1. History
    Other streetcar systems 

2. Services
     Bus routes   Route histories  Streetcar routes  Trolley bus routes   Trans-Cab    Accessible transportation    Rapid transit  

3. Facilities
     Barns/garages    Loops  

4. Terminals and connections
     Other terminals and loops  

5. Fares

6. Gallery

7. Staff

8. References

9. External links

The Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) is a public transport agency in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The name is a legacy of the company's early period, when public transit in Hamilton was primarily served by streetcars. Although streetcars are no longer used in the city today, the HSR operates bus and paratransit services, with a ridership of 21 million passengers a year. The HSR uses the Presto card as its method of fare payment, allowing for connections with GO Transit and other transit systems in the Greater Toronto area.^[1]

History

From 1873 to 1889, the HSR was owned by Lyman Moore and operated as a private business. In 1889 HSR was sold to Hamilton Cataract Interests, later known as Dominion Power and Transmission Company. The HSR was later acquired by Ontario Hydro.

Provincial ownership ended in 1946 when HSR was bought by Canada Coach Lines. CCL was purchased by the city of Hamilton in 1960. Hamilton-Wentworth Region began ownership of CCL and HSR in 1977, and in 2001 regional amalgamation placed its ownership back to the city of Hamilton.

Other streetcar systems

• 1873–1923: Hamilton & Dundas Street Railway
• 1891–1931: Hamilton, Grimsby & Beamsville Electric Railway
• 1893–1925: Hamilton Radial Electric Railway
• 1896–1931: Brantford & Hamilton Electric Railway
• 1907–1930s: Hamilton Terminal Company

Services

Bus routes

Route histories

In the early 1990s the HSR eliminated many routes by expanding current routes. The following is a list of replaced and withdrawn routes:

Streetcar routes

The HSR operated horsecars from 1874 to 1892 and electric streetcars from 1892 to 1951. Trolley buses replaced streetcars in Hamilton in 1951.

• Belt Line 1913-1946 (Red Line)
  • James St 1874
  • King St 1874
  • Bartonville shuttle 1907
• Burlington-Westdale 1941-1946 (Green Line)
  • James Street North 1874 - later as Westdale-James North
  • Burlington Street 1896 - opened by Hamilton Radial Electric Railway; later as Burlington-James South (Yellow Line)
  • King Street West & Westdale 1874 - later as Westdale-James North 1930
• Aberdeen-King West 1874-1947 (Yellow Line)
  • York Street 1874
  • Herkimer Street between James and Queen 1883 - renamed King West-York 1892 (Green Line)
  • Aberdeen late 1870s by Hamilton & Dundas Street Railway; later acquired by HSR and mergered by West Hamilton 1923; renamed Aberdeen-Stuart
  • York & Aberdeen 1930 - replaced Aberdeen-Stuart line; sections closed 1939 and ceased operations along entire route 1947
• Crosstown (Sanford) Shuttle 1924-1948
• Firestone shuttle 1927-1939
• Wentworth 1874-1913 - renamed Wentworth-Stuart and used until 1942

Trolley bus routes

Trolley buses were used by the HSR from 1951 to 1992 along the following routes:

• King-Barton
  • later as 1 King - until 1987
  • later as 2 Barton - until 1992
• Cannon 1951-1989
  • later 3 Cannon

Trans-Cab

Introduced in 1998 as a two-year pilot project, Trans-Cab is a shared-ride taxi service between HSR and specific local taxi providers, currently offered in portions of Glanbrook and Stoney Creek.

Accessible transportation

Accessible Transportation Services (ATS) is the section that administers a variety of accessible services on behalf of the City

• Accessible low-floor (ALF) buses provide level entry and exit to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers. It is anticipated that the entire HSR fleet will be accessible by 2009.
• Disabled and Aged Regional Transportation System (DARTS) is a non profit charitable organization that is the paratransit service provider.
• Taxi Scrip program provides discounted taxi coupons for ATS registered persons who are unable to access regular transit buses.

