On 12 April Bangor Historical Society welcomed member Peter Vannucci as our speaker. His subject was Belfast Trolleybuses which operated from just before the Second World War until the late 1960s. They used electricity through a pole on the bus which connected to overhead wires. Now all this infrastructure is gone.

From 1872 trams had been the main public transport system within the city. Coal was brought up the Lagan to power stations such as the one on East Bridge Street to generate electricity. Gradually the trolleybus system replaced the trams until the last tram ran in 1954.

The first line to open was on the Falls Road in 1938. The first buses were painted blue and white. Later red became the colour as it was more long-lasting. Gradually the system expanded, especially after the Second Word War. Lines reached to the Glen Road on one side of the Lagan and to east Belfast on the other side. Mr Vannucci explained each route in detail and illustrated it by contemporary photographs. One line led via the Belmont Road to Stormont. A picture of a bus there dating from World War Two showed a blackened building. This temporary colour was to make it less obvious to enemy planes.

Trams had to keep to the tram lines, but the trolleybuses were more flexible. They could pull out and go round an obstruction. There was only one route in south Belfast. North Belfast was better served with the longest route being that to Bellevue.

The infrastructure needed for the system included the overhead wires, especially around the City Hall. There were also depots. The Falls Road route took over the old tram depot. The one in Short Strand still exists but is used as a depot for ordinary buses. Another feature of the system was the turning circles. Some of these still exist, although their previous use is not obvious. We were shown photos of the surviving ones. In one case a crescent of houses was built and followed the line of the circle.

The system was environmentally friendly as it used electric power instead of petrol or diesel, but it had a number of disadvantages. One was the many overhead wires along the routes, but particularly in the city centre. Another problem was that the pole linking the bus to the wires, could come off. The conductor had to put it back on the wire using a bamboo pole. This would hold up traffic, including other buses. Other problems were the cost of maintaining the system because of the overhead wires. They could not overtake other trolleybuses and could slow up other traffic. When London abandoned its trolleybuses in 1954 it became increasingly difficult to get spare parts.

The worst disadvantage was the number of accidents. The buses were silent and children in particular were vulnerable. A child was knocked down and killed in 1938, the year the first trolleybus operated. In 1940 an Air Raid Warden was killed. Blackout during the war was a particular problem. At least 51 deaths were due to trolleybuses from 1938 until the end of the system in 1968.

Gradually all the lines were closed. By 1968 the Falls Road route, the final one, was shut down. Ireland’s only trolleybus system was no more.