The Salzburg trolleybus system forms part of the public transport network serving Salzburg, capital of the federal state of Salzburg in Austria. Opened on 1 October 1940, it replaced the . One of only two such systems currently operating in Austria, the Salzburg trolleybus system is one of the largest trolleybus systems in western Europe. It presently carries 41 million passengers each year. Together with the Salzburger Lokalbahn, the system is currently operated by , which markets it under the name StadtBus Salzburg. It is also integrated into the . Along with the Salzburg S-Bahn, it forms the backbone of the Salzburg's public transport network; the city's diesel bus network, operated by , plays only a minor role. History On 1 October 1940, the first trolleybus ran through the streets of Salzburg, on the Siegmundsplatz–Maxglan route, which is now part of line 1. A few days later, on 24 October 1940, the extension to Makartplatz followed, and on 10 November 1940, the line was further extended, to Salzburg Hauptbahnhof. On 16 February 1942, the ring lines M and L (Maxglan–Lehen–Hauptbahnhof–Zentrum–Maxglan) came into operation. In the following years, the Salzburg trolleybus system recorded rapid growth, but the tramway network was destroyed. Until the merger in 2000 of the Salzburger Stadtwerke with the SAFE (Salzburger AG für Energiewirtschaft) to create the Salzburg AG, the Salzburg trolleybus system, and the local railway line to Lamprechtshausen, were operated by the Salzburger Stadtwerke - Verkehrsbetriebe. Some diesel bus lines also originally belonged to the company, but in the course of the 2000 merger these were transferred to Albus Salzburg. Since 2000, therefore, the trolleybus and diesel bus services have been fully separated, both organisationally and operationally. It follows that Salzburg AG is one of the few transport companies worldwide that operates trolleybus lines, but no diesel bus lines. In 2004, trolleybus line 1 was extended about from Messezentrum to Salzburgarena. Unusually, however, the new terminal was served only during events. At other times, power to the overhead lines in this area is switched off; the status of the overhead lines is displayed to the trolleybus drivers by means of a signal light. On 1 October 2005, line 1 was extended from Europark to Kavaliershaus, via the EM-Stadion. On 11 December 2005, the extension of line 2 came into operation from the Hauptbahnhof to Obergnigl via Mirabellplatz and the Sterneckstraße. A of overhead line from the