[6] Officials visited Birmingham in 1924 and were sufficiently impressed that they obtained powers to operate trackless vehicles on Nottingham Road.

An order was placed with Railless for ten double-deck vehicles, with bodywork by Short Bros (Rochester and Bedford) Ltd.[7] The new service commenced on 10 April 1927, running along Nottingham Road from the city centre to New Basford.

The new venture was heralded by a new livery, the predominantly maroon paintwork of the existing trams and motor buses being replaced by green.

[6] The ten trolleybuses included the last nine built by Railless before they ceased producing them in favour of more lucrative work,[8] so when the Corporation needed eight extra vehicles, they bought them from Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies of Ipswich.

In order to assess the suitability of vehicles for further extensions to the system, the Corporation hired four trolleybuses in 1931, one each from Associated Equipment Company (AEC), Guy Motors, Karrier and Thornycroft.

However, there was opposition from Nottinghamshire County Council and Trent Motor Traction, and only those routes within the city limits were authorised.

The first of the new routes to open was to Wollaton Park, including the replacement of motor buses on Ilkeston Road, with services starting on 29 November 1931.

[11] They too had been replacing their trams with trolleybuses, and the wiring on the final section between Heanor and Cinderhill was completed to allow through running to begin on 5 October 1933.

[14] Two years later there was serious discussion about abandoning the trolleybus system, but another change of management occurred, and the idea was shelved.

[13] The value of electric traction was appreciated in 1943, when wartime conditions made it difficult to obtain sufficient fuel for motorbuses.

Plans to re-equip the system began in 1946, when 14 Karrier and three British United Traction (BUT) 2-axle trolleybuses were purchased.

A decision was taken to abandon trolleybuses in favour of motorbuses in 1961, and although this was expected to take until 1968, events hastened the demise of the system a little.

The rest of the trolleybuses were withdrawn on 9 October, with the exception of those running along the original route to Nottingham Road, opened in 1927.

It was then obtained by the Nottingham Trolleybus Group, and after a period in store at Plumtree, moved to Sandtoft in July 1973, by which time it was in a poor state.

[20] Trolleybus No.493 was manufactured by British United Traction and appeared at the Commercial Motor Show in London in 1948.

It was purchased for the Huddersfield Trolleybus Preservation Society and the Bradford Model Railway Centre, but was subsequently bought by a private owner, and moved to the museum in 1974.