Magyarbusz [Info] also joins the 2026 IMC Trolleybus conference in Lyon as a media partner

Magyarbusz [Info] is expanding its network of international professional partnerships with another new cooperation: at the invitation of trolley:motion, our portal will support the organisation’s 2026 conference in Lyon, France, as a media partner. The event will focus on the strategic role of electric public transport and, within that, trolleybus systems based on In-Motion Charging (IMC), or charging while in motion. One of the key messages of the IMC Trolleybus & Conference 2026, to be held between 11 and 13 November, is that cities are not simply making decisions about vehicles, but about transport systems that will define mobility for decades to come. 

trolley:motion is an independent European professional and innovation network that supports the development and wider adoption of electric public transport systems, above all trolleybus-based and integrated electric bus solutions. Its activities do not focus solely on vehicle technology: it assists cities, public transport operators and decision-makers through professional knowledge-sharing, international projects, conferences and evidence-based professional communication. The organisation now has an extensive international network behind it: according to its own figures, it is linked to nine international conferences and six European Union projects, while its network spans more than 40 countries and 257 cities operating IMC trolleybuses.

The aim of the media partnership between Magyarbusz [Info] and trolley:motion is to give the Hungarian professional audience more direct and detailed insight into European developments and new technological solutions affecting trolleybuses and battery-electric buses, as well as the operating and infrastructure strategies that are increasingly shaping the electrification of urban transport. In this spirit, our portal will also report on professional content related to the Lyon event and on the conference’s key topics.

The focus is not the vehicle, but the entire system

It is no coincidence that the organisers chose Lyon in France as the venue for the conference: the city itself has a significant trolleybus network, while the central idea of the event programme, as the organisers put it, is that „cities do not choose vehicles, they choose systems”. The event starts from the premise that electrification is no longer merely a question of propulsion technology, but that infrastructure, energy supply, operations, financing and digital solutions must be treated as a single integrated system.

The professional programme accordingly goes beyond the framework of traditional trolleybus conferences. Participants will hear presentations on, among other topics, the urban applicability of IMC systems, the development of electric transport corridors, the planning of network and charging infrastructure, the integration of energy supply, advances in battery technology and the real costs of electrification. A separate session will address the problems arising from poor planning decisions, the role of simulation, and how trolleybus networks can be operated more efficiently through intelligent energy management.

One of the key themes of the first full conference day on 12 November will be precisely when, and under what conditions, an IMC trolleybus represents a rational choice. Alongside Lyon’s own strategy, the programme will also feature examples from Prague, Nancy, St. Gallen and Arnhem, while separate presentations will deal with the long-term role of transport infrastructure and the typical mistakes made in planning electric bus projects.

The second day will focus primarily on implementation, financing and long-term transport policy decisions. The programme will include specific projects from Pescara, Verona, Shanghai, Winterthur and Medellín, followed by a look at the financing of electric public transport from the perspective of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the EBRD. Separate presentations will examine tender requirements that support long-term system efficiency, as well as the bankability of future projects.

The professional programme will conclude on 13 November with a technical visit to an IMC trolleybus site in Lyon, giving participants the opportunity to see the local system in operation at first hand.

Cities, operators, researchers and industry in one place

The event’s target audience is not limited to the trolleybus sector. The organisers expect city and transport authorities, public transport operators, mobility planners, consultants, universities, research institutes, and players from the vehicle and infrastructure industries to attend in Lyon. One of the conference’s stated aims is for the various stakeholders to jointly examine how electric transport corridors can be developed in a way that treats infrastructure, energy supply and operations as a unified system over the long term.

The event’s strategic partners include, among others, the UITP Trolleybus Committee, POLIS and the EBRD, while local partners include Lyon transport organising authority SYTRAL Mobilités and Keolis Bus Lyon. The supporting organisations also include major transport and industry players such as Transdev and Hess. The conference’s media partners will be Urban Transport Magazine and Magyarbusz [Info].

The November conference, then, will not simply be about the future of trolleybuses, but about the much broader question of what infrastructure and system logic the electric urban transport of the coming decades should be built upon. As part of the media partnership between trolley:motion and Magyarbusz [Info], over the coming months our portal will also place particular emphasis — as we have done in the past — on these issues, on the professional themes of the Lyon conference, and on the European and international projects presented there.

Cover photo: Jordan Gondeau/trolley:motion