybus line is being constructed in Italy
photo: Exquicity 18 T trolleybus in Parma. These vehicles will be used on the Pescara-Montesilvano line. Wikimedia Commons
Technical tests of a new trolleybus line are underway in the Italian region of Abruzzo. From the end of June this year, it will connect two municipalities - Pescara and Montesilvano. The new trolleybus system will be the second in Abruzzo (after Chieti) and the 16th in Italy.
Tests of the Pescara-Montesilvano trolleybus route began in late February. The trolleybuses will be tested for nine weeks, i.e. until the end of April, from 08:00 to 19:00 hours at a speed of 20 km/h. At the same time, the municipal services of Pescara and Montesilvano continue to work on installing road signs and signposts, arranging green spaces and appropriate infrastructure at bus stops. The grand opening of the new public electric transport line will take place at the end of June, according to Sustainable Bus.
The Pescara-Montesilvano intercity trolleybus line, officially called "La Verde" (Italian for green), is 8 km long and consists of 25 stops. It will connect Pescara railway station with the neighboring resort town of Montesilvano, which is famous for its seaside hotels. The travel time between the two final stops will be 20-25 minutes. Trolleybuses will run on the new line on average every 10 minutes. The operator of the new route will be Trasporto Unico Abruzzese (TUA), which manages public transport in the Abruzzo region.
La Verde trolleybus fleet
Currently, the La Verde trolleybus fleet consists of six Exquicity 18 T articulated trolleybuses manufactured by the Belgian company Van Hool in 2022. These low-floor vehicles are 24 meters long, equipped with four doors for boarding and alighting, and can carry up to 134 passengers.
The Exquicity 18 T trolleybuses are equipped with rechargeable batteries for overhead operation and a special system for gradual charging while in motion - "In Motion Charging" (IMC). This technology was developed by the German company Kiepe Electric. The trolleybuses of the Belgian manufacturer have already proven themselves in other Italian cities (Parma, Rimini).
Trolleybus systems in Italy
The first trolleybus systems appeared in Italy in the early years of the 20th century. At the same time, the first intercity trolleybus routes were opened, in particular, between La Spezia and Fezzano, Gallarate and Samarate, etc. In the 1960s and 1980s, a large part of Italy's trolleybus networks were closed, including intercity routes. In the early 2000s, the country began to revive the trolleybus as a public transport.
There are currently 15 trolleybus systems in Italy. Their length varies from 66 km (Bologna) to 6.5 km (Ancona). Only three trolleybus systems in the country provide intercity transportation. These are the trolleybus networks in Cagliari, which connects the city of the same name on the island of Sardinia with the neighboring municipality of Cuarto Sant'Elena; in Sanremo, which also provides passenger transportation in the city of Ventimiglia; and the Metromare trolleybus system, which connects Rimini with the municipality of Riccione.