The story
National Electric Tramway and Lighting Company (1889 - 1895)
On April 6, 1889, the National Electric Tramway and Lighting Company (NETL) was formed by a Legislative Act with construction on the initial line beginning on October 1 of that year. On February 22, 1890, the NETL launched streetcar service in Victoria, beginning the first streetcar service in BC. Two lines were constructed at launch. The Outer Wharf line ran from the intersection of Douglas, Government, and Hillside streets, south on Douglas St. before going west toward the outer wharf area. The Fort Street line ran from the Rock Bay Bridge at the north end of Store St, and ran south before turning east to reach the site of the future Royal Jubilee Hospital. Construction on the company's car barn and power plant began on September 2, and was located west of Store St at the Rock Bay Bridge. Victoria's streetcar system was the first in Canada to operate west of Windsor and St. Catharines, with the system's cars being manufactured in St. Catharines by Patterson & Corbin. At launch, the NETL had an agreement with the city of Victoria to run streetcars at a speed limit of 10 mph.
Prior to the official launch, a test run commenced on February 20 with Mayor John Grant and company president D.W. Higgins in attendance. The initial run went from the company's car barn to James Bay. At the time, the line had 4-miles of track completed and four streetcars had been delivered. The ceremonial launch of service on February 22 was attended by two hundred invited guests, including BC's Premier John Robson, Lieutenant Governor Hugh Nelson, Mayor Grant, president Higgins, Victoria city council members and Members of the Legislative Assembly. The event included champagne toasts and singing of "God Save the Queen". Passengers loaded onto cars 1 through 4 for a ceremonial first trip. The trip went through the entirety of the five-mile system. Regular service started on February 23 with a fare of five-cents. The service proved to be quite popular, with the company announcing on April 8, 1890, plans to expand their power house and machinery.
The company was authorized by the provincial government on April 26, 1890, to further operate in Saanich, Highlands, Esquimalt, Sooke, and Metchosin. On September 13, the Esquimalt extension was completed. The first ceremonial trip to Esquimalt on the line took place on October 9, running from the car barn and back in twenty-five minutes. Regular service began on the line on October 12. Service ran hourly and cost twenty-five cents for a return ticket. After realizing that the Rock Bay Bridge the streetcars ran on to reach Esquimalt could not handle the weight of the vehicles, the bridge was closed to streetcars for reinforcement on October 24. While being reinforced, passengers on the line would disembark upon reaching the bridge and walk across to a streetcar on the other side that would continue along the remainder of the line. The Rock Bay Bridge was re-opened to streetcras on November 14. Cars on the three lines were painted to indicate their lines, with Esquimalt line cars being painted green, Outer Wharf cars blue and white, and Fort Street cars painted red. By the end of 1890, the NETL added five more streetcars to its service, for a total of nine across its three lines.
The NETL continued to expand in 1891, opening new power plants in January and purchasing six more streetcars over the course of the year. The company was hopeful that the power plants would enable them to run twenty streetcars on a ten-minute headway. In March, service on the Esquimalt line increased to every half-hour, and construction began on a new 1.3 mile line in neighbouring Oak Bay, running east toward Oak Bay beach. The line officially opened on July 1 as a shuttle service. On September 26, the Driving Park extension opened in Oak Bay, running from Jubilee Hospital toward the park (now known as Willows Park). The Pandora Avenue extension opened in Victoria on December 23, running east from Douglas Street toward Fernwood Road. The line had a track length of 1.13 miles. 1891 was a financially successful year for the NETL, with profits over $18,000. The company also received a loan of $100,000 from Olive Dunsmuir, widow of Robert Dunsmuir.
1892 saw several new lines constructed. A northern extension of Douglas Street from Hilside to Tolmie Avenue launched as a shuttle service on March 12, but was improved on May 14 when the extension became part of the Outer Wharf line. A new line to Beacon Hill Park launched on June 30, as part of the Pandora-Beacon Hill line. This would be the last line to be constructed in Victoria for eleven years. In June to July service on the Esquimalt line was reduced to shuttle service as rotting wood on the Point Ellice Bridge had caused the structure to sink by several feet. One additional streetcar was purchased in 1892. On August 7, a fire broke out in the company's repair room and destroyed the room along with the NETL's power house. Streetcars in the next door carbarn were undamaged, and work began to construct a new powerhouse began immediately. Before streetcar service resumed in September, the NETL allowed the Jockey Club to borrow two cars for three days for use as horse-drawn vehicles to bring customers to horse track races. After the company borrowed two Edison generators from the Westminster and Vancouver Tramway, service resumed on September 24. Full streetcar service was finally restored months later on December 6.
On April 6, 1894, the company had its name changed by a provincial legislative act to the Victoria Electric Railway and Lighting Company Limited. On June 4, 1895, the company went into receivership.
