Today marks the 70th anniversary of Vancouver’s trolleybus network!

The electric trolleybuses first burst onto the scene as part of the ambitious “rails-to-rubber” conversion to decommission the streetcar network. The first trolleybus, a Canadian Car Brill T-44, hit the roads on August 16, 1948, forever changing the way we move around in the city.

Have you checked out the new items in the TransLink Store? We’ve released a commemorative shirt, recognizing the 70th anniversary of Vancouver’s trolleybus network! Available in men and ladies sizes.

For more than 60 years, the streetcar was the backbone of the region’s transit system. The end of the Great Depression and World War II challenged us to rethink public transit: stay with streetcars and their tracks, or look towards rubber-tired buses. 

It was an easy decision at the time. Gasoline and diesel buses were considered not “ready for prime time” and the overhead network was already in place to power the trolleybuses. Streetcars had a single overhead wire for the power and used the steel rails for the ground, so all that was needed was a parallel overhead wire to be installed for the ground.

The first trolley bus route was the Fraser-Cambie, going along Fraser from Marine Drive to Kingsway, then down Main to Pender in Chinatown, left on Pender to Seymour, then to Robson and Cambie and over the Cambie Bridge to 29th Avenue.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

The trolleybus replaced many of the streetcar routes and the last streetcar route departed Vancouver’s streets in 1955. Diesel buses joined the fleet, and later came compressed natural gas, diesel-electric hybrid and even biodiesel briefly.  Next year, we’ll begin trialling for four fast-charge battery-electric buses on the 100 Marpole Loop/22nd Street Station route.

Our trolleybus fleet today consists of 262 forty- and sixty-foot buses built by New Flyer, operating on 13 routes. We’re the only transit system in Canada that operates trolleybuses and our fleet is one of the largest in North America! Other cities with trolleybuses include Philadelphia and Seattle.

To celebrate the trolleybus network’s 70th birthday, a 1954 Canadian Car Brill T-48A trolleybus — in the BC Hydro and Power Authority livery — returns Vancouver’s streets for rides on August 16, 18 and 24!

Also, check out the pictures of Vancouver’s trolleybus network through the years! All photos courtesy of retired bus operator Angus McIntyre.

Flyer model E-800 at 64th and Sophia, on 3- MAIN service

P.N.E. Parade pole pulling detour at Carrall and Cordova Streets, 1975

Winter at Stanley Park Loop circa 1974

Union election at Oakridge Transit Centre

P.N.E. Parade detours, Commercial and Hastings. Note price of gas in mid-1970s. 80.9 cents per imperial gallon, would be about 17 cents per litre.

Night view of T-44 Brill 2963 at Stanley Park Loop (Photo: Angus McIntyre)

Brills on Granville at Georgia, Eaton’s stop. c. 1980

Overhead crew at work at south end of Granville Bridge. Circa 1980.

Ice Storm at 22nd and Slocan Street 1974

Last Brill T-44 in service in 1976

Winter scene at Blanca Loop circa 1971

Ex-Saskatoon Brill trolleys being repainted at Cambie Shops, 14th and Cambie. 1974.

The inaugural run with New Flyer 2701 in 1982 at Oakridge Transit Centre

The inaugural run with New Flyer 2701 in 1982 at Oakridge Transit Centre

The inaugural run with New Flyer 2701 in 1982 at Oakridge Transit Centre

The inaugural run with New Flyer 2701 in 1982 at Oakridge Transit Centre

Stanley Park Loop 1972

Granville S/B between Pender and Dunsmuir c. 1968. Note lack of right side mirror on this 1949 Brill T-48.

Sparks at night – Stanley Park Loop

Brill T-44 interior, 1976 (Photo: Angus McIntyre)

Snowy night at Slocan and Kingsway, 1980

Angus McIntyre hard at work at Stanley Park Loop circa 1975. Sean Nelson photo.

Grey Cup at Empire Stadium in 1966

New Flyer trolley 2795 on Granville Mall circa 1984

Photo of Angus McIntyre taken by John Day on a wet PNE Parade day

PNE Parade day with drivers riding the bumper to detour trolleys

Night view of ex-Saskatoon Brill trolley 2363 on Robson W/B at Howe Street

Hess articulated trolley demonstrator on loan from Berne, Switzerland in 1974. Shown at Cambie and 64th terminus. Note bus information number is Amherst 1-4211.

Stanley Park Loop circa 1980

Stanley Park (Chilco) Loop circa 1972