Retaining trolleybus fleet “throwing good money after bad.”

The pathway from the old trolleybus fleet to all-new electric buses via an interim fleet of diesel and diesel hybrids for Wellington public transport is the best way forward according to the chief executive of the local electricity provider.

Wellington Electricity chief executive officer Greg Skelton has issued a statement supporting the Greater Wellington regional council’s decision to take this route to change its public bus fleet.

“It is important that we hold fast to a vision of an all-electric future and not anchored in a by-gone era which has become technically obsolete,” says Skelton.

“New investment in commercially proven new technology is the right commercial and service approach to support an all-electric future,” he says.

“The current trolley buses, for all their sentimental value, are not a direct technical pathway to an all-electric public transport future,” says Skelton.

“These buses operate on outdated and now unreliable technology. The network they work on dates back to the tramways which ceased operation here in the 1960s and patching it up is no longer an option,” he says.

“It would be throwing good money after bad to retain this outdated 1930’s supply equipment and expect it to carry more load and maintain acceptable service performance,” says Skelton.

“An interim measure of diesel and diesel hybrid buses is a good one. The benefit of these buses is their flexibility,” he says.

“The Council will be able to build a service network with them that will boost usage much faster than replacement trolleys ever could and at a much more reasonable cost. That will get people out of their cars and onto buses,” says Skelton.

“There are now many trials going on around the world, and modern electric buses are already proving their worth in densely populated areas with short, flat distances and high usage,” he says.

Skelton admits that more development of the new electric buses is needed before they can tackle Wellingtons topography.

“It would have been ideal for Wellington to transition from trolleys to a new era of electric buses, but we face a temporary gap between a now old network and a new technology which is not yet commercially fully developed,” he says.

“We also support the idea of a symposium on electric-powered vehicles proposed by the Regional Council and will actively participate,” says Skelton.