List of trolley bus systems in Canada

Toronto Transit Commission Flyer trolley bus no. 9228, operating on route 63-Ossington, 1987.

This is a list of trolley bus systems in Canada by province. It includes all trolley bus systems, past and present. Use of boldface for a city name and color highlighting indicates systems that still exist; in the case of Canada, there is only one such system, that of Vancouver.

Alberta

Name of system (current or last) Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
Calgary Transit System Calgary 1 June 1947 [1] 8 March 1975 [1]  
Edmonton Transit System[fn 1] Edmonton 24 September 1939 [1] 2 May 2009 [2] See also Trolley buses in Edmonton.

British Columbia

Name of system (current or last) Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
TransLink[fn 2] Vancouver 16 August 1948 [1]   Also a demonstration, 5–14 December 1945.
See also Trolley buses in Vancouver.

Note: There was also a demonstration trolley bus line in Victoria in 1945,[3] operated by the British Columbia Electric Railway, from 19 to 30 November 1945.[citation needed]

Manitoba

Name of system (current or last) Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
Metro Transit[fn 3] Winnipeg 21 November 1938 [1] 30 October 1970 [1]  

Nova Scotia

Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
Nova Scotia Light and
Power Company, Limited 		Halifax 27 March 1949 [1] 31 December 1969 [1]  

Ontario

Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
Cornwall Street Railway, Light and Power Company, Limited Cornwall 8 June 1949 [1] 31 May 1970 [1]  
Fort William Transit Company Fort William 15 December 1947 [1] 1970 see Thunder Bay.
Hamilton Street Railway Hamilton 10 December 1950 [1] 30 December 1992 [1]  
Kitchener Public Utilities Commission Kitchener 1 January 1947 [1] 26 March 1973 [1]  
Ottawa Transportation Commission Ottawa 15 December 1951 [1] 27 June 1959  
Port Arthur Transit Port Arthur 15 December 1947 [1] 1970 see Thunder Bay.
Thunder Bay Transit Thunder Bay 15 December 1947 [1] 16 July 1972 [1] Fort William and Port Arthur merged to form Thunder Bay from 31 December 1969.
Toronto Transit Commission bus system
Toronto Transit Commission[fn 4] 		Toronto 18 June 1922 [1]

19 June 1947 [1]

31 August 1925 [1]

16 July 1993 [4]

Service suspended 19 Jan. to 4 Sep. 1992.[5]
Final closure on 16 July 1993 (the very early hours of 17 July).[4]
Sandwich, Windsor & Amherstburg Railway Company Windsor 5 May 1922 [1] November 1926 (?)[6]  

Quebec

Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
Montreal Tramways Company Montreal 29 March 1937 [1] 18 June 1966 [1] Montreal Tramways Company succeeded by the Montreal Transit Commission, 1951

Saskatchewan

Name of system Location Date (from) Date (to) Notes
Regina Municipal Railway
Regina Transit System 		Regina 4 September 1947 [1] 28 February 1966 [1]  
Saskatoon Transit System Saskatoon 22 November 1948 [1] 13 May 1974 [1]  

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Previous operators of the Edmonton trolley bus system were Edmonton Radial Railway, 1939–46, and Edmonton Transportation System, 1946–77.
  2. ^ Previous operators of the Vancouver system were British Columbia Electric Railway, 1948–1962; BC Hydro, 1962–73; Greater Vancouver Transit System, 1973–78; Urban Transit Authority, 1978–82; and BC Transit, 1982–99.
  3. ^ Formerly known as the Greater Winnipeg Transit Commission (1953–60), which replaced the Winnipeg Electric Company (1924–53). Replaced by Winnipeg Transit in Jan. 1972.
  4. ^ Name was Toronto Transportation Commission until 31 December 1953.

Sources

Books and periodicals

  • Murray, Alan. 2000. World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia (ISBN 0-904235-18-1). Reading, Berkshire, UK: Trolleybooks.
  • Porter, Harry; and Stanley F.X. Worris. 1979. Trolleybus Bulletin No. 109: Databook II. North American Trackless Trolley Association (defunct).
  • Sebree, Mac; and Paul Ward. 1974. The Trolley Coach in North America (Interurbans Special 59). Los Angeles, US: Interurbans. LCCN 74-20367.
  • Trolleybus Magazine (ISSN 0266-7452). National Trolleybus Association (UK). Bimonthly.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac Murray (2000), p. 78.
  2. ^ Trolleybus Magazine (TM) No. 286 (July–August 2009), pp. 87 and 89. National Trolleybus Association (UK). ISSN 0266-7452.
  3. ^ Murray (2000), p. 131.
  4. ^ a b TM No. 192, Nov.-Dec. 1993, p. 158.
  5. ^ TM Nos. 183, May–June 1992, pp. 53, 69; and 187, Jan.-Feb. 1993, p. 22.
  6. ^ Murray (2000) gives a closure date of May 1926.

Further reading

  • Baker, John E. 1982. Winnipeg's Electric Transit: The Story of Winnipeg's Streetcars and Trolley Buses (ISBN 0-919130-31-3). Toronto, Ontario: Railfare Enterprises Ltd.
  • Hatcher, Colin K.; and Tom Schwarzkopf. 1983. Edmonton's Electric Transit: The Story of Edmonton's Streetcars and Trolley Buses (ISBN 0-919130-33-X). Toronto, Ontario: Railfare.
  • Kelly, Brian; and Daniel Francis. 1990. Transit in British Columbia: The First Hundred Years (ISBN 1-55017-021-X). Madeira Park (BC), Canada: Harbour Publishing.
  • Leger, Paul A.; and Loring M. Lawrence. 1994. Halifax - City of Trolley Coaches (ISBN 0-9699267-0-7). Windsor, Ontario: Bus History Association.
  • Saitta, Joseph P. Traction Yearbook '81; also '82, '83, '84, '85, '86, '87. Merrick (NY), US: Traction Slides International.
  • Sebree, Mac; and Paul Ward. 1973. Transit's Stepchild, The Trolley Coach (Interurbans Special 58). Los Angeles: Interurbans. LCCN 73-84356.
  • Hatcher, Colin K.; and Tom Schwarzkopf. 2009. Calgary's Electric Transit: an illustrated history of electrified public transportation in Canada's oil capital (ISBN 978-1-897190-55-5) Toronto, Ontario: Railfare.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trolleybuses in Canada.
  • All-Time List of North American Trolleybus Systems
  • Tom's North American Trolley Bus Pictures
  • Bibliography of the Electric Trolleybus (Richard DeArmond)
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