The port city of Ancona is an important ferry port on the Adriatic Sea and, with its historic old town, is an attractive tourist destination. Approximately 99,000 people currently live in the city.
Since 1949, the former tram service was replaced by a trolleybus network, which at its peak consisted of five inner-city lines and the independently operated interurban line to Falconara. In the 1970s, this network was reduced to the main line 1, but even here trolleybuses were frequently used only during certain periods of time, e.g. the morning rush hour, and not during the summer vacational period. This coccured many years until – as an extension – a new combined line 1/4 started operation in 2006. The older Menarini trolleybuses from the 1980s were replaced by new vehicles in 2013/14: Three Solaris/Kiepe Trollino 18 articulated buses arrived in Ancona, and the public transport company ‘Conerobus’ acquired six AnsaldoBreda F122 two-axle trolleybuses from Nancy, which had been built in 2001 but never used. After a few adjustments, they have been operating in Ancona since 2014.
Despite these investments, trolleybus transport remained largely limited to weekdays, and the number of vehicles in service remained low. Even today, trolleybuses are only used to a very limited extent: only 1-3 vehicles run in the morning hours until noon – there are not enough trained drivers for more. In any case, not all of the 9 vehicles available are operational, which would be necessary for a fully electric fleet on the currently only line 1/4. Only the 3 Solaris articulated vehicles are ready to run, and of the 6 Ansoldo two-axle vehicles (ex Nancy), only one – trolleybus 016 – is operational. The others have been parked in the depot for quite a long time due to pending repair works. In fact, procuring spare parts for this type of trolleybus is quite difficult and time-consuming. Purchasing individual, almost identical vehicles from Naples, where they are available in large numbers (87+3 units) but are only used to a limited extent, could be a sensible alternative.
Despite this extremely limited operation, six new vehicles are now being procured, namely articulated vehicles from Skoda with body from SOR, which are to be equipped with powerful traction batteries and will be delivered from 2026. They will mainly be used on the future circular line 2, which will connect the railway station, the port area, the old town and Piazza Cavour and Piazza Ugo Bassi.
The necessary overhead line work has largely been completed here, and the route will use part of the depot access road, with the new vehicles running in battery mode on some sections. The project is supported by the central government in Rome, which is covering a significant portion of the investment costs of approximately EUR 7 million.
Ancona could make even greater use of its overhead line network in the future without major investment: all that would be required is the procurement of additional battery trolleybuses, which could be used on various existing diesel bus routes that already run under the existing overhead lines on longer sections. Extensive electrification of the city bus network could thus be achieved quickly and efficiently at a reasonable cost.
Some impressions from the past trolleybus operation in Ancona:
