The Maidstone trolleybus system once served Maidstone

Maidstone

Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...

, the county town

County town

A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...

 of Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Opened on , it gradually replaced the Maidstone tramway network

Maidstone Corporation Transport

Maidstone Corporation Transport was the operator of trams, trolleybuses and motorbuses in Maidstone, Kent from 1904 to 1974. The operations of Maidstone Corporation passed to Maidstone Borough Council Transport in reorganisation of local government in 1974, expanding the Borough...

.

By the standards of the various now defunct trolleybus

Trolleybus

A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...

 systems in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, the Maidstone system was a small one, with just two routes, and a maximum fleet of only 24 trolleybuses. It was closed on .

Three of the former Maidstone trolleybuses are now preserved, two of them at the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft

The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft

The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft is a transport museum which specialises in the preservation of trolleybuses. It is located by the village of Sandtoft, near Belton on the Isle of Axholme in the English county of Lincolnshire.-Description:...

, Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

, and the other at the East Anglia Transport Museum

East Anglia Transport Museum

The East Anglia Transport Museum is an open air transport museum, with numerous historic public transport vehicles . It is located in Carlton Colville a suburb of Lowestoft, Suffolk...

, Carlton Colville

Carlton Colville

Carlton Colville is an area in the suburbs of Lowestoft in the Waveney District of the English county of Suffolk, located south-west of the centre of the town. Significant residential development has occurred in the area since the 1960s, including more than 1,000 homes built in Carlton Park...

, Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

.

See also

• History of Maidstone
  History of Maidstone
  The History of Maidstone and its environs goes as far back as Mesolithic times. It has seen settlement by the Romans and the Normans and played its role in pivotal moments of English history such as the Peasants' Revolt and the English Civil War...
  
  
• List of trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom

External links

• SCT'61 website Photos and descriptions of Maidstone Corporation trolleybuses and early motorbuses
• Maidstone Corporation Trolleybus historical site, including route map
• National Trolleybus Archive
• British Trolleybus Society, based in Reading
• National Trolleybus Association, based in London