[14][19] The private operating company receives no government subsidy, and at times it has struggled financially, putting the system in danger of being closed.

One such occasion, the company's announcement in May 2007 of imminent closure plans, brought an outcry from local citizens, and even Chile's president, Michelle Bachelet, expressed support for keeping the trolleybuses going.

[12][20] Trolleybuses currently serve two routes, numbered 801 and 802 in a regional transportation plan implemented in 2007, Monday through Saturday, from about 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

[2] The last tram ran on 30 December 1952, and trolleybus service began the following day,[2] on a route connecting Barón with Plaza Victoria.

ENT was reorganized on 2 May 1953 as a new government agency, Empresa de Transportes Colectivos del Estado (ETCE), which then ran the system for the next 28 years.

[23] After the 1973 military coup, the new Pinochet administration reduced funding for government-run public transit, and the two trolleybus systems both deteriorated quickly.

[23] The Valparaíso system struggled to maintain its now-elderly vehicles and infrastructure with limited funds, but eventually succumbed, closing on 30 November 1981.

[23][24] However, a group of local businessmen interested in reviving the trolleybus service soon acquired the assets of the now-dissolved Empresa de Transportes del Estado.

A new company named Trolebuses de Chile, S.A. (TCSA) was established in 2000, with 40% ownership by ETCE president Pedro Massai.

ETCE remained the system's overall owner and operator, but some of its assets, including the overhead trolley wires, were transferred to the new company.

[19] The city's largest-circulation newspaper, El Mercurio, also published an editorial in support of restoring and maintaining the trolleybus service.

[21][24] Under a program started in late 1986 and continuing until 1989, ETCE rebuilt the bodies of some of its 800-series vehicles with more modern front ends and, in some cases, sides and backs also.

For this purpose and to augment its Valparaíso fleet the company began to acquire trolleybuses secondhand from cities in Switzerland.

[22] Most of the Santiago fleet remained in storage there, as ETCE/ETS initially hoped to revive the service, until being moved to ETCE's depot (garage) in Valparaíso in early 1996.

Otherwise, the only ETS-system trolleybuses that entered service in Valparaíso did so only several years later: two of the Zürich vehicles in 2003, one rebuilt Pullman (116) in 2004 and two Shenfengs (603 and 607), in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

[34] That sole remaining St. Gallen vehicle was installed at Barón terminus (on Avenida Argentina at Calle Chacabuco) in a semi-permanent arrangement, after being extensively modified inside for use as a sales outlet for tickets and souvenirs and for use by drivers and supervisors.

[25][37] Pullman 814 was damaged by fire in August 2003,[14][38][39] but ETCE repaired it, and the unique vehicle returned to service in December 2003.

[33] In July 2003, the system's 15 remaining Pullman-Standard trolleybuses, built between 1946 and 1952, were accorded National Historic Monument status by the Chilean government's Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales,[7][9][10][14] the formal decree of this being signed on 26 September 2003.

[17] By 2023, the ex-Lucerne NAW vehicles made up the entire Valparaíso trolleybus fleet, the last of the other types having all been withdrawn.

TCSA reinstated the former Avenida Pedro Montt route in January, after the ministry granted the company near-exclusive rights to provide transit service in that corridor.

The TMV also required that operators apply a uniform paint scheme to their vehicles, with different colors for different Unidades de negocios (business units).

[27] Until then, some of the secondhand Swiss trolleybuses (acquired 15–16 years earlier) had retained the paint schemes of their cities of origin, while others, and some Pullmans, had been wearing advertising liveries; the latter were also no longer allowed under the TMV.

[50] TCSA initially reported an increase of at least 30% in its revenue following the reorganization, thanks to its near-monopoly on serving busy Avenida Pedro Montt.

[50] However, the situation turned around quickly after complaints from merchants along the street convinced the transportation ministry to permit the return to Avenida Montt of 16 bus routes run by other companies only three weeks later.

[51] Faced with this unexpected loss of revenue at the same time that it had just incurred the expenses of having to repaint its fleet (to meet the TMV requirements) and expand service (to a second route), the company announced in May that the trolleybus system would close in mid-June.

[11][20][52] The unexpected news upset many citizens, as the vintage trolleybuses, designated a national historic monument in 2003, had become a cherished local icon.

On 31 October 2007, the historic monument designation given earlier to the Pullman-Standard trolleybuses was expanded to include most of the system's infrastructure, such as overhead wires, support poles and substations.

[17] In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought a sharp drop in ridership, of around 80–90 percent, and TCSA was forced to make deep service reductions.

[8] Notes: n/a = not applicable (vehicles not rebuilt, still in original form); "ex-Santiago" in this table refers to the 1947–78 trolleybus system there.

It was unable to find any suitable enclosed facility that was available near its route, and consequently for several years the trolleybuses were mostly parked on city streets when not in use (including overnight), and all maintenance work had to be done outdoors.