Vancouver Electric Street Railway and Lighting Company (1889 - 1895)
In 1888, the Vancouver Street Railway company formed and was authorized by Vancouver City Council to construct and operate streetcars. The company began construction on the preliminary lines, which were planned to be horse-drawn. Pressure from city council and the public convinced the company to go with electric rail instead. The decision was announced on August 9, 1889, only six days before the system was set to launch, resulting in a ten-month service delay. When the decision was made, existing streetcars were equipped with motors so they could run on electricity. The system's initial line was ready to handle streetcars on August 15, 1889, but it wasn't until June of the next year that streetcars would begin to operate. Prior to making the decision, a large horse stable was constructed on the south of False Creek. The horses had been purchased and arrived, and the stables stayed in place for nearly fifty years. The electricity to power the system was generated at a steam power plant beside the company's car barn.
On May 21, 1890, the Vancouver Street Railway company merged with the Vancouver Electric Light company to form the Vancouver Electric Street Railway and Lighting Company (VESRL). Also in May, the company received six streetcars purchased from the John Stephenson Car Company. A trial run of streetcar number 14 ran on June 26, 1890, four months after trams launched in Victoria. The car made several trips along Westminster Avenue in the afternoon, before being tested on the rest of the system's tracks in the evening. The first six miles of the line were opened to the public on June 27, 1890. Two lines were in operation at the start of service. The Powell Street line ran west on Powell Street to Granville and Pender streets. The Westminster Avenue line ran north on Main to Powell Street, passing the horse stable, crossing False Creek on a newly built bridge, passing the car barn on Union Street. The line then met the same westward route of the Powell Street line but continued for an additional mile south.The service began in Vancouver's then-commercial district, linking the perimeters of the east and west residential districts. Residents along the route were among the first in the city to receive running water, sewage, and electricity. On July 3, 1890, the VESRL revealed new arc lights, illuminating Vancouver's streets at night for the first time.
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At rush hour, six cars operated across the whole system. These cars had the capability to run at speeds up to 32 km/h (20 mph), but due to an agreement with the city only operated at 9.6 km/h (6.0 mph). The Vancouver Electric Street Railway and Lighting company also gave the city of Vancouver the option to buy the streetcar system after 30 years. On October 11, 1890, crews began constructing a half-mile extension of the railway to reach Mount Pleasant. By February 1891, Vancouver's six streetcars had carried nearly 340,000 total passengers.
On October 22, 1891, the company launched the Fairview line. The VESRL purchased 68 lots of land in the area from the Canadian Pacific Railway in exchange for streetcar service in the area. The line was single-tracked and ran 4.4 km at opening, crossing False Creek to Granville Street, and connecting with the recently opened Mount Pleasant extension. People saw the line as a disappointment due to how few residents lived in the Fairview area at the time. The construction of the Fairview line would exceed 5x its original estimate, as the line needed to cross multiple streams, seven wood bridges were constructed at a cost of $150,000.
In 1892, a smallpox epidemic hit Vancouver and the entire transit system shutdown for nearly two months due to a lack of ridership. At the end of 1892, the Vancouver Electric Street Railway and Lighting Company was losing almost $1,300 a month on both transit and lighting operations. At this time, the Vancouver city council declined two separate offers to buy the company. By February 1893, the company went into liquidation and was taken over by a board of trustees who hoped to make the system profitable by cutting service. They reduced service frequency in Mount Pleasant and completely closed the Fairview line as well as service east of Westminster Avenue. From 1893 to April 1894 transit service was entirely suspended. By 1895 the trustees were able to successfully borrow funds which allowed them to expand Vancouver's streetcar system, adding new lines and double-tracking existing ones. The system continued to expand until the company went into liquidation a few years later.
Westminster and Vancouver Tramway Company (1890 - 1894)
On March 13, 1890, the city of New Westminster passed a bylaw giving the Westminster Street Railway Company permission to build and run streetcar lines in the city. On April 26, 1890, the BC legislature passed two railway charters to fund two companies, the Westminster Street Railway Company, who were to work on creating streetcars in New Westminster, and the Westminster and Vancouver Tramway Company, which would be tasked with creating an interurban railway between the two cities. The Westminster Street Railway Company was authorized to construct systems up to five miles outside the limits of the city which were unorganized territory at the time, and was capitalized with $250,000. The New Westminster city council authorized the streetcars to run at a speed limit of 6 mph. The Westminster and Vancouver Tramway Company capitalized at $500,000.
