High Level Bridge Streetcar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owner | Edmonton Radial Railway Society | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Area served | Strathcona Downtown Edmonton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Transit type | Heritage streetcar, seasonal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of lines | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of stations | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Headquarters | Strathcona Streetcar Barn & Museum 53°31′12″N113°29′45″W / 53.52000°N 113.49583°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | https://www.edmontonstreetcars.ca/highlevelbridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Began operation | October 6, 1979 [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operator(s) | Edmonton Radial Railway Society | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of vehicles | 3 cars | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Train length | 1 car | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
System length | 3.8 kilometres (2.36 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minimum radius of curvature | 24 metres (79 ft) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electrification | Overhead lines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The High Level Bridge Streetcar is a historic streetcar ride over the High Level Bridge in Edmonton, Alberta. It travels from Whyte Avenue in Old Strathcona, to Jasper Plaza south of Jasper Avenue, between 109 Street and 110 Street, in downtown, with four intermediate stops. It operates between the Victoria Day weekend in May, and Thanksgiving weekend in October. [2] It is operated by the Edmonton Radial Railway Society, which operates five more streetcars on a second line in the river valley at Fort Edmonton Park.
Starting from a new terminus at Whyte Ave, the streetcar continues to the Strathcona Streetcar Barn & Museum, but only stop there when traveling north. From there, it travels on the former Canadian Pacific (CP) Rail line in a north west direction. It first passes the Calgary & Edmonton Railway Station Museum at present-day 105 Street; this is a replica of the station that was the northern anchor of the Calgary and Edmonton Railway from 1891 to 1908. After a level crossing stop at 107 Street, the streetcar goes under the Saskatchewan Drive, 109 Street, and Walterdale Hill intersection. While turning north, the middle stop is in the neighbourhood of Garneau at 90 Avenue, before getting on the High Level Bridge.
After travelling high over the surface of the North Saskatchewan River, it continues over River Valley Road, and 97 Avenue, entering the Ribbon of Steel multi-use corridor. The Ribbon of Steel is a corridor designated by Alberta Infrastructure and the City of Edmonton for the preservation of streetcar rail in Edmonton, and to provide a running/cycling path between 109 Street and 110 Street, from 97 Avenue to Jasper Avenue. The first stop on the Ribbon of Steel is the Government Centre stop, with walking access to the Government Centre station, and the Legislature grounds. The northern terminus of the High Level Bridge Streetcar ride is at Jasper Plaza, just south of Jasper Avenue. The streetcar system that existed in Edmonton until 1951 ran through the downtown core, including down Jasper Avenue. The former rail line continued north, where 110 Street is now, to the Old Canadian National rail yard (north of 104 Avenue).
The new Whyte Ave terminus opened on May 19, 2022, after the ERRS spent more than ten years working with other stakeholders to plan and construct the 800-metre extension. [3] To do this, the rail crossing on Gateway Boulevard was reconstructed, after originally being removed in order to keep freight trains away from the streetcars when CP stopped running trains north of Whyte Ave. During summer festivals, such as the Fringe, service is extended to accommodate the increase in crowds.
Three restored streetcars make up the fleet of Edmonton Radial Railway Society cars currently based at the High Level Bridge Streetcar line. [4]
Heritage streetcars or heritage trams are a part of the efforts to preserve rail transit heritage. In addition to preserving street-running rail vehicles, heritage streetcar operations can include upkeep of historic rail infrastructure. Working heritage streetcars are closely related to the growing global heritage railway movement and form a part of the living history of rail transport.
The Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) is the public transit service owned and operated by the City of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. It operates Edmonton's bus and light rail systems. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 87,646,600, or about 302,900 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
The High Level Bridge is a bridge that spans the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Government Centre station is an Edmonton LRT station in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It serves both the Capital Line and the Metro Line. It is an underground station located beneath 110 Street between 99 Avenue and 98 Avenue. The station provides service to the Government Centre part of the downtown core and the neighbourhood of Oliver. The station is connected to the Alberta Legislature Building and several other government buildings by underground walkways of the Edmonton Pedway.
Transport in Edmonton is fairly typical for a Canadian city of its size, involving air, rail, road and public transit. With very few natural barriers to growth and largely flat to gently rolling terrain bisected by a deep river valley, the city of Edmonton has expanded to cover an area of nearly 768 km2 (297 sq mi), of which only two-thirds is built-up, while the metropolitan area covers around 9,430 km2 (3,640 sq mi).
Garneau is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city of Edmonton, Canada. Prior to 1912, it was part of the City of Strathcona. It is named after one of its first inhabitants, Laurent Garneau, a former Manitoba Métis rebel and Hudson's Bay Company employee who with his wife and family settled there around 1874.
