Trolleybus traction-pole removal in Walsall
A British Road Services truck squeezes passed workmen from Walsall Corporation’s Transport Department, removing a redundant trolleybus traction pole from Wolverhampton Road at Bentley, Walsall in the late 1960s. Those poles painted a light grey colour in the picture, had been retained for streetlighting purposes, and therefore would last a few more years.
So what had happened to the trolleybus services along this road?
From 16th November 1931 until 31st October 1965, Wolverhampton Corporation, and Walsall Corporation ran a joint trolleybus service between the two towns, the service numbered 29, running successfully until the 1960s. Very few places in Britain ran joint trolleybus routes, so the sight of Walsall’s blue trolleys intermingling with Wolverhampton’s green and yellow trolleys was quite novel.
In 1961, Wolverhampton’s Transport Committee suddenly announced that the Wolverhampton trolleybus system would close, and that trolleybus operation would be gradually phased out subject to the acquisition of replacement motorbuses to be purchased each year until all routes were converted. The committee no doubt being mindful of the Town’s rate-payers who would be funding the conversion.
On the other hand, Walsall Corporation Transport, under the guidance of its famous General Manager Mr R Edgley Cox were enthusiast exponents of the trolleybus, and advocated that the trolleybus service between the two towns continued until at least 1967. However, the coming of the motorway age was upon them, and it was clear that the planned route of the M6 Motorway connecting the Midlands to the Northwest would sever the route at Bentley. Construction of the M6 began in 1963, and by 1965 had reached Bentley, near Walsall. The decision had by then been taken by the powers that be, that trolleybuses would not be allowed to cross over the new motorway, effectively ending any possibility of the through service continuing beyond 1965.
Despite the increasing problems with trolleys getting through the roadworks at what was to become Junction-10 of the M6, operations continued until the constrictions imposed by the construction works finally halted the service, ending 34-years of trolley bus operation along the route.
On this modern day Google aerial view of Bentley, you can see how the M6 Motorway cut through the Wolverhampton Road at this location:
maps.google.com/maps?q=walsall&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=...
Trolleybus traction-pole removal in Walsall
A British Road Services truck squeezes passed workmen from Walsall Corporation’s Transport Department, removing a redundant trolleybus traction pole from Wolverhampton Road at Bentley, Walsall in the late 1960s. Those poles painted a light grey colour in the picture, had been retained for streetlighting purposes, and therefore would last a few more years.
So what had happened to the trolleybus services along this road?
From 16th November 1931 until 31st October 1965, Wolverhampton Corporation, and Walsall Corporation ran a joint trolleybus service between the two towns, the service numbered 29, running successfully until the 1960s. Very few places in Britain ran joint trolleybus routes, so the sight of Walsall’s blue trolleys intermingling with Wolverhampton’s green and yellow trolleys was quite novel.
In 1961, Wolverhampton’s Transport Committee suddenly announced that the Wolverhampton trolleybus system would close, and that trolleybus operation would be gradually phased out subject to the acquisition of replacement motorbuses to be purchased each year until all routes were converted. The committee no doubt being mindful of the Town’s rate-payers who would be funding the conversion.
On the other hand, Walsall Corporation Transport, under the guidance of its famous General Manager Mr R Edgley Cox were enthusiast exponents of the trolleybus, and advocated that the trolleybus service between the two towns continued until at least 1967. However, the coming of the motorway age was upon them, and it was clear that the planned route of the M6 Motorway connecting the Midlands to the Northwest would sever the route at Bentley. Construction of the M6 began in 1963, and by 1965 had reached Bentley, near Walsall. The decision had by then been taken by the powers that be, that trolleybuses would not be allowed to cross over the new motorway, effectively ending any possibility of the through service continuing beyond 1965.
Despite the increasing problems with trolleys getting through the roadworks at what was to become Junction-10 of the M6, operations continued until the constrictions imposed by the construction works finally halted the service, ending 34-years of trolley bus operation along the route.
On this modern day Google aerial view of Bentley, you can see how the M6 Motorway cut through the Wolverhampton Road at this location:
maps.google.com/maps?q=walsall&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=...