INSET: DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER
ROUTES
Operator: British Columbia Electric Railway Company (BCER)
URBAN STREETCAR ROUTES (VANCOUVER)
| 1 | Granville - Broadway - Main - Hastings - Granville (circular route; both directions) |
| 3/7 | 50th & Main - Main - Hastings - Richards - Pacific - Granville - Broadway - Alma - Dunbar - 41st & Dunbar |
| 4 | 18th & Commercial - Commercial - Venables - Clarke - Hastings - Cambie (back: Richards) - Robson |
| 9 | 44th & Victoria - Victoria Dr. - Kingsway - Main - Powell - Cordova - Main Post Office (Hastings & Granville) |
| 10 | 54th & Victoria - Victoria Dr. - Kingsway - Main - Powell - Cordova - Granville - Pender - Georgia - Stanley Park |
| 11 | Joyce Loop - Kingsway - Main - Powell - Cordova - Granville - Pender - Georgia - Stanley Park |
| 13 | Robson - Richards (back: Granville) - Hastings - Renfrew - Dundas & Renfrew (Exhibition Park) |
| 14 | Robson - Richards (back: Granville) - Hastings - Boundary & Hastings |
| 17 | Cambie & Hastings - Cambie - Broadway - Oak - Marine Drive & Oak |
| 18 | Nanaimo & Hastings - Nanaimo - Broadway & Nanaimo |
INTERURBAN ROUTES
| A1 | Hastings & Carrall - Central Park (Burnaby) - New Westminster |
| A2 | Hastings & Carrall - Burnaby Lake - New Westminster |
| A3 | Vancouver (Pacific & Richards) - Granville - Arbutus - Marpole |
| A4 | Vancouver (Pacific & Richards) - Granville - Arbutus - Marpole - Richmond - Steveston |
| A5 | Vancouver (Pacific & Richards) - Granville - Arbutus - Marpole - New Westminster |
The following route ceased operation between 1949 and 1952:
- A3 (as well as the Vancouver-Marpole sections of A4 and A5): 17 June 1952.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYSTEM
NETWORK LENGTH
- Vancouver streetcar lines: ? km.
- Interurban lines: ? km.
HISTORY
- Vancouver streetcars: (electric) 28 June 1890 - 21 Apr. 1955.
- North Vancouver streetcars: (electric) 1 Sept. 1906 - 23 Apr. 1947.
- Interurban trams: (electric) 3 June 1891 - 28 Feb. 1958.
- SkyTrain (automated LRT): 3 Jan. 1986 - today.
- Canada Line (Metro): 17 Aug. 2009 - today.
GAUGE
- Vancouver and North Vancouver streetcars: 1453 mm.
- SkyTrain / Canada Line: 1435 mm.
TRAM PRESERVATION
The Transit Museum Society runs vintage interurban streetcars between Granville Island and Science World on weekends and holidays during the summer months. A demonstration service by modern trams from Europe was run on the same line during the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver.
SOURCES
- Cockle, D. "Tram-train community rail for Fraser Valley", Tramways & Urban Transit, Dec. 2010 (73: 876), p.465-466.
- Conn, H. & Ewert, H. Vancouver's glory years: Public transit 1890-1915. North Vancouver: Whitecap Books, 2003.
- "End of city trams in Vancouver" (news item), The Modern Tramway, July 1955 (18:211), p.142.
- Ewert, H. "British Columbia Electric Railway Company Limited", Canadian Rail, Jan.-Feb. 2010 (No.534), p.3-9.
- Ewert, H. The perfect little street car system. North Vancouver: North Vancouver Museum and Archives Commission, 2000.
- Ewert, H. The story of the B.C. Electric Railway Company. North Vancouver: Whitecap Books, 1986.
- Guide to Vancouver. Vancouver: British Columbia Electric Railway Company (BCER), 1930.
- Hyde, R. The Sockeye Special: The story of the Steveston tram and early Lulu Island. Richmond (B.C.): Author, 2011.
- Kelly, B. & Francis, D. Transit in British Columbia: The first hundred years. Madeira Park (B.C.): Harbour Publishing, 1990.
- Simons, V. "Vancouver prepares for the Winter Olympics",Tramways & Urban Transit, Jan. 2010 (73: 865), p.11-13.
- Till, H. Diary of significant events in the history of B.C. Electric's transportation system, 1889-1946. Vancouver: B.C. Electric Co., 1947 [?].
- Transit System Map of Vancouver, B.C. [Vancouver]: Challengers Cartographers, 1949, 1952 and 1954.
- Twenty nine years of public service. Vancouver: British Columbia Electric Railway Company Limited, 1926 (?).
WIKIS
- British Columbia Electric Railway (BCER)
- Canada Line
- Evergreen Line
- SkyTrain (Vancouver)
- TransLink (Vancouver)
- Transportation in Vancouver
- Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway
WEB SITES
- Canadian Street Railways
- History of the B.C. Electric Railway Company
- Steveston tram
- TransLink
- Vancouver Once Had Streetcars & Interurbans (on Rail for the Valley)
Copyright Gabor Sandi 1998-2025
Disclaimer: Everything on this site was written and/or prepared at the author's discretion. The author has tried to be accurate where facts are presented, but this does not mean that these facts are necessarily accurate. People needing more reliable information should refer to appropriate sources presented, on the Internet or elsewhere, by authoritative professional or academic bodies.
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