1951: The Introduction of Trolleybus Service in Mexico City

March 9, 1951

The public transport agency Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos del Distrito Federal (now known as Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos de la Ciudad de México [STE]) officially launched the first trolleybus route in Mexico City. Transportes Eléctricos, in preparation for this new transit service in Mexico’s capital, had purchased a total of 20 trolleybuses from a company in New York. The U.S. Commerce Department publication Foreign Commerce Weekly reported, “Each unit has a seating capacity of 40 passengers, and contrary to present practice on first-class busses in Mexico City, 20 standees will be permitted.”

The inaugural ride for these trolleybus operations took place on a trackless route between the avenue called Calzada de Tlapan (Tlapan Causeway) in the central part of Mexico City to the neighborhood of Tacuba in the city’s northwestern section. The passengers on board for this 90-minute trip included Manuel Moreno Sánchez, general manager of Transportes Eléctricos; various other employees of that agency; and newspaper reporters and photographers.

“The expectation produced by the inauguration of this service could be seen, since in all the streets there were groups of people waiting for the [trolleybus] to pass,” noted one newspaper account the following day. “The other six cars that came into service left with five-minute intervals and of course they were full of people who wanted to know the route of this new line.”

Trolleybuses continue to operate in Mexico City as part of STE’s larger transit network there. There are now a total of 10 trolleybus routes in service throughout the city.

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on trolleybuses in Mexico City, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybuses_in_Mexico_City

Additional information on Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos de la Ciudad de México (originally named Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos del Distrito Federal) is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servicio_de_Transportes_El%C3%A9ctricos