On April 20, 1891, Vancouver mayor David Oppenheimer and other wealthy business partners amalgamated the two existing companies into the Westminster and Vancouver Tramway Company. After amalgamating the two companies, it was decided that the city's first streetcar line should also serve as the entrance to the city via the interurban, while also serving the city's residential area and the popular Queen's Park. The system's first depot was constructed at the southwest corner of Columbia and 6th streets, where the line would run east on Columbia before going west toward Vancouver after climbing a steep grade. On October 8, 1891, the company launched New Westminster's streetcar system.
Construction on the system's first interurban line, the Central Park line, began on August 1, 1890. Grading of the interurban line began on December 17, 1890. Service began on a portion of the line on June 3, 1891 running short of Cedar Cottage, twice daily. The first run to reach Cedar Cottage occurred on September 2, and on October 1 the line had officially reached the boundary of Vancouver. The Central Park interurban line launched on October 28, 1891, with four cars running daily in each direction. The system was the first electric interurban line in North America, running from Vancouver–New Westminster via Central Park in Burnaby. Central Park, and thus, the Central Park Line, were named to honour Oppenheimer's wife, who was from New York City. To connect the cities, trestles had to be constructed through swamps and forests, with the longest trestle being 26 meters high and 36.5 meters long. The company convinced land owners along the route to donate land to the company, and the BC government made a land granting match of 196 acres north of the interurban route. Two of the company's directors collectively owned thousands of acres of land along the route. In Vancouver, the Vancouver Electric Railway and Light Company agreed to build the portion of the line from Cedar Cottage to Carrol Street, which they could operate streetcars on. At the launch of the line, there were two round-trip journeys per day at a cost of 50-cents for one-way tickets, or 75-cents for return. The 22.9 km line effectively doubled the total track mileage for public transit in Canada, and was also the longest interurban line in the country at the time. The line was initially quite popular, with the News-Advertiser writing that the cars were "packed on every trip both ways to and from Vancouver". The company also had an agreement with the Great Northern Railway to transport passengers and luggage between New West and Vancouver along the interurban line.
The interurban service had three-stops, and the trip took 50-minutes to travel between Vancouver and New Westminster. The first stop was on Venables Street and Glen Drive in Vancouver, the second at Central Park, and the final stop was at the Westminster and Vancouver Tramways power plant. The stop in Central Park provided Burnaby residents with public transit for the first time, as they previously relied entirely on horse-drawn stagecoaches. Near the power plant, the company built a boarding room which housed 30 engineers, brakemen, mechanics, and station staff. Cottages were available for married staff to live in with their families.
The company suffered several blows during its operation. A smallpox epidemic arrived in Vancouver in 1892 which led to a steep drop-off in passengers. A recession in 1894, triggered by the Panic of 1893, stagnated settlement along the route, so the number of passengers the company hoped to draw ultimately did not arrive. Also in 1894, Car 15 derailed en route to Vancouver, no casualties were suffered. Major flooding of the Fraser River hit New Westminster in 1894, causing the interurban line to have its timetable changed to avoid the shorter route that was underwater in New West. Lightning also struck the power plant, damaging a dynamo. Due to bad finances, the company could not afford to repair it, nor could they afford to pay interest on company bonds. The Bank of British Columbia refused to cover their payments, forcing them into receivership on August 10, 1894. In 1895, Frank S. Barnard bought the company's assets on behalf of Consolidated Railway and Light Company for $280,000.
Consolidated Railway and Light Company (1895 - 1897)
With the global depression in the 1890s, all three existing transit companies went into receivership, and were amalgamated in 1895 into the Consolidated Railway and Light Company. Consolidated Rail was financed largely by local and English financiers, at a capitalization of one million dollars. Consolidated Rail offered reduced fares for settlers along train routes in an effort to increase ridership. The company also lobbied the provincial government to offer better terms to settlers buying crown land along the route. By 1896, streetcars in Vancouver could travel at speeds up to 8 mph on business streets and 10 mph in residential areas.
On November 22, 1895, Consolidated Rail was purchased by British financier Robert Montgomery Horne-Payne, acting on behalf of The Railway Amalgamation Syndicate. On January 8, 1896, Victoria Electric Railway and Lighting Company was possessed by Sperling and Company, who subsequently became part of Consolidated Rail on April 11. On April 17, Consolidated Rail invested $1,500,000 into the company, and changed its name officially to the Consolidated Railway Company.
While Horne-Payne was visiting BC from London to examine the state of the company in May 1896, the Point Ellice Bridge Disaster occurred. On May 26, the third day of celebrations for Queen Victoria's birthday, over 140 passengers crowded onto streetcar number 16 on way to Esquimalt. While the car crossed the poorly maintained Point Ellice Bridge, the bridge collapsed, leading to the deaths of 55 passengers. It remains the worst electric railway disaster in Canada or the United States. After the disaster, The Railway Amalgamation Syndicate stopped funding Consolidated Rail. This disaster forced Consolidated Rail into receivership again on October 13, 1896. The Canadian company, Colonial Railway and Investment Company, purchased Consolidated Rail and sold it on April 3, 1897, to the London-based British Columbia Electric Railway Company Limited.
