[tc4332]

Going back to Mark's opening post and photo.
This trial was only instigated a few months back. When I first drove under the wires my first thought was "What use are trolley buses on the Autobahn?"
There was an article in the local papers at the time which admitted that there was only one vehicle fitted with pantographs able to use the system. The overhead is only for a few miles but is on both sides of the motorway.
I have no idea what the current (sic) situation is but vehicles using the overhead would be limited to the one lane. No lane changing, no overtaking. A very limiting system. I know that an awful lot of Autobahns do not allow trucks to overtake between 06:00 and 20:00 hours and then they must keep 50 Metres apart so not the problem that one would first think of.
In Belgium they experimented with an articulated bus that out of town used a diesel engine in the third trailer to run a generator for the electric motor propulsion. In town it ran on a dedicated roadway with a single pantograph and overhead wire. The return was a jockey wheel on an arm dropped below the vehicle into a trough. This also provided steering control.
Again I have no idea of the present situation but at the time it was quite an experience travelling on a PCV (Bus) with three trailers.