1928: The Start of Operations for a Record-Breaking Trolleybus System in England

April 1, 1928 

The first four trolleybuses to serve the English town and borough of Hastings began operations. These vehicles were each decorated with flags and bunting for the occasion and they were introduced as part of the plan to ultimately replace the entire aging fleet of trams in Hastings with trolleybuses. Those trams were operated by the Hastings Tramways Company. Vincent Edwards, the company’s engineer and general manager, was among those who drove the inaugural trolleybuses on their first day of service.

In an article that was published in Motor Transport magazine the following month, Edwards provided his assessment of why it was necessary to exchange trams for trolleybuses in Hastings and elsewhere. Edwards wrote, “To go back to the beginning, it is generally conceded that in the boom period of electric tramways, about twenty-five years ago, the success which they obtained in certain towns caused them to be adopted in many town where the conditions were really not equally suitable and it is now in these smaller towns where the question is most acute, and where, in fact, trolley buses have shown themselves to be best fitted for dealing in a successful manner with local transport requirements.”

By May of the following year, trams had been phased out completely in Hastings in favor of trolleybuses. There were 58 trolleybuses for 10 routes altogether. With those routes totaling 21 miles (33.8 kilometers), the Hastings trolleybus system held the record at that time for the longest transit network of its kind in the world.

The Hastings trolleybus system remained in operation until May 31, 1959. Those vehicles were replaced by diesel buses that were seen as being more cost-effective. One of the surviving Hastings trolleybuses is now housed at a trolleybus museum in the English village of Sandtoft. Another one of the still-existing Hastings trolleybuses can be found at the East Anglia Transport Museum in the English town and civil parish of Carlton Colville. In addition, two other surviving trolleybuses from that one-time fleet are owned by the Hastings Trolleybus Restoration Group in the English town and civil parish of Bexhill-on-Sea.

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on the Hastings trolleybus system, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybuses_in_Hastings

Additional information on trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trolleybus_systems_in_the_United_Kingdom