Formation and early development (1897 – 1900)
Following the disaster in Victoria, Horne-Payne formed the British Columbia Electric Railway company on April 3, 1897. On April 15, the London-based organization purchased the entirety of Consolidated Rail's systems for $2.25 million. The BCER paid architect Francis Rattenbury $24,000 to create a new head office and depot in downtown Vancouver at the corner of Carrall and Hastings streets. Horne-Payne became the first chairman of the BCER, a position he held until 1928. R. Henry Sperling became the first General Superintendent. Horne-Payne controlled the company from London, while the company's managing director, Frank S. Barnard, worked out of Victoria. Due to the financial struggles of the organization's predecessors, the BCER's directors expanded lines cautiously in the early years, prioritizing lines that would be profitable. From 1897 to 1913, over one million pounds sterling was invested into the BCER, the majority coming from British citizens.
In the early years of the transit in greater Vancouver, new lines were formed quickly due to heavy demand. From the 1890s to the early 1900s, additional lines were built by the BCER and its predecessors. In 1895, the Robson Street streetcar line was built, and a line down Pender street to Stanley Park was constructed in 1897. By 1897, 13 double-ended streetcars were operating in Vancouver. In 1900, the BCER completed various track improvement work, including improving the Powell St line, double-tracked and extending the Main St line. A second interurban line opened in 1905 by leasing the Lulu Island line previously operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1909, a branch line was constructed on the Lulu Island line, linking Marpole to New Westminster. The first 21 miles of the Fraser Valley line began operation in 1909, reaching as far as Cloverdale. By 1910, the line had reached Chilliwack. At 102.7 kilometres (63.8 mi) in length from New Westminster to Chilliwack, the Fraser Valley line remains the longest interurban line ever constructed in Canada.
Like its predecessors, the BCER offered a variety of incentives to settlers. Starting September 1, 1897, BCER offered to ship supplies for settlers weighing under 50 lbs for free when accompanied by a rider. In 1900, BCER began to market Vancouver as a place to move to for potential settlers.
The Vancouver city council ultimately decided where the BCER could run streetcar lines, as well as the maximum speed the cars could run at. In an effort to influence their decisions, the BCER provided most city officials with free transit passes. By 1900, most BC MLAs were also receiving free passes.
In 1898, the BCER stopped using the Granville Bridge as it was "practically condemned", resulting in a loss of service for Fairview residents. Service for Fairview residents was not restored until a new bridge was constructed in 1909. Also in 1898, the BCER received 68 lots originally promised to Vancouver Electric Rail and Lighting by the CPR. In exchange, BCER agreed to run 20-minute service from Fairview to downtown Vancouver. Additionally, the BCER introduced coloured lights on June 8, 1898, to help make identifying streetcars easier. Pender St used green lights, Fairview used white, and "main line" cars used red lights. The system was abandoned shortly after, as riders found it confusing.
In 1900, the BCER began running streetcar service to English Bay via Davie St, which was credited with popularizing the spot. On March 26, 1900, a new depot opened in New Westminster featuring offices, a waiting room, and a covered bay for streetcars and interurbans. At this time, names began to be used instead of numbers for identifying interurban cars. BCER workers in New Westminster decided to unionize in 1900, forming local 134 of the Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees of America. The thirty-seven members of the local negotiated a new contract with the BCER and won a 2 cent hourly wage increase, raising their pay to 22 cents an hour. At this time, motormen and conductors worked 10.5 hour days, seven days a week.
Expansion (1901 - 1905)
By 1901, the BCER had 400 regular staff throughout Vancouver, New Westminster and Victoria. The year 1901 was also the first year staff were given Sundays off. Also in 1901, a single-track streetcar line on Main St south from Ninth Ave (now called Broadway) to 16th Ave was created. At this time, BCER and the city of Vancouver reached an agreement to consolidate all streetcar lines, in order to prevent the leases of the lines from expiring at different times. This agreement also gave the city the option to purchase BCER's Vancouver operations on February 11, 1919, and every 5 years after. In return for the consolidated lines, BCER agreed to pay a higher percentage of its earnings to the city, extend the existing lines on Main and Powell streets, and follow the city's rules regarding maximum fares, minimum service, and speed limits. Finally, BCER workers formed their first local of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, organizing workers who operated and maintained overhead wires and electrical rail lines.