McKernan is a neighbourhood located in southwest Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is named for John McKernan, a prominent businessman in the City of Strathcona whose parents' farm was located there beginning in the late 1870s. "Jack" McKernan (1870-1918) was the force behind the Princess Theatre, which still stands on Whyte Avenue. The McKernan-Belgravia LRT station is located in the west portion of the neighbourhood at the northwest corner of 114 Street and 76 Avenue, adjacent to neighbouring Belgravia. The community is near to both the University of Alberta and Old Strathcona.
Strathcona is a residential neighbourhood in south central Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is a part of, and should not be confused with, Old Strathcona, although much of the Strathcona neighbourhood is in Old Strathcona. The neighbourhood overlooks both the North Saskatchewan River and the Mill Creek Ravine.
The Old Canadian National rail yard in Edmonton was once the centre of economic activity in that city. Its redevelopment has fundamentally altered the appearance of the city. The former yard occupied a long, narrow strip from 103 Avenue to 105 Avenue north to south and from 101 Street to 116 Street east and west.
The Calgary and Edmonton Railway (C&E) was an early pioneer railway in what was then the Northwest Territories, now Alberta, Canada. It connected the towns of Calgary and Strathcona. Construction started in April 1890 and it opened August 1891. The line was the first major transportation connection for the isolated Edmonton settlement, and the development of the line was responsible for the creation of many railway towns along the line such as Red Deer and Wetaskiwin. It supplanted the Calgary and Edmonton Trail as the busiest transportation route along the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor.
The Edmonton Radial Railway Society (ERRS) restores and operates historic streetcars in Fort Edmonton Park and across the High Level Bridge. It is named after the Edmonton Radial Railway, which began service in 1908 and later became Edmonton Transit Service.
The Edmonton Radial Railway (ERR) was a streetcar service that operated in Edmonton, Alberta, from 1908 to 1951. It was Edmonton's first public transit service, and later evolved into Edmonton Transit Service. Beginning as a small agency with 21 kilometres (13 mi) of track and four streetcars, the ERR would eventually operate more than 70 streetcars on over 90 kilometres (56 mi) of track, reaching most areas of the city. At its peak in 1929, the ERR served more than 14.1 million passengers.
105 Street is an arterial road in Downtown Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It starts across the North Saskatchewan River from Downtown, as one-way streets Walterdale Hill and Queen Elizabeth Park Road, which join and continue north on Walterdale Bridge. At 100 Avenue, 105 Street becomes a two-way street, and continues through Downtown past MacEwan University.
109 Street is an arterial road in central Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It takes travelers out of Downtown to the south to Old Strathcona, and to the north to the Kingsway area. It passes several Edmonton landmarks including the Garneau Theatre, Alberta Legislature Building, MacEwan University, RCMP "K" Division Headquarters, and Kingsway Mall. It is a one-way street, southbound, from 97 Avenue to Saskatchewan Drive, to cross the North Saskatchewan River on the narrow High Level Bridge. Before Edmonton's amalgamation with Strathcona in 1912, the Edmonton portion was known as 9th Street while the Strathcona portion was known as 5th Street W. 109 Street between Whyte Avenue and Kingsway is part of the original alignment of Highway 2 through Edmonton, the designation was moved to Whitemud Drive in the 1980s.
The Edmonton trolley bus system formed part of the public transport network in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 1939 and 2009. Operated by Edmonton Transit System (ETS), the system had, at its peak, a fleet of 137 trolley buses, and a total route length of 127 km (79 mi).
Edmonton was the terminal station for passenger services along the Canadian Pacific Railway's subdivisions from Calgary to Edmonton shortly after the completion of the High Level Bridge, with services commencing on September 2, 1913. Passenger services across the North Saskatchewan River were discontinued in 1972, and the station building itself was demolished in 1978.
Calgary Trail and Gateway Boulevard are a pair of major arterial roadways in Edmonton, Alberta. Gateway Boulevard carries northbound traffic while Calgary Trail carries southbound traffic. From south of 31 Avenue, they form a two-way freeway separated by a median; for this portion, the roadway maintains the separate names for northbound and southbound traffic. Near 31 Avenue, Calgary Trail and Gateway Boulevard separate and become parallel one-way arterial roadways to Saskatchewan Drive, at the edge of the North Saskatchewan River valley. Designated as part of Highway 2 south of Whitemud Drive, it is Edmonton's main southern entrance and is both a major commuter route, connecting to the Edmonton International Airport and Leduc, as well as a regional connection to Red Deer and Calgary.
Media related to High Level Bridge Streetcar at Wikimedia Commons