This forgotten transit method once roamed the streets of Calgary
Long before buses and the CTrain shaped Calgary’s transit system, Calgarians relied on streetcars to get across the city.
In 1909, Calgary had a population of around 30,000 people, and the city was expanding quickly. It was in desperate need of a transportation system to help get people from their neighbourhoods into the busy downtown city centre.
The City chose to use electric streetcars as they were affordable to operate, required minimal maintenance, and offered a safe and reliable mode of transportation. The first 12 streetcars in Calgary travelled on 25.7 kilometres of tracks, serving Calgarians all over the city.
calgarytransit.com
Calgary’s streetcars ran from downtown out to neighbourhoods like Tuxedo Park, Mount Pleasant, Elbow Park, and Killarney, with one to Bowness. This helped connect the communities that were previously harder to reach.
At its peak, 80 streetcars ran between downtown and the various neighbourhoods, carrying thousands of passengers every day. They quickly became part of daily life, allowing riders to travel to and from work, school, social events, or anywhere they needed to go.
The streetcar system also contributed to the growth of Calgary by encouraging new residential and commercial developments along its routes.
In the 1940s, Calgary’s transit system became more modernized, and streetcars were slowly phased out. The City opted for gas-powered buses, which offered more flexible routes and were better suited for the amount of traffic on the roads.
By 1950, all of the streetcars in Calgary had been replaced by buses. The last streetcar to run was restored and moved to Heritage Park.
Today, Heritage Park is still home to the last streetcar, as well as a replica that takes visitors on rides, allowing them to experience a piece of Calgary’s transit history.
If you’re curious about more of Calgary’s history, we dove into the history of the King Eddy and East Village’s past as “skid row.”