In the early 1900s, the BCER announced that they would start manufacturing their own streetcars and interurbans at their manufacturing plant in New Westminster. Prior to this, the BCER was relying on manufacturers in the United States and eastern Canada. The first ever BC-made interurban cars were manufactured in New Westminster in 1903, where they continued manufacturing vehicles for over a decade. The first two cars were built over a period of two months, and were named "Delta" (later numbered 1203) and "Surrey" (later 1204). The finishing of the cars was built using Douglas fir and cedar wood. The first streetcars constructed here went into service on August 2.
Due to a snow storm in the winter of 1902, no streetcars operated for six weeks. In 1903, Vancouver residents pressured city council to extend the existing streetcar service that ran to the entrance of Stanley Park, through the park itself. Streetcar service began to the park's entrance in 1895. A plan was created to extend the line by 1.2 km, which would necessitate a 244-meter bridge be created. The BCER further made a rough survey for the route, but it was ultimately cancelled in October 1903 due to the personal opposition of BCER general manager, Johannes Buntzen. In 1903 and 1904, Vancouver's first sightseeing streetcar operated in the city, traveling from Gastown to Stanley Park for 25 cents per ride using an ordinary streetcar.
Streetcars running in Vancouver began operating on hydro-electric power on June 4, 1904. Power was generated at Buntzen Lake, with the generator run by the BCER subsidiary, Vancouver Power Company. On August 20, 1904, Vancouver's cemetery streetcar line ran for the first time, so members of the Street Railwaymen's Union could attend a funeral at Mountain View Cemetery. The line began regular service on September 16, running with 20-minute regular service at a length of 2.6 km. Some residents objected the designation sign on the trams reading "cemetery" and petitioned it to be changed, eventually being changed to Mountain View after the cemetery. Mountain View was South Vancouver's (at the time its own city) first streetcar line. The line ran from Main and 16th, south to 33rd Avenue, and then east to Fraser.
Specials and sightseeing (1906 - 1910)
The BCER hired their first female employee in 1906, Ethel G. Golightly, who worked as a ticket and transfer clerk, earning $40 a month. The year 1906 also saw the start of streetcar service to the Grandview neighbourhood of Vancouver, running from Hastings and Main streets to First and Commercial. Around this time, the BCER began running "special" cars to take spectators to various events around the region. An example of this was the "lacrosse special" the company ran to bring people from downtown Vancouver to Queens Park in New Westminster via the Central Park interurban line for championship matches at a return fare of 50 cents. The specials originally used five or six extra regular streetcars but by 1906 Saturday games were drawing up to 10,000 people and the cars could no longer accommodate the crowds. As a solution, the company modified some open flatbed cars to feature rows of bench seats that could fit more than 100 people on a single car. The cars were coupled to an electric locomotive and outfitted with one meter high railing. Another special service brought residents to Minoru Park for horse racing via the Steveston interurban line. Service ran from Granville station directly to Minoru Park, the 32 km round trip cost $1.25 and included track entry. The horse track itself had a branch line constructed that would bring interurbans to the back of the grandstand to unload passengers and wait in the siding for fans to return at the end of the day. Freight trains were used to transport horses and hay to the track. This popular transport method was also used in 1914 when another horse track opened at Landsdowne Park. Over 50% of spectators at Minoru arrived via interurban, sparking the largest ever increase in ridership on the Steveston line. To accommodate the increase in passengers, the BCER ran nonstop race specials with extra interurbans and even used some of Vancouver's streetcars. The BCER ended up duplicating their "lacrosse trains" for horse racing spectators, modifying ten former CPR flatbed cars.
Following the installation of electrical poles across the Second Narrows strait of the Burrard Inlet, electricity became more commonly available to residents of North Vancouver on August 15, 1906. Power was generated and brought to the region via Lake Buntzen. North Vancouver's first streetcar made a test run on August 29, 1906, with city councilors and the BCER superintendent aboard for the ride. Due to the steep grade of nearly 10% in some sections, the line required 800 fir poles to support the trolley wire. Service officially launched on Labour Day, September 3, that year. North Vancouver's streetcar line was the fourth in BCER's system, as well as its smallest. 2,407 passengers rode the 2.1 km track from Lonsdale to 21st street on the first trip, at the time North Vancouver only had a population of 1,000 residents. The train suffered multiple derailments and a crash on the first day of service, but passengers and crew still ended the day by singing "The End of a Perfect Day". Service on the line started at 36 trips per day, and increased to 50 trips per day excluding Sundays a few weeks later. In the following years, streetcar service in North Vancouver expanded to three separate lines, including: Capilano, Lonsdale, and Grand Boulevard (later renamed to Lynn Valley). The Capilano line was expanded on May 1, 1911, the same day a ferry-service began from Lower Lonsdale.
In 1907, the BCER stopped running streetcars in both directions from Broadway and Main, instead, implementing a belt line that allowed cars to operate continuously without switching ends. This change in technology improved service, with seven cars operating on each belt line with a headway of six minutes. During rush hour, cars would arrive every ten minutes on both the inner and outer belts. By 1908, the BCER operated 48 streetcars across 8 lines in Vancouver.
