TVR guided buses in Nancy: The questionable all-rounder (2023)

Existing since 1982, the Nancy trolleybus was converted to the Bombardier TVR (Transport sur voie reservées) system between 1999 and 2001. The buses ran on a dedicated roadway, which was equipped with a central guide rail. While traveling on those roads, the vehicles used additional steel wheels to steer and turn. In contrast to the more common "Translohr" system, the TVR buses could detach themselves from the guide rail, allowing them to run as a usual trolleybus whereever necessary. In Nancy, this was the case on about a third of the line. From the start, the TVR struggeld with serious issues. Starting in March 2001, the service had to be stopped for a year due to several derailments. After that, curves could only be negotiated at a reduced speed. After just a few years, the dedictaed bus lanes were in a terrible condition, which further aggravated the already modest driving comfort. Besides Nancy, only the city of Caen decided to build a TVR system, though it was replaced by a classic tram starting in 2017. In Nancy, after discussions about such a replacement, it is now planned to rebuild the rail-guided sections to a normal trolleybus. The Nancy TVR, at this point being the only TVR system in the world, ended its service on sunday March 12th, 2023. In addition to numerous recordings along the entire route, this video also shows the interesting process of attaching to and detaching from the guide rail. 0:00 Intro 0:47 Section Essey Mouzimpré - Roosevelt, attaching to / detaching from guide rail. 4:04 Section Roosevelt - Gérard Barrois, without guide rail. 5:25 Section Gérard Barrois - City - Kennedy, with guide rail. 11:40 Kennedy bridge, detaching from guide rail due to road works. 13:04 Section Mon Désert - Callot, with guide rail. 15:41 Callot: Attaching to / detaching from guide rail. 17:21 Section Callot - CHU Brabois, without guide rail. 21:00 Ride on a TVR bus.