Trolleybuses offer Leeds life after Supertram

The axing of the Leeds Supertram by the Department for Transport two years ago, in favour of a bus-based alternative, was a galling blow for West Yorkshire PTE Metro. But things are now looking up as the DfT has accepted its initial business case for bus rapid transit, and ‘next generation’ trolleybuses are in the offing.

Metro recently visited Lyon’s trolleybus network to ‘sell to people what they’ve not already got’, and as one of the systems they are looking at for their preferred option of BRT in Leeds

Metro recently visited Lyon’s trolleybus network to ‘sell to people what they’ve not already got’, and as one of the systems they are looking at for their preferred option of BRT in Leeds

There were sighs of relief in Leeds last week when the Department for Transport gave Metro, the West Yorkshire PTE, the green light to develop plans for a network of trolleybuses in the city. It’s not what they wanted, of course; the bus-based proposals have been developed after the government withdrew funding for Metro’s Leeds Supertram project, sparking fury in West Yorkshire. For Leeds it appears to be a case of you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes...