Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway



The Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway was a heritage electric railway line that operated from 1998 to 2011 between Granville Island and Science World (Olympic Village Station after 2009), in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It operated only on weekends and holidays, usually from May to mid-October, and was aimed primarily at tourists. Two restored interurban trams were used on the line, which used a former freight railway right-of-way.

The line was owned by the City of Vancouver. The cars were operated by volunteers from the Transit Museum Society. The car shown (1207) was privately owned. By 2018 both tram cars (1207 and 1231) have been donated and moved to the Fraser Valley Historical Railway in Cloverdale.

Heritage service
Service was inaugurated on July 29, 1998, and was considered to be a demonstration project for a modern downtown streetcar system that the city plans to develop. It continued to operate almost every summer through 2011, as an excursion-oriented historic electric railway line. In 2010, the heritage service did not operate, with the line from west of Olympic Village used for a modern-streetcar demonstration service known as the "Olympic Line" (see section below). Temporary modifications made to the overhead wire took longer than expected to undo, delaying the start of 2011 service, with the service starting on July 1 and scheduled to run mid-October. The line did not operate in 2012, and service suspended indefinitely due to financial constraints with no set plans to resume operation. Furthermore, a Vancouver City Council report published in March 2014 recommended against reviving service on the heritage line.

When last operational in 2011, the line ran from Granville Island to Olympic Village Station, however, Olympics-related construction razed the section of line east of the Cambie Bridge.

Fleet of heritage railcars
The fleet also includes an ex-Brussels La Brugeoise et Nivelles PCC-style streetcar, painted red and cream.

The line's operator, the Transit Museum Society, also owns a large fleet of vintage buses and trolley coaches.

Olympic Line
From January 21 to March 21, 2010, a 1.8 km free demonstration service called the "Olympic Line" (named for the 2010 Winter Olympics) ran every six minutes, 18 hours a day on the Downtown Historic Railway between Olympic Village station and Granville Island, using two modern Bombardier Flexity Outlook streetcars, No. 3050 and No. 3051, leased from the Brussels tram system. The City of Vancouver and the administrators of Granville Island paid $8.5 million for associated upgrades to the infrastructure.

The two stations were single side platforms with two shelters providing partial coverage from the elements. The Olympic Village station shared the parking lot with existing Canada Line station at West 2nd Avenue and Cambie Street. The Granville Island station was only accessible via foot from Anderson Street and Lamey's Mill Road below the Granville Street Bridge and Highway 99.

The City considered the streetcar demonstration "a tremendous success", with over 550,000 boardings during the two months of the experiment. Bombardier received an award for "Exceptional Performance and Outstanding Achievement" at the 2010 CUTA awards, recognizing its operation of over 13,000 one-way trips with zero equipment failures, zero station delays and zero injuries. Former mayor Gregor Robertson indicated a desire to continue operation of the line, with a potential extension to Main Street-Science World station via False Creek South, but mentioned that the city alone lacks the millions of dollars needed to complete the construction and equipment purchases. Nonetheless, a streetcar along the alignment used by the Olympic Line was part of two of the proposals for rapid transit running east–west through the city of Vancouver for 2020.

Proposed future service
The proposal for a full-service modern streetcar line would extend the former heritage line through Chinatown and Gastown to Waterfront Station, and eventually to Stanley Park. There would be a separate line into Yaletown with longer-term potential for a number of other lines.

On October 13, 2014, Emily Jackson, writing in Metro Vancouver Newspaper, reported that Friends of the Olympic Line called on Vancouver City Council to commit $5 million to incorporate a refurbished line into Vancouver's transit authority. The organization has called for the line to be extended to Main Street–Science World Station. The city has allocated $400,000 to decommission the line's former route.

In a 2021 report a two line light rail network (12 km and 25 stations) using most of the old route of the heritage line as well as new routing was estimated to be in the $1.1 billion range.

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"Friends of the Olympic Line" / Vancouver Civic Railway Proposal, updated January 2016
With the closure of the Downtown Historic Railway, and the return of the two historic interurban cars to their owners, the business case for a rail passenger service becomes much simpler, and much less expensive.

"Bookended" by Granville Island at one end, and Science World at the other, the Olympic Village neighbourhood will soon have the resident population of a small city, with amenities such as the Paddling Centre, and numerous businesses and services attracting residents and visitors alike.

Granville Island, with over 10 million visitors per year, is the perfect complement for Science World's 600,000 yearly visitors: connecting these two venues would be a natural and logical step of great benefit to all the communities along the way.

Our proposal is to complete the track between Cambie St. and Quebec St., and extend the line up the centre median of Quebec St. as far as Terminal Ave., and possibly beyond.

Rolling stock will consist of state-of-the-art, fully accessible replica streetcars, to be built by Gomaco Trolley Company, the suppliers of similar equipment to several systems in the United States.

These cars will embody the very best of both worlds--modern technology, with a realistic heritage appearance.

This would fulfill Granville Island Business Association's desire for a "vintage" style tram, authentic to Vancouver designs of the past, and also the City of Vancouver's concern for technology that makes daily, year-round operation possible with safe and reliable equipment.

The streetcars could be built inside of 18 months and would have a price tag comparable to a trolley bus (but with a considerably longer life span).

Objectives:
Create a passenger rail company that is responsive to community needs, and able to partner with the City of Vancouver and other businesses and institutions to:

(1a) Lay track on 1st Avenue between Cambie and Quebec, and if at all possible, back to Science World by whatever route is feasible.

