Skip to content
Buzzer logo

TransLink news, commentary, and behind-the-scenes stories.

Ride a historic trolleybus for FREE on August 16, 18 and 24

Ride a historic trolleybus for FREE on August 16, 18 and 24

The last new Brill trolley acquired by B.C. Electric, now in the livery of B.C. Hydro, and residing in the Transit Museum Society’s fleet of historic buses. Photo from the Transit Museum Society — click to view more info on their website.
Come join us on August 16, 18 and 24 to take a trip down memory lane.

Vancouver’s trolleybus network turns 70 on August 16, 2018 and we’re celebrating with FREE rides on a historic trolleybus!

A 1954 Canadian Car Brill T-48A trolleybus, painted in the B.C. Hydro and Power Authority livery (design on the outside), returns to Vancouver’s streets for three days:

  • Thursday, August 16, noon – 4 p.m. (departs from Cordova St at Seymour St, approximately every 70 mins.)
  • Saturday, August 18, noon – 4 p.m. (departs from Cambie St at Hastings St, stop #50410, approximately every 30 mins.)
  • Friday, August 24, noon – 4 p.m. (departs from Cambie St at Hastings St, stop #50410, approximately every 30 mins.)

We expect the historic trolleybus rides to be very popular, so get there early! It’s first come, first served. Rides end at 4 p.m. on all three days, so the last departure will be about 70 mins. prior on Aug. 16 and about half-an-hour prior on Aug. 18 & 24.

The first trolleybus, a Canadian Car Brill T-44, hit the road on August 16, 1948, operating the 6 Fraser and 15 Cambie route. It was part of the ambitious “rails-to-rubber” conversion to decommission the streetcar network and replace it with trolleybuses.

The last streetcar route departed Vancouver’s streets in 1955. Diesel buses soon joined the fleet, and later came compressed natural gas and diesel-electric hybrid buses.  Next year, we’ll begin trialling 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. We’re the only transit system in Canada that operates trolleybuses and our fleet is one of the largest in North America!

TransLink

Sorry, your website browser is no longer supported.

Upgrade to one of these browsers to visit translink.ca: