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2012 Edmonton and Area Spottings


A. Wong

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http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/edmonton/Sept+1939+Trackless+trolleys+arrive+city+streets/7287249/story.html

Edmonton would eventually become home to the oldest continuous-running trolley bus network in Canada when it replaced its aging streetcar system with electric buses.

Edmontonians lined up at streetcar stops along Jasper Avenue to ride the so-called trackless trolleys that replaced trolleys that operated on steel rails embedded in the street. They were able to seat 42 passengers, and their 360-horsepower electric motors are fed by 600-volt overhead lines.

Three buses, out of the six that would initially begin operating over a nine-km route from the south side of the city, transported passengers all day. They covered only a three-kilometre downtown route on the north side of the river because street paving for the buses had not yet been finished on the south side.

Transportation superintendent Thomas Ferrier said civic officials were gratified by the public’s enthusiasm shown for the fast, comfortable and noiseless buses. Their reception on their first passenger-taking day seemed to justify recent predictions they would boost street railway riding totals here, just as they have done in other cites where the buses have been introduced.

The average trolley bus costs between $17,000 and $18,000 and its operating cost is about 29 cents a kilometre; streetcars cost about $22,000 each and about 33 cents a kilometre to operate.

The buses, all made in England, were the first units in a program to ultimately remove streetcars altogether.

The first line was along Jasper Avenue from 102nd to 95th streets, and up 95th Street to 111th Avenue. By the end of October, service had started on another route running to 99th Street/Whyte Avenue via the Low Level Bridge.

At the peak of their service, the city had 100 trolley buses travelling along 127 km of wire.

After considerable review, the city axed the trolley buses on May 2, 2009, as a cost-saving measure.

To read more stories from the This Day in Journal History series, go to edmontonjournal.com/history.

© Copyright © The Edmonton Journal

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I don't know where else to put this question so I'll just ask it here. What does ETS do with 6002? Is it used for Public Events and for showing off or do they put it in revenue service?

It is used for both of the things that you have mentioned.

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Retina display?

Anyway, of course it will be dependent on space, funding and resources. ETS does have an excellent, comprehensive historic fleet that we are really lucky to have.

iPhone 4 refurbished, so possibly yes. I thought it was going to be alot smaller, I swear! :P

Agreed! It's rare to see that kind of historical fleet around. Where would the space be, though?

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I should've asked them if they'd do an outdoor display sometime. That'd be nice! And definitely worth the trip to Edmonton. Then, there'll be two transit enthusiasts Ashtons :P

Wonder if they would add an 200-series to the historical fleet in the future...

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Is there any alternate routes for buses, you know instead of trying to go or up or down all those hilly roads on the southside of downtown?

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http://www.edmontonj...1035/story.html

EDMONTON - The city is upgrading all Edmonton Transit fare machines to accept the new $20 polymer bills.

The fare machines are rejecting the new bills because the machine’s software doesn’t recognize the bill’s new material and security features, the city says.

It should take two weeks to update the software in all 67 machines.

http://www.edmontonj...5464/story.html

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