(1b) Consult with the Granville Island community with a view to extending track from the current station, northbound along Anderson St. and onto Granville Island, terminating at the former Canada Chain & Forge Co. building, adjacent to the Public Market.

(2) Obtain funding to purchase two or three streetcars.

(3) Secure a suitable location for a streetcar barn for storage and maintenance.

(4a) Operate a passenger service, initially 3 days per week, year-round, suited to business hours along the route.

(4b) Increase service to include holidays and special events;

(4c) Further increase service to 7 days per week when there is sufficient ridership demand.

(5) Develop a value-added public amenity that will not only pay for itself, but will also enhance local "green" initiatives, and create a revenue stream for the City of Vancouver.

Questions and Answers:
Q: Is this a first step to putting streetcars on the Arbutus Corridor or on Broadway?

'''A: NO. Arbutus and Broadway are distinctly different situations which call for specific solutions. There is no similarity among Arbutus, Broadway and False Creek corridors, except that the most likely transit use would involve rail of some kind.'''

Q: Would this not be a conflict of interest for City Council, which is backing a Broadway subway?

'''A: NO. The proposed "Vancouver Civic Railway" is entirely different in both form and function. It is not intended to be mass transit, nor rapid transit--rather, it is a community connector. In appearance, no one would mistake a replica heritage vehicle for anything that would be desirable on the Broadway Corridor.'''

The optics, rather than detracting from the Broadway Subway, will be very positive, and also distinct.

Q: Would this streetcar line conflict with or compete with TransLink?

'''A: NO. TransLink does not currently offer a service that would be comparable or compete with the Olympic Line. The #84 and #50 bus routes have established functions different from the proposed streetcar line.'''

Q: How would the "Vancouver Civic Railway" be different?

A:  [i] Accessibility: Practically speaking, the motto "Everybody on board" means that we intend to fully integrate different modes of travel--pedestrians, cyclists, and those who must use wheelchairs, scooters, or other wheeled equipment such as strollers. With a lot of room inside, everyone can be accommodated with all their gear. The number of seats will be lower than some buses, but both the width of the seats and the spacing will be far more comfortable than on current transit vehicles. Access will be possible from either platform or street level using the large lifts installed at either end of the car.

[ii] Public Space: When the generous spaces at either end of the car are not in use, they will be used for performances and demonstrations--perhaps live advertisements for theatre productions or other events happening along the line.

Q: Doesn't a streetcar line conflict with plans for a bike path between Granville Island and Olympic Village?

'''A: NO. In fact, we foresee a bike path beside the rail line, with a barrier separating the two. This will encourage cyclists to use the streetcar to extend their range, thereby opening up the use of bike lanes to people who might not otherwise cycle (an important consideration with an aging population).'''

'Q: What about level crossings? Aren't they dangerous for cyclists?'

'''A: They don't have to be. Crossings will be designed to be as close to 90 degrees as possible, with oblique crossings fitted with rubber flangeway fillets to keep cyclists safe. In other places, girder rail will significantly reduce the risk of an accident.'''

Q: How will streetcar crews be trained, and who will do that?

'''A: Gomaco Trolley Company offers extensive training for maintenance staff as well as operating crews. This is part of the price of purchasing the cars. In addition, "Vancouver Civic Railway" will seek to forge constructive working relationships with groups that can enhance safety training. Some of the operating crew will be qualified volunteers from the Fraser Valley Heritage Railway seeking to keep their skills well-honed during the winter (FVHRS operates in summer only).'''

Q: Is the "Friends of the Olympic Line / Vancouver Civic Railway" affiliated with a political party?

A: '''NO. We are a-political in terms of partisan politics. "Everybody on board" applies equally to the spectrum of political persuasions. On our Facebook page, we state frequently that we are not partisan in any way--we feel this is an essential responsibility for anyone proposing to create a civic amenity.'''

Q: What about environmental concerns?

'''A: Our proposal is clean, "green" and sustainable. Powered by 600 volt DC overhead wire (like a trolley bus), there are no emissions from a streetcar. The use of lubricants is also minimal, and noise'''

will not be invasive even at night.

Q: How much will all this cost?

A: This proposal could result in the least expensive system of its kind anywhere in North America.

[i] Streetcar (each) = aprox. $ 1.75 million *

[ii] Track, from Cambie to Quebec = aprox $ 1.5 million**

[iii] Track, from 1st Ave to to Terminal = aprox $3.6 million***

[iv] Overhead wire, and repairs to vandalized equipment = uncertain, probably around $ 1.4 million

Total cost: aprox $ 10 million {all figures will be updated from time to time as information becomes available}

* Gomaco Trolley Company

** PNR Rail Services

*** extrapolated from MacQuarrie Report, 2002

Q: What revenues are foreseen for the streetcar line?

A: Initially, we would be approaching the City of Vancouver and Federal sources for all start-up costs.

Revenue streams could include:

[i] on-board and exterior advertising,

[ii] naming rights for station stops (probably 4 or 5),

[iii] naming rights for the route (example: "ACME Olympic Line"),

[iv] sale of custom engraved bricks (to pave the station platforms yet to be constructed)

[v] advertising at station stops.

[vi]cash fares

[vii] complementary currency, similar to the Brixton Pound.

[viii] sale of expired advertisement cards, other "gear."

[ix] partnerships with businesses, institutions, or other suitable groups.

[x] charters and special events

Q: How will the streetcar be staffed?

A: Most will be qualified volunteers, but there would likely be paid part-time positions in addition, once the service was established, similar to the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority in Dallas Texas.

It would take roughly 20 volunteers to operate 3 days per week (hours yet to be determined).

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