Later that year, the first grandfathers of today's trolleybuses were demonstrated in Vienna as the Schienenlosebahn (trackless railway). Later, the English term trolleybus was adopted instead of the German name - after the trolley that the first trolleybuses pulled along the wires as a current collector. Later, when the somewhat clumsy trolleys were replaced by today's „sticks“ - rod collectors, the name remained and was adopted by the Czech language. It adapted its spelling first to troleybus (used in the 1950s) and later adapted the written form completely to the pronunciation (trolejbus).

Further patents and systems were developed, which gradually improved the trolleybuses. Of course, both the car itself in its mechanical and electrical parts, and especially in the biggest weakness so far - the transmission of electrical energy to drive the car from the trolleys. This led to the development of systems that gradually improved the trolley contact car to the one in common use today, i.e. using two bar collectors.

The year 1882 was only the beginning of this continuous improvement. The original idea, to carry passengers on a regular line, was not fulfilled until 1900, on the occasion of the EXPO World Exhibition in Paris, when the French Lombard and Gerin put into operation the first public trolleybus line in the Vincennes Park. This was the shot that started the building of trolleybus lines all over Europe.

Then Germany and Max Schiemann, who had built a number of tracks here before the First World War, again took the lead in the development. He built further lines in Great Britain, which influenced the development of trolleybuses in the following period.

Together with Schiemann, other factories, notably Carl Stoll in Dresden and Hansa-Lloyd in Bremen, were involved in trolleybus production and line construction. These put other lines and vehicles into service, but they did not last long, for the most part not even through the First World War. This meant that the practical experience and use of trolleybuses was delayed by almost a quarter of a century compared to trams.

The road transport had neither suitable vehicles nor sufficient operational experience. There were no tyres with inner tubes, road vehicles had insufficient suspension, and the condition of the roads was poor.
Further difficulties were encountered in the current collection, which was more difficult than in the case of rail vehicles with single conductor wiring and fixed track. Along with the above technical problems, issues of economy contributed to the demise of the first trolleybus operations. The sometimes unsuitable choice of tracks, often only used for recreational purposes, resulted in unprofitable operations.
During the First World War, work on trolleybus construction almost stopped. But while we find almost no trolleybus lines in use in central Europe after the First World War, development in the UK continues. As early as 1911, Bradford saw the establishment of an operation with vehicles fitted with two pole collectors. Following the success of Birmingham, which began operating „modern“ trolleybuses in 1922, the next period saw a substantial development of this mode of transport in Britain.

The major development of „today's“ trolleybuses began in the 1930s, and trolleybuses spread to other European countries. They are mainly found in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, France, Sweden, the Soviet Union and Belgium. The rapid development of trolleybuses over the years has been made possible by the knowledge gained in other modes of transport, especially the automobile, and by modern vehicle design. The technical design and driving characteristics of trolleybuses have confirmed their legitimacy in the public transport system.
The period after the Second World War is characterised by an even more significant expansion of trolleybuses, popular mainly for their reliability (compared to the then less reliable buses) and excellent driving characteristics in hilly terrain.

However, the promising development of trolleybus transport came to a halt at the end of the 1950s. Oil prices fell, which led to the rapid development of motoring. The bus came increasingly to the fore, gradually replacing the trolleybus, which had poorer operating economic results than the bus. Trolleybus services began to be cut back, with entire lines and plants being closed down, not only in Europe but also overseas.

After the sharp rise in oil prices between 1974 and 1980, ways were again sought to reduce the consumption of petroleum products in urban transport. The use of electricity to a greater extent was offered as a way forward, and the importance of trolleybus transport began to be reassessed and it again experienced further development. This is also motivated by a second important factor, namely the improvement of the environment - their operation eliminates exhaust emissions and the noise level is relatively low. In addition, trolleybuses have better dynamic characteristics.

Trolleybus transport in Czechoslovakia or Bohemia

Trolleybus transport in the Czech Republic can be divided into two basic development periods - historical (1904 - 1916) and modern (from 1936 to the present).
In the historical period, four lines were built in our country. The first one of a more intercity character led from Poprad to Starý Smokovec and started its operation on 2 August 1904. The second line leading from the railway station in Gmünd (today's České Velenice) to the centre of the town (today located in Austria) started operation on 16 July 1907. From 19 July 1909, trolleybuses began to operate in Bratislava on a line serving more recreational purposes. The last city with a historic trolleybus service was České Budějovice, which started operation on the line Pražské předměstí - Hřbitov sv. Otýlie on 4 October 1909. However, none of these lines lasted long - the line in Poprad ended in 1906 and the other three in 1914-1916. It was then a long wait of twenty years before trolleybuses appeared in our cities for the second time.

