Produced: 1977 - 1983 (ER100), 1987 - 1989 (ER100.2), 1983 - 1984 (PER180)
In the wake of the oil crises of the early 1970s, interest was reawakened in France's five remaining trolleybus systems. All were operating using ancient machinery and the decision was taken to produce a new trolleybus based on the successful PR100 bus with which the systems could be reequipped.
TCL, Lyon
no. 2617 (3227 HE 69) - September 2000
By the mid-1970s, Lyon possessed France's largest surviving trolleybus
system, and was hence the largest recipient of ER100s. Twenty-three years old but
still looking tidy, TCL 2617 was photographed at its home, the now-closed
Parmentier depot. All of Lyon's ER100s, like those in Limoges, were built with
three doorways.
STAS, St.
Etienne no. 429 (4674 SL 42) - September 2000
Just down the road from the Lyon system, another of France's surviving
trolleybus systems is to be found at St. Etienne. Here too there are ER100s in
some number. No. 429 was one of the later deliveries, carrying a Renault badge,
and arrived in 1981. When it was photographed outside Châteaucreux station,
things looked very bleak for the St. Etienne system - although the trolleybus wiring was
largely intact, route 10 was the only trolleybus route in operation. Since then, the
system has seen something of a rebirth, with new trolleybuses on order and
ER100s from the 426-50 batch undergoing a major refurbishment for further
service.
The prototype ER100 was trialled in Lyon, however the first production trolleybuses went into service in Grenoble in 1977. Lyon, St. Etienne and Marseille quickly received batches, however the Limoges system did not receive any ER100s until 1983. The buses built for Lyon and Limoges are three-door, however those for St. Etienne and Marseille have only two doors.
The earliest ER100s had Berliet badges, later ones being badged as Renaults. Following its first batch of ER100s, Limoges completed its fleet replacement programme with 25 ER100.2s (based on the PR100.2 bodyshell), the only ones to have been built. A number of the Lyon vehicles were refurbished with Safra front ends and new doors with deep windows, which hid their age very effectively. A similar refurbishment programme is currently underway in St. Etienne to extend the lives of some of their ER100s for a few more years.
In Limoges, most of the ER100s are still in operation, however the situation is less rosy elsewhere. The Grenoble fleet is now withdrawn, and there have also been heavy withdrawals in Lyon and St. Etienne. Lyon and St. Etienne have both received examples of Renault's new Cristalis trolleybus - in Lyon they will in time completely replace the ER100 fleet however those of St. Etienne's fleet that are being refurbished will be retained to operate alongside the new Cristalis vehicles. The worst outlook is for the fleet in Marseille, as the city is shortly to abandon trolleybus operation entirely. Many of the Lyon and St. Etienne vehicles that have been withdrawn have been sold for further service in Romania, and many of the remaining Lyon buses are also intended for export there once replaced with new Cristalis trolleybuses. Marseille's trolleybuses are similarly earmarked for sale to Russia.
RTM,
Marseille no. 211 (4053 JE 13) - September 2000
In glorious Mediterranean sunshine, one of Marseille's fleet of ER100s
swings into the Catalans terminus of route 54. When I visited Marseille, all
three trolleybus routes were in operation and the fleet of ER100s was working
hard - the wiring was also largely intact on two other ex-trolleybus routes, and
it seemed that a relatively small amount of investment would provide the city
with a trolleybus system to be proud of. Sadly, it was not to be - the ER100s
are being phased out and the overhead is to be removed.
TCL, Lyon
no. 2613 (3240 HE 69) - September 2000
Its route temporarily blocked by tramway construction work, Lyon 2613 lowers
its poles at la Part-Dieu to turn short of its intended terminus at Saint-Paul. From behind,
ER100s look basically the same as other members of the PR100 family, apart from
the obvious roof paraphernalia, trolleypole retrievers mounted on the rear end
and small bumper extensions (just visible in this shot) to protect the
retrievers in the case of a rear-end accident.
All in all, 300 ER100s were built (234 Berliet-badged and 66 Renault). These were split as follows: 50 to Grenoble, 136 to Lyon, 48 to Marseille, 50 to St. Etienne and 15 to Limoges. The prototype, was sold to Grenoble after its initial trials in Lyon, however it was never operated again and I believe was scrapped for spares. The 25 ER100.2s all went to Limoges.
TCL, Limoges no. 435 (244 RK
87) - September 1998
The driver of Limoges 435 hooks his machine up to the overhead wires outside
Limoges Benedictins station, the trolleybus having arrived from the depot using
its small diesel generator. Apart from a batch built for St. Etienne with
batteries as secondary power, all ER100s have a small diesel engine which acts
as a generator and allows mobility (at a rather limited speed) off
the overhead. Limoges also used the diesel generator to allow short extensions
of the trolleybus routes beyond the end of the overhead wiring, although some of
this mileage has now been wired up. 435 was one of the last batch of ten ER100.2
trolleybuses, delivered in 1989.
TCL, Lyon no. 2806 (8983 HB
69) - September 2000
During the 1990s, many of Lyon's surviving ER100s were treated to a mid-life
refurbishment programme. Some of these received a much greater level of
refurbishment than others, embodying Safra front ends. 1978-built no. 2806 was
one of these. For a cinema festival it also received this special livery.
A surprise in the early 1980s was the opening of an entirely new trolleybus system in the city of Nancy. This was operated by articulated diesel-trolleybus hybrids known as PER180s, based on the PR180R articulated bus shell. These had a full-size diesel engine in the rear section for operating away from the wires and electric motors driving the centre axle for trolleybus operation.
Examples of the PER180 were also produced for Grenoble and St. Etienne, however the type does not appear to have been universally successful. Although the Nancy system operated until 2000 when work began to convert it into a system for a rubber-tyred guided vehicle known as the TVR, Grenoble's vehicles did not prove at all popular. They were either converted to all-diesel PR180R specification or sold to St. Etienne. The excessive weight of a bus containing both a full-size diesel engine and a traction motor is believed to have been a problem. St. Etienne's machines, including the two Grenoble refugees, were retired in 2000.
64 PER180s were produced. There were 2 demonstrators (one of which used a PR180 mk. I shell and was shipped to Seattle for trials there, the other sold to Nancy for spares). 48 buses were sold new to Nancy, eight to St. Etienne and six to Grenoble. Two of the Grenoble buses were subsequently sold on to St. Etienne. Following withdrawal, eight of the ten St. Etienne vehicles were exported to Russia. They are still to be found operating in the town of Tula, south of Moscow.
STAS, St. Etienne no. 105
(1714 SS 42) and others - September 2000
I have visited both Nancy and St. Etienne, however on both occasions my
visits were shortly after the PER180 bimode trolleybuses were withdrawn from
service. So, I have to be content with this shot of St. Etienne's PER180Hs
parked up at the depot awaiting disposal. As can be seen, the buses resemble
PR180Rs with roof mounted equipment added.
CGFTE, Nancy no. 623 (8997
SX 54)
Although I've never seen PER180Hs in service, Gilles Lenhard has kindly
allowed me to include one of his photos of an example of the type at work in
Nancy. This shot of CGFTE no. 623 shows the general layout of the type, as well
as demonstrating yet another of Nancy's wide array of livery designs.