Trolleybuses of Roma–Condesa

The trolleybuses of Roma Condesa are permanently parked trolleybuses in the Roma and Condesa neighborhoods of Mexico City that were used for art and other projects. Most were Japanese buses that were donated to Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos by the Kansai Electric Power Company in Japan in 1994, for possible operation, which never came to fruition, and in 2000 they were repurposed by Cuauhtémoc borough in a programme to create educational centers. However, the Trolebuses Educativos programme lasted only a few months. Some of the trolleybuses remained in use as simple reading rooms, but others sat abandoned until 2005, when the “Galería Trolebús” (Trolleybus Gallery) was begun to promote non-traditional art projects. The gallery ceased operations in 2009 due to financial problems, but the buses continued to be used for art projects until about 2014. Two other trolleybuses involved were not Japanese vehicles.

Origin

The three Japanese trolleybuses were part of a group of nine that were donated to Mexico's Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos in the mid-1990s, for possible use in service on the city's trolleybus system, and were transported to Mexico City between 1994 and 1997, but ultimately were never placed in service. The trolleybuses were built between 1964 and 1968 by Mitsubishi as Models 100 and 200 for the Kansai Denryoku company and operated on the Kanden Tunnel Trolleybus line. The two models are distinguished by the number of doors: one and two, respectively. All of the trolleybuses have doors only on their left sides (except for a small emergency exit door near the rear), because Japan is a country where traffic drives on the left, which made their configuration impractical for operation in Mexico City.