Hamilton Street Railway
The Hamilton Street Railway commonly known as the 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.
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 The following is a list of replaced and withdrawn routes:Streetcar routes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 December 1950 and 1951.| Streetcar routes in Hamilton prior to 1951 |
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Trolley bus routes
were used by the HSR from 1950 to 1992 on the routes listed in the table below. Hamilton's trolley bus system opened on 10 December 1950, and the last day of trolley bus service was 30 December 1992.| Trolley bus routes of the HSR from 1950 to 1992 |
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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 is the section that administers a variety of accessible services on behalf of the City- Accessible low-floor 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 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
The line would have used the same technology as the Scarborough RT in Toronto. The plans triggered a lot of grass-roots opposition, and Hamilton-Wentworth Council turned the proposal down.
The plan called for an elevated track—one of the elements that triggered opposition, with 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.
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 and Metrolinx will build a provincially-funded LRT line in the early 2020s. Land acquisition and building demolition for a 14 kilometre line from McMaster University to Eastgate Square will proceed in 2019. No vehicles have been chosen, but the trains may be similar to the Flexity Freedom to be used in Waterloo Region's Ion rapid transit and Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown LRT.
In December 2019, the Government of Ontario cancelled the B-line LRT project in favour of providing investment in existing transit services.
Facilities
Barns/garages
- 1875 first horsebarn opens
- 1887 second horsebarn opens
- 1889 Sanford Avenue carhouse opens
- 1927–1990 Wentworth Street North carbarn/garage opens
- 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 currently use MacNab Transit Terminal, while several lower city routes have an on-street terminal layover at the intersection of Main and James Streets. Route 34 has a layover location on Main at MacNab.HSR connects with GO Transit at Hamilton GO Centre, which serves as the terminus for four HSR routes. The station, located at 36 Hunter Street East, a few blocks south of King and James, is the terminus of the Lakeshore West railway line and express Highway 407 and Queen Elizabeth Way GO Buses. It is also the main Greyhound Lines bus stop 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 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 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 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
| Location | Routes |
| Bell Manor Loop | 2, 55A |
| Eastgate Transit Terminal | 1, 10, 44, 55/55A, 56, 58 |
| Glancaster Loop | 34, 44, Redeemer University College Shuttle |
| Lime Ridge Transit Terminal | 25, 26, 41/41A, 43, Mohawk East Extra Shuttle |
| McMaster University | 1A, 5A/5C, 51 run through or terminate at the University 5B/5E, 10, 52 pass nearby on Main Street GO Transit bus service to & from Burlington GO Station |
| MacNab Transit Terminal | 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 33, 35 |
| Meadowlands | 5A/5C, 16, 41, 43, Redeemer University College Shuttle |
| Mohawk College Transit Terminal | 20, 21, 33, 35 |
| Upper Horning Loop | 34A |
| West Hamilton Loop | 5C, 51 |