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The trolley will close our series on the history of public transport in Algeria, we may be waiting for a new future mode of public transport. We have presented the tramway and some may be wondering about the difference between these two modes of transport. So before we start talking about the trolley, let's explain this to you:
'' the tramway runs in a guided manner, on rails while the trolley (also called trolleybus) is a bus powered by poles connected to an overhead electrical network ''.
These two modes of transport coexisted in Algeria and mainly in Algiers, the center of all interests for public transport at the time.
Constantine
We could therefore naturally believe that it was first introduced in the city of Algiers which has a tormented relief that lent itself perfectly to the development of a trolleybus network, but it is in Constantine that will see in 1922 the first cars put into circulation which were originally intended for the tramway of Télemly of Algiers which due to the circumstances born of the war, was not able to carry out its project there. And it is in 1928 that the commissioning will be put into service the first trolley network by the Compagnie des Tramways Électriques de Constantine, it will be followed then by the cities of Algiers and Oran.
Algiers
In Algiers, on June 28, 1934, the Algerian Tramways (TA) company experimentally put trolleybuses into service on the difficult line connecting the Dey Hospital to Notre-Dame-d'Afrique, located at the top of a hill, accessible by a steep and winding path.
It is characterized by 14% ramps and hairpin bends with a radius of 8.50 m. The operation was carried out using the Vétra CS35 trolleybus, which provided quality service for nearly thirty years, without undergoing any significant transformations, except for the replacement of the trigger poles and the adoption on their front face of the characteristic moustache livery.
In 1937, the tramway was replaced by a trolleybus.
The Vétra CS-35s were replaced in 1937 by CS-60s with a light and very rigid metal frame forming a beam body, they are a shorter and narrower version of the CS60 prototype with a beam body, without chassis, presented by Vétra in 1933 in Rouen and which will be bought by the TA in 1937, then by CS 60s with an open platform in 1938. The Vétra CS60 is nicknamed the "soapbox" because of its angular shapes.
CS60 with open platform
In 1939, the angular body gave way to an aerodynamic body, built by the coachbuilder Lacroix and Arnold in Algiers which would equip the C.F.R.A, the TA and Constantine.
After 1945, the TA even tried the articulated prototype of large capacity VA4, certainly taking into account problems of size not adapted to the streets of Algiers, the TA removed the trailer and transformed the VA4 into VA3.
In view of the encouraging results of the new traction mode, the TA extended the trolleybus on five new lines before the war: El Biar, Bd Bru, La Redoute, Clos-Salembier, Hydra. Locally built CS60 type cars (transformation of buses by the TA) were used. They are without side doors in favor of an open rear platform through which passengers get on and off.
After the war, the TA put into service larger capacity cars: ten Vetra VCR and, above all, twenty VA3.
In parallel with the TA, the Société des Chemins de Fer sur Route d'Algérie (CFRA) operated a major suburban rail network and a few urban tram lines.
The CFRA replaced the TMS tram network (Algiers – El Biar – Chateauneuf - Ben Aknoun) which they had taken over by converting it to trolleybuses with 10 CS60 Vetra. After the war, they converted the "Deux Moulins" tram line into trolleybuses, with an extension to Pointe Pescade. They put twenty Vetra VBRs into service on these lines, with a higher capacity than the CS60s. Then it was the turn of the Maison Carrée line, on which Jacquemond trolleybuses were put into service. This last type was high-quality equipment whose particularly neat fittings were remarkable for the time, but of precarious reliability. They were all decommissioned within a decade of receipt, which is a short life for a trolleybus, usually over 20 years.
Trolleybus extensions to Baïnem in the west and Maison Carrée in the east were undertaken in 1950, but work was stopped before completion.
In 1951-52, the TA experimented with an articulated trolleybus, the Vetra VA4 built on the basis of a VA3, extended by a semi-trailer. Operated on the tram line, the vehicle was not satisfactory, due to its 2.5 m gauge which made crossings with trams difficult in the narrow streets of the old city (Bab El Oued, Bab Azzoun streets), the erratic behavior of the semi-trailer's steering axle, the lack of suitable maintenance infrastructure, and other defects. In 1952 or 1953, unable to operate it properly, the TA transformed it into an ordinary VA3, removing the semi-trailer. In total, one hundred and sixty-four trolleybuses were delivered to the two Algiers networks
Finally, in 1955, the beautiful MRM trains of the stream line, which had been repainted in the new white and light blue colours, disappeared in turn with the last vestiges of the prestigious CFRA.
This network then took the name of Régie Départemental des Transports Algérois, for a short time since on 1 January 1959 all the transport of this city merged within the Régie Syndicale des Transports Algérois.
The trolleybus network reached its peak around 1955-56, with around 80 km of lines. But the network will see its importance decrease, first slowly after 1955-56, the trolleybuses replaced by buses, then precipitously between 1962 and 1963 despite the contribution after Independence of around fifteen VA 3 from Algiers. The trolleybuses will disappear in 1969, in their entirety with the exception of the last line, serving Notre-Dame-d'Afrique which will disappear in turn in 1975.
Oran
In Oran, it was the Oran Tramway Company (TEO) which operated the trolley in 1942. The Oran trolley remained operational until 1969, despite the transfer after Independence of around fifteen VA 3 from Algiers, making way for the bus.
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