In the modern period, the development of trolleybus transport was relatively late in our country. The first trolleybus line with a length of 3.63 km did not start regular operation until 29 August 1936 in Prague. During the Second World War other cities introduced trolleybus transport after the good experience of Prague: on 9 April 1941 Pilsen, on 31 July 1941 Bratislava and on 27 January 1944 Zlín. Although development during the Protectorate was hampered by lack of finance, the lack of oil during the war contributed to the electrification of transport. After our liberation, this transport was first launched in Most and Litvínov on 6 December 1946.

In the following years, it developed rapidly, both by extending the existing networks and by building lines in other cities. In 1948, transport started in České Budějovice (for the second time) and Jihlava. In the spring of 1949, there was even an initiative to provide mass transport by trolleybuses from the central authorities in Prague (in order to save money on importing foreign diesel). In 1949 trolleybuses appeared in the cities of Hradec Králové and Brno, in 1950 in Decin, in 1952 in Pardubice, Mariánské Lázně, Teplice, Ostrava and Opava. After a ten-year break, Prešov followed in 1962. The trolleybus service was then cancelled in 1959 in Most and Litvínov as part of the construction of the tramway. After 1965, there was a stagnation of transport and, thanks to cheap Soviet diesel, trolleybus transport was replaced by bus transport. This was reflected not only in the fact that the extent of the network remained unchanged or decreased in most cities, but also in the fact that in 1971 trolleybuses were cancelled in České Budějovice, the last trolleybus was operated on 16 October 1972 () in Prague (in 1959 the lines reached 57 km) and in 1973 in Děčín.

At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, a reassessment of the importance of trolleybus transport in our cities - due to the energy crisis and the growing importance of environmental protection - led to its revival and the construction of more lines. In 1988, trolleybuses started operating in Ústí nad Labem, in 1991 in České Budějovice (for the third time!) and in 1995 in Chomutov and Jirkov. At the beginning of the 1990s, preparations were made for the resumption of trolleybus transport in Prague, but this did not happen in the end.
At present we can find trolleybuses in 13 cities in our country: in Brno, České Budějovice, Hradec Králové, Chomutov - Jirkov, Jihlava, Mariánské Lázně, Opava, Ostrava, Pardubice, Plzeň, Teplice, Ústí na Labem, Zlín - Otrokovice.

The fleet is being intensively modernised with low-floor vehicles, which significantly contributes to the improvement of the level of public transport.

Trolleybuses in Hradec Kralove

Public transport in Hradec Králové was provided until 1949 by buses connected with the establishment of the city's own Autodrach Hradec Králové in December 1928. The pre-war plans for the construction of an electric railway were not realized, and only after 1945 did the reconstruction of the transport system begin, which included the construction of trolleybus lines.
The project was initiated in 1947, at the beginning of the second quarter of 1948 the construction of trolleybus lines was started, and already after a year, on Sunday, 2 May 1949, the line marked as No. It ran from the main railway station via Koruna, today's Gočárová Avenue, through Ulrich Square to Pražský Most and Mostecká Street, then to Fortna, across Moravský Most and along Brněnská Street to Nový Hradec Králové. In the same year, on 28 October, line No. 0 to Slezské Předměstí was put into operation. The fleet consisted of four Vetra - ČKD trolleybuses. Only the construction of a new depot in 1951 enabled further development of trolleybus transport and the network was gradually expanded by new operating sections. A year later, the line along Komenský Street and around the regional court was put into operation, thus creating a closed circuit around the old town, followed by lines to Kukleny and Plačice (1952), Malšovice (1958) and to Slezské Předměstí - Sever housing estate (1965).

Throughout its history, the fleet has been supplemented exclusively by Škoda trolleybuses.

The year 1964 was a milestone, when the trolleybus service provided two thirds of the city's traffic load with nine lines and transported 16.3 million passengers.
In 1967, the Council of the Municipal Council decided to gradually liquidate the trolleybus service after the cars and traction equipment had reached the end of their service life by 1980.

In the second half of the 1960s, the reconstruction of Hradec Králové's main roads began. The reconstruction of the roadways required costly relocation of trolleybus lines. The reconstruction of Gočár Avenue resulted first in a temporary stop of trolleybus traffic (from 30 November 1967), but by the decision of the city it became permanent, and trolleybuses returned to this busy thoroughfare almost three decades later. Under the influence of the general shift away from trolleybus transport in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Hradec Králové also began to replace trolleybus lines with buses. Therefore, trolleybuses did not return to some of the reconstructed sections (apart from the already mentioned Gočárovy Avenue, it was also Kladská Street and Pospíšilova Avenue), but no further line cancellations occurred and the main directions of trolleybus transport were preserved.

In the 1980s, as in other cities, there was a change in the view of trolleybus transport and a gradual rethinking of the plans; trolleybus transport was maintained. Existing sections and rolling stock were gradually modernised, and new sections were not built until a decade later.