Transport enthusiasts have called for a return of the trolley bus to Bradford ahead of its centenary.

An exhibition will be held at Bradford Industrial Museum on Sunday, June 19, to mark 100 years since the first trolley buses were introduced to Britain in Bradford and Leeds. The city’s last trolley bus, which stopped in 1972, will be among vehicles on display at the museum and will carry passengers at the Sandtoft Museum near Doncaster on Sunday, June 26.

Graham Mitchell, chairman of Keighley Bus Museum Trust, which has supplied many of the vehicles for the exhibition, said: “This was a major step forward in public transport operation. Bradford was one of the two pioneers of this form of transport in the British Isles.

“Bradford also has the proud record of being the longest operator. At the moment the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive is spending a great deal of money investigation bringing back the trolley bus into Leeds."

Gary Wilkinson, of Bradford Trolleybus Association, said: “The way the fuel crisis is going I think electric trolley buses are ideal. In the 40 years since we got rid of them they have moved on.”

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