Around 1909, the BCER purchased designs for open-air observation streetcars from the Montreal Tramways Company. Two cars were then constructed in New Westminster, with car number 123 for use in Victoria, and car 124 for Vancouver. In 1909, the BCER debuted its first roofless observation streetcar. These cars were used for entertainment and sightseeing for tourists and locals. The cars ran every summer starting on May 24 and running until Labour Day. The car had 2 arches of lights over tiered seats, and the car's whistle tooted at every block. Tours included dog tricks, vaudeville acts, and an optional souvenir photo. Tours were two hours in length and made various stops in Vancouver, Point Grey, and South Vancouver (the latter two were not integrated into Vancouver until 1929). The optional photo available for purchase was a surprise to riders. The sightseeing car would stop a block from the Carroll St station, under the auspices of letting passengers admire the architecture of the New Dodson Hotel. Meanwhile, Harry Bullen, a photographer hired by the BCER who would book a second floor room at the hotel for the season, would take a photo of the car and its passengers. Bullen would count the number of families in the car and estimate how many photos he may sell. While the car continued its tour, Bullen would develop and print the pictures before riding his bicycle to Granville and Robson. There, he would deposit the pictures into a box at the back of the streetcar as it finished its trip. The conductor would take the photos out of the box to sell, and Bullen would bike back to the hotel to prepare for the next tour group. Over the decades two observation cars ran in the city, departing from Robson and Richards streets. The two cars were in service for 41 years, and are estimated to have transported over 1.5 million passengers over 927,000 km.
Vancouver's first pay-as-you-enter streetcar entered service on August 29, 1909. In October, a new double-tracked streetcar line on Fourth Avenue between Granville and Alma streets opened. On November 6, 1909, the Hastings Street streetcar line was extended to Boundary Road. When the new Granville Bridge opened on September 6, 1909, several dignitaries rode BCER observation car 124 over the bridge on a return trip to the Hotel Vancouver, among them being Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey (Canada's then governor-general) and mayor Charles Douglas. The new bridge saw a restoration of streetcar service for Fairview residents, who had lost service in 1898 due to the poor state of the previous bridge. In November, interurban service between Marpole and New Westminster launched. From October to December 1909, new streetcar lines were launched in largely uninhabited areas of Vancouver with the goal of attracting settlers to the region.
In October 1909, streetcar service expanded through Fourth Avenue, in what is now Kitsilano. At the time, the area was undeveloped forest.
Boom years (1910 – 1912)
The year 1910 saw huge demands on BCER's transit system. The company could not keep up with demand, and committed to acquiring 122 cars in the next year, 50 of which would be slated for Vancouver alone. Due to the sheer volume of cars needed, they were not all able to be constructed in BCER's New Westminster depot, and cars had to be ordered from other manufacturers. On August 22, 1910, Vancouver's single-day ridership record was broken when 122,455 passengers rode across the city's transit system. Transit ridership also spiked in Victoria in 1910, where the 200 streetcars and interurbans carried nearly 40 million riders in 1910 (up by 10 million over 1909) and hauled 41,142 tons of freight.
On July 1, 1910, the BCER started freight service from New Westminster to Cloverdale and Jardine. On January 11, 1911, four interurban cars were trapped in the snow on the Central Park interurban line and had to be abandoned. From August 16 to 21, 1910, thousands of people crowded streetcars to see prime minister Wilfrid Laurier open Vancouver's first exhibition at Hastings Park. Similar ridership demands were seen on May 24, 1911, when the BCER moved 12,000 people to Queens Park in New Westminster to attend Empire Day celebrations.
Tracks were installed near the University Endowment Lands in 1910, with service beginning on the new line on February 25, 1911. The line was closed in 1912 due to a franchise disagreement between BCER and the municipality of Point Grey. The line re-opened in September 1912 after the dispute was resolved. Around this time, Point Grey gained new transit extensions, including the extension of the Shaughnessy Heights line in October 1911, the Oak St line in September 1913, and the Sasamat line in November 1913. These streetcar lines in and around Point Grey helped bring settlers to the area. On September 17, 1912, the BCER introduced a five-cent rate for settlers on the Point Grey streetcar line.
In 1910, the debate over access to Stanley Park was reignited as more Vancouverites wanted access to the park, to the dismay of tourists and West End upper class residents. Working class residents argued that Vancouver's park board discriminated against transit modes, as they allowed wealthy residents to enter the park on horse-drawn carriages and cars, but denied the wider public access via public transit. The City Beautiful movement brought further attention to the debate, as they prioritized un-trammelled and natural park access. In August 1910, a private operator submitted a proposal to run streetcars around the circumference of the park. In January 1912, a plebiscite marginally approved a 1910 proposal for a city-owned streetcar service to operate in Stanley Park, but it was ultimately defeated due to the opposition of wealthy West End residents.
