$27 million upgrade for TransLink's trolley bus overhead wire network

TransLink trolley buses on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

To extend the lifespan of the infrastructure that supports Metro Vancouver’s vast trolley bus network, an investment of about $27 million is being made to upgrade the system.

The federal government announced today it will set aside $13.3 million towards the project, with TransLink covering $9.1 million and the City of Vancouver covering $4.3 million.

This will specifically go towards upgrading the overhead trolley wires that feed electricity to the trolley bus vehicles, including work on replacing up to 600 steel trolley poles, about 60 km of running wire, up to six km of underground cable, and other equipment such as switch assembles and hanger and ear units.

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The upgrades are expected to extend the lifespan of the overhead infrastructure by 30 to 60 years.

“This joint investment does more than upkeep city services – it preserves a significant piece of Metro Vancouver’s history and heritage,” said Taleeb Noormohamed, the MP for Vancouver Granville, in a statement.

“By renewing the trolley overhead infrastructure, the useful lifespan of this system can be extended by up to another six decades. These funds will enable us to revitalize the transit system to contribute to our modern progression towards decarbonization for a safe, clean and healthy locality.”

There are over 370 kilometres of overhead running wires within the City of Vancouver and portions of western Burnaby, including Metrotown, that serve 13 trolley bus routes. Many of these routes are amongst TransLink’s busiest bus routes.

The network length of the overhead wires was extended in 2018 and 2019 along segments of Macdonald Street, West 12th Avenue, and Cambie Street within Vancouver to serve the detoured trolley bus routes to accommodate construction activities on Broadway for SkyTrain’s Millennium Line extension. This extension was permanent.

“We’re excited to be making this investment to support the continued use of trolleys in Vancouver. The trolley network is an important component of a healthy, connected city and this funding will help ensure residents and visitors can continue to move about Vancouver in a reliable, safe and sustainable way well into the future,” said Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim.

This comes ahead of TransLink’s forthcoming retirement of the entire existing trolley bus fleet of about 260 vehicles that have been in service since the 2000s, but are now approaching the end of their lifespan. TransLink has plans to acquire an entirely new replacement trolley bus fleet in the late 2020s. The existing trolley bus fleet accounts for just under one-fifth of the overall size of the conventional bus fleet.

Earlier this year, TransLink celebrated the 75th anniversary of Metro Vancouver’s trolley bus network and tested the potential future use of a new trolley bus with longer-range, off-wire capabilities.

TransLink’s trolley bus fleet is one of the largest in North America, and the only remaining system in Canada after the discontinuation of the system in Edmonton in 2009.

In 2006, TransLink built the Vancouver Transit Centre bus depot, dedicated to the trolley bus fleet, near the north end of the Arthur Lang Bridge in South Vancouver. It replaced the previous Oakridge Transit Centre near the northeast corner of the intersection of West 41st Avenue and Oak Street, which is now slated to be redeveloped into a high-density residential neighbourhood.

“Replacing this infrastructure is critical to delivering climate-friendly transportation options for Metro Vancouver. We’re thankful to our government partners for continuing to help us take climate action for future generations,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn.

The trolley buses replaced the region’s previous streetcar network. BC Hydro and its predecessor, BC Electric Company, were responsible for the trolley buses between 1948 and 1973 until BC Transit took over. TransLink then took over BC Transit’s operations in Metro Vancouver in 1999.

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