Trolley-boats: A forgotten history of electric water transport

This Habr article explores a little-known chapter in transport history: the era of electric boats and barges that used overhead lines to navigate canals and rivers during the 19th and 20th centuries. The author notes that before the widespread adoption of internal combustion engines, there were efficient alternatives based on electric traction. While these systems lagged in speed compared to modern counterparts, they offered high energy efficiency and sustainability, making them a compelling subject for study in the context of modern green transport development. The article examines the technical aspects of these projects and the reasons they did not achieve long-term widespread adoption. It serves as a historical overview of past engineering solutions that anticipated many of the ideas behind modern electric water transport.