In 1911, the BCER constructed a new head office in downtown Vancouver. At this time, they also launched a night service. Nicknamed the "owl", cars ran from midnight to 3:20am at a cost of double the regular rates. May 1911 saw the BCER's highest ever ridership numbers in Vancouver at nearly 3.5 million riders. The year 1911 also saw the launch of the BCER's new interurban line, the Burnaby Lake line on June 12.
In 1912, Canada's governor-general, the Duke of Connaught visited Vancouver alongside his wife, the Duchess of Connaught and their daughter, Princess Patricia. This marked the couple's second visit to the city, with their first being in 1890. The BCER decorated its head office with strings of lights for the occasion, and transformed interurban car 1304 for the royal guests. The car had its seats and partitions removed and replaced with plush lounge chairs and sofas in cream and green, with white curtains and carpeting, transforming the car into a sitting room. The exterior of the car was freshly painted with two royal coat of arms on either side, and the name Connaught emblazoned alongside the BCER name in golden letters. During their visit, the Duke and Dutchess officially opened the Cambie Bridge, replacing the previous bridge constructed in 1894. Car 1304 returned to regular service after the royal visit, with the seats and partitions being put back.
By 1912, the majority of British Columbia's residents lived within one of the BCER's service areas. During rush hour, 140 streetcars operated in Vancouver. At this time, the BC Minister of Railways released a regulation prohibiting streetcars from exceeding 12 mph on city business streets, and 18 mph on other streets. Various orders of new cars were made by the BCER this year to keep up with demand, including an order for 28 passenger interurbans and 2 express baggage cars from the St. Louis Car Company, and an order of 40 streetcars from Preston Car Company. Other changes introduced in 1912 include more distinct destination signs on Vancouver's streetcars, including symbols and colours, and on-board signal buzzers for passenger use.
Decline and competition (1913 - 1918)
1913 saw the end of the BCER's early boom period. As ridership fell over the previous year, fares were increased and streetcar service frequency was reduced. This year saw some bad investments by the BCER. First, a new streetcar line opened in South Vancouver along 41st Avenue between Main and Granville streets, but no cars ever ran on the route. Then, the company imported a luxury stepless streetcar from New York City, which was met with initial fanfare followed by apathy. The car was designed with lower platforms so women wearing the then-fashionable hobble skirt, which limited their stride to 30 cm, could board easily. The car cleared the rails just by 18 cm and had just one door located in the center of the vehicle, opposed to the front entrance and rear exit of the regular streetcars. The car officially began service on March 18, 1913, but operated only for a few months due to a lack of ridership as passengers disliked the single middle door. The hobble car would also careen off the tracks due to its low-centre construction. The stepless car was also less powerful compared to the other cars, was more expensive to purchase, and its parts were not compatible with BCER's other trams.
As costs and capital investments soared,the BCER's profits at the end of June 1913 were only up by $3,000 over five years earlier. Capital investments totaled $43 million in 1913, compared to $12 million in 1908. The BCER announced in the fall that they were considering selling the company's Vancouver streetcar system to the city, which ultimately did not occur. The year 1914 saw the number of passengers on Vancouver's streetcars continue to fall, and in November jitneys began to appear in Vancouver. These private automobiles would cruise streetcar lines and pick up waiting passengers, speeding them to their destinations faster than the streetcars could travel. Jitneys would charge just 5 cents per ride, and half a dozen or more people were often crammed into a single auto, with passengers often holding onto aftermarket handlebars and standing on the auto's mud guards. Jitneys would often run just a few minutes ahead of the streetcars schedule and even display the same destination signage as the cars. By mid-January 1915, more than 100 jitneys ran in Vancouver, exploding to over 250 by just the end of the same month. The BCER was losing an average of $2,000 a month due to the marked drop in ridership from jitneys. From 1914 to 1915, ridership dropped by over 17 million passengers and the company's revenue fell by $1.3 million.
In an effort to tempt riders, the BCER offered reduced fares on streetcars, and on interurbans running from Vancouver to New Westminster. Other changes made in response to jitneys included increasing the running times of streetcars, creating public timetables for the first time, establishing new shuttle lines to downtown Vancouver, and adding additional streetcars during rush hour. The BC Electric Railway also introduced The Buzzer on June 2, 1916, a free pamphlet available on streetcars and interurbans, which TransLink continues to distribute today. The leaflet initially went unnamed before being named by the winners of a contest. Released ostensibly as a means of maintaining good public relations, the flyers also argued against jitneys and tried to make the public aware of the long-term issues the share taxis may cause. The BCER also extended the Hastings Street line again, this time reaching Burnaby, from Boundary Road to Ellesmere Avenue.
