La Chaux-de-Fonds celebrates the resurrection of the trolleybus network that was thought to be dead. Trolleybuses travelled through the largest town in the High Jura from 1949 to 2014. For cost reasons, trolleybus operations were discontinued and replaced by hybrid buses. Fortunately, most of the infrastructure was not dismantled and can now be reactivated for re-commissioning.

The transport company of the canton of Neuchâtel (transN) has opted for articulated electric buses from Hess in Bellach. The 18 lighTram® 19 are equipped with state-of-the-art communication technology from onway, which connects all passenger applications such as ticketing, passenger information, passenger counting, CCTV and infotainment with the outside world via a shared network. For this purpose, on2810 routers with 2 mobile radio modems, Wi-Fi for internal devices and 2 x Gigabit Ethernet are used, which separate and protect the various applications from each other via firewalls.

All devices such as routers and switches are monitored, configured and regularly provided with updates and security patches via onway’s centralised management system – the onway director. In around two years’ time, transN expects to order 12 more lighTram® 19 DC, which are expected to become operational in 2027.