Rapid transit

In 1981, during Bill Davis's Progressive Conservative administration, the Province of Ontario offered to finance the construction of a light rail line in Hamilton, from Lloyd D. Jackson Square to the Lime Ridge Mall.^[6]

The line would have used the same technology as the Scarborough RT in Toronto. The plans triggered a lot grass-roots opposition, and Hamilton-Wentworth Council turned the proposal down.

The plan called for an elevated track—one of the element that triggered opposition. Residents being concerned commuters would be invading their privacy, by looking down on their back-yards and in their second floor windows.

When the CBC News compared the rejected 1981 plan with the 21st Century rapid transit plan they quoted the individual who had been the planning and development manager for Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Government, Doug Lychak, who pointed out that Vancouver's introduction of the same elevated light rail technology, just four years later is widely acknowledged to have been very successful.^[6]

The 1980s light rail plans were to use the UTDC ICTS technology, but the project was scrapped and no lines were created for the HSR.

Hamilton is considering the use of LRT in the city,^[7] and is working with Metrolinx on a plan to get an LRT with 15 years after plans are approved.

The planned BLAST network routes may include:^[8]

• B-Line – Main/King corridor from McMaster University to Eastgate Square
• L-Line – Downtown to Waterdown
• A-Line – James/Upper James corridor from Downtown to John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport
• S-Line – Centennial to Ancaster Business Park
• T-Line – Mohawk to Meadowlands

No vehicles have been chosen, but it may be similar to the Flexity Freedom to be used in Ion rapid transit and Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

Facilities

Barns/garages

• 1875 first horsebarn opens
• 1887 second horsebarn opens
• 1889 Sanford Avenue carhouse opens
• 1927–1990 Wentworth Street North carbarn/garage opens (machine shops, etc.)
• 1984–1996, 1998–present Mountain Regional Transit Centre on Upper James Street
• 1990–1998 Wentworth Street Transit Centre

Loops

Terminals and connections

HSR routes from downtown to the Mountain (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 33, and 35) currently use MacNab Transit Terminal, while several lower city routes (4, 6, 7, 8 and 9) have an on-street terminal layover at the intersection of Main and James Streets. 34 has a layover location on King at James.

HSR connects with GO Transit at Hamilton GO Centre, which serves as the terminus for four HSR routes (1, 2, 3, and 51). The station, located at 36 Hunter Street East, a few blocks south of King and James, is the terminus of the GO's Lakeshore West railway line and Express Highway 407 and Queen Elizabeth Way GO Buses. It is also the main Greyhound Lines bus stop (mainly serving London, Ontario and those connections) in Hamilton. Canada Coach Lines, once owned by HSR, is now served by Coach Canada, formerly Trentway-Wagar, and operates routes between Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, and Niagara. It is also the former Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway (TH&B) passenger station, and there is a small museum above the public concourse. HSR routes 2 and 4 also connect with GO at Barton Street & Nash Road in East Hamilton, where a GO bus travels between there and the Burlington GO Station.

At the Mountain Transit Centre transfer point (served by route 27) and a contract with Blue Line Taxi, the HSR also connects with other areas in the northwest portion of the former Glanbrook.

In addition, the HSR is connected with Burlington Transit, as one route (11 Parkdale) travels into Burlington via Burlington Beach, 18 Waterdown connects with BT at Aldershot GO Station, and BT Route 1 enters downtown Hamilton from Plains Road West. Also '9 Rock Gardens' travels into Burlington going into the Royal Botanical Gardens during the summer months.

Other terminals and loops

Fares

Gallery

Staff

Most staff at HSR are members (bus operators, mechanics and other transit workers) of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 107. The local was formed in 1899 and also represents transit workers at Mississauga Transit. The local does not represent those working on city's paratransit service, Disabled and Aged Regional Transportation System (DARTS).{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}}

References

• {{cite book |last=Mills |first=John M. |title=Cataract Traction:The Railways of Hamilton |year=1971 |series=Canadian Traction Series |volume=Volume 2 |publisher=Upper Canada Railway Society & Ontario Electric Railway Historical Association |location=Toronto |pages=116}}

External links

• {{official|http://www.hamilton.ca/HSR/}}
• HSR history
• Bus News Spring 2010

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