The company also attempted to lobby the provincial and municipal governments to regulate jitneys, to which Vancouver mayor LD Taylor said "present management of the BCER have only themselves to blame for their present plight". The stiff competition from jitneys and loss in funds went on to cause a large transit worker strike in June 1917. The eight day job action involved nearly all of the company's conductors, motormen, and car barn staff. Staff struck again in 1918 for nine days in an attempt for wage increasing. The city of Vancouver ended up banning jitneys after years of BCER lobbying efforts, in 1918.
In November, 1915, the BCER shutdown its first line across the system, closing the one car "shuttle" line on Commercial Drive due to a lack of customers. Only 152 streetcars were running during rush hour in Vancouver in 1915, a large decrease from previous years. Freight service was also down in 1915 in addition to passenger service, with the BCER hauling 100,000 tons in 1915 compared to 258,029 tons in 1914.
In 1915, the BCER ran a regular Sunday service on the Fraser Valley interurban line. The line brought baseball spectators to the Huntington station, where fans would disembark and walk across the US border to watch games in Sumas, Washington. These trips violated Canada's Lord's Day Act, which legally prevented activities from occurring on Sundays. A petition was sent to BC's attorney general William John Bowser to request the BCER stop this service, but he refused the request and instead expressed his support for an expansion of access to recreational activities on Sundays.
Following the end of World War I, the BCER began offering motor bus service.
1920s
On January 1, 1922, traffic in coastal British Columbia (including trams and interurbans) changed from running on the left side of the road to the right side. Prior to this, BC remained as one of the last outliers in North America that drove on the left, a legacy of BC's history as a British colony. The majority of BC had switched to right-handed driving on July 1, 1920 with the notable exception of the coast (i.e. the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island). This exception was granted to allow the BCER time to perform the technical changes necessary to allow for right-handed traffic. The province agreed to pay for half of the cost of converting BCER's equipment to allow the change, up to a maximum $350,000.
On March 19, 1923, the BCER launched its first motor bus service in Vancouver, running on Grandview Highway. In the 1920s, the BCER invested in new hydro electric projects, including the Bridge River Project. The BCER created the British Columbia Rapid Transit Company on February 12, 1924. This company had the goal of purchasing motor passenger and freight lines from companies that were competing with BCER interurban lines between Vancouver, New Westminster, and Chilliwack. On May 1, 1924, BC Rapid Transit launched its first intercity bus service, running from Vancouver to New Westminster. On October 1, 1924, the Saanich line ceased service in Victoria, with much of the rolling stock transferred to the Lower Mainland for use in the local system. In 1925, the BCER created a new subsidiary named the B.C. Motor Transportation Company, which amalgamated three previously independent companies: Yellow Cabs, Pacific Stage Lines, Triangle and Circle Sightseeing Tours. By 1926, BCER had an annual ridership of 72,000,000 passengers. On May 19, 1928, the BCER became a Canadian company, incorporating as the B.C. Power Corporation Limited and purchasing shares from BC Electric. The company retained the name BC Electric and BCER. By 1929, the BCER's rail system consisted of 418 passenger cars, and its freight service consisted of 12 electric locomotives and 456 freight, express, and service cars. The BC Rapid Transit Co. had a fleet of 23 coach busses, with route to the University of British Columbia considered the busiest in the network. For the year ending June 30, 1929, the BCER transported 78,500,381 passengers. At this time, the company was providing services to the majority of BC's residents including rail, electricity, and gas. Streetcar fares throughout the system were five-cents with the exception of Vancouver, which charged seven-cents. In addition to providing public transportation, the BCER also offered streetcars, interurbans, and busses available for chartering.
Later years (1930 - 1950)
From January 1938 to March 1943 the average daily ridership rose from 150,000 to 270,000. As men left the workforce to enlist in World War II, the BCER hired women to work on transit vehicles for the first time. Called "conductorettes", they worked on Vancouver streetcars but not interurbans. Women also worked as "electric guides", selling streetcar tickets at busy stops in Vancouver. While many women were put out of work in other industries when men returned from the war, conductorettes were able to stay in their roles thanks to their union membership. On January 27, 1939, the BCER introduced their first PCC streetcar, car number 400. The company ultimately operated thirty-six streetcars of this model within the city of Vancouver.
By 1944, the BCER's rail system was the largest of its kind in Canada, with 327.41 miles (526.92 km) of track, compared to Montreal Tramways' 279.34 miles (449.55 km) and Toronto Transportation Commission's 266.88 miles (429.50 km).
From Wikipedia’s article on British Columbia Electric Railway, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4