The first full commercial service began in October 1953, linking the Swiss communities of
Yverdon-les-Bains and
Grandson. However, this was a route with limited traffic potential, and although technically successful it was not commercially viable. Services ended in late October 1960, and neither of the two vehicles (nor the demonstrator) survived. The next system to open was in Léopoldville in
Belgian Congo (now
Kinshasa in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo). Here there were 12 vehicles (although apparently some reports suggest 17), which operated over four routes, with recharging facilities being provided about every . These were the largest of the gyrobuses, being in length, weighing , carrying up to 90 passengers, and having a maximum speed of . There were major problems related to excessive "wear and tear". One significant reason for this was that drivers often took shortcuts across unpaved roads, which after rains became nothing more than quagmires. Other problems included breakage of gyro ball bearings, and high humidity resulting in traction motor overload. The system's demise, however, came because of high energy consumption. The bus operator deemed that 3.4
kWh/km per gyrobus was unaffordable, so closure came in the summer of 1959 with the gyrobuses being abandoned and replaced with diesel buses. The third location to use gyrobuses commercially was
Ghent,
Belgium. Three gyrobuses started operation in late summer 1956 on a route linking Ghent and
Merelbeke. The flywheel was in the center of the bus, spanning almost the whole width of the vehicle, and having a vertical axis of rotation. The Ghent to Merelbeke route was intended to be the first of a proposed multi-route network; instead, its gyrobuses stayed in service for only three years, being withdrawn late autumn 1959. The operator considered them unreliable, "spending more time off the road than on", and that their weight damaged road surfaces. They were also considered to be energy hungry, consuming 2.9 kWh/km—compared with between 2.0 kWh/km and 2.4 kWh/km for trams with much greater capacity. One of Ghent's gyrobuses has been preserved and restored, and is displayed at the
VlaTAM-museum in
Antwerp. It is sometimes shown (and used to carry passengers) at Belgian exhibitions, transport enthusiasts' bazaars, etc. The tram depot in Merelbeke has been closed since 1998, but it still stands, as it is protected by the law.
Advantages • Quiet • "Pollution-free" (Pollution confined to generators on electric power grid.) • Runs without rails (An advantage because the route can be varied at will.) • Can operate flexibly at varying distances
Disadvantages • Weight: a bus which can carry 20 persons and has a range of requires a flywheel weighing about 3 tons. • The flywheel, which turns at 3000
revolutions per minute, requires special attachment and security—because the external speed of the disk is . • Driving a gyrobus has the added complexity that the flywheel acts as a
gyroscope that will resist changes in orientation, for example when a bus tilts while making a turn, assuming that the flywheel has a horizontal rotation axis. This effect can be counteracted by using two
coaxial contra-rotating flywheels. ==Further developments==