D E RILEY (Letters, May 5) argues that trams are suitable for the town and is surprised that anyone should suggest trolleybuses are preferable. The writer states “trolleybuses cannot turn corners”. Of course they can. We had 30 miles of roadway equipped for these clean, silent vehicles and they certainly went successfully around countless corners – if properly driven without disengaging from their conductor wires.

Latest technology trolleybus installations across the world allow these vehicles to operate at normal road speeds. In the past they had to slow for junctions, ironically mostly because they had inherited indestructable early 1900s-designed overhead equipment of tramway origin.

The only occasions when new style trolleys now differ in speed to most internal combustion vehicles is starting from stationary or climbing hills – then trolleybuses are significantly faster.

It is also written that trolleybuses require “pylons” to support the overhead “pulley cables”.

Trolleybus overhead conductor wires are usually supported by nothing more invasive than standard lamp-posts. Some of these old trolley poles survived as just lamp-posts in Bournemouth until the 80s, long after the wires came down. This letter also totally misses the fact that trams, along with their inherently inflexible railway tracks in the road, also require overhead conductor wires.

Trams have been reintroduced in limited numbers to the UK with mixed success.

Massive and evidently unrestrained pre-build costs have not helped their cause.

Trams/light rail do have a part to play in modern public transport but that is certainly not on the United Kingdom’s usually narrow town and city roads.

Modern trolleybuses would be a practical, attractive – and compared with trams – inexpensive way to bring the area’s public transport beyond up to date. Trams would be a very costly totally impractical step back in time.

KEITH BAYNTON, Spetisbury Close, Bournemouth