Hamilton Street Railway Company (15 May 1874 - present)
Incorporated 1873 (Ont.) Became a subsidiary in 1899 of the
Hamilton Cataract, Power, Light and Traction Company,
later the
Dominion Power and Transmission Company until
April 1930 when Dominion Power was sold to the
Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario.
The HSR was a subsidiary of
CCL from 1946 until 1954 when ownership was
reorganized and CCL became a subsidiary of the HSR.
Both companies were acquired by the City of Hamilton in 1960.
(CUTA 1989, CUTA 1991/2, CUTA 1992,
Chow 1998, photos: Collection of W.E. Miller, Peter Cox, Richard Hooles 2001, Alex Regiec 2007)
 system logo |
Service area population | 440,000 (1991) |
| Vehicle fleet | 192 buses (2000) | |
| Employees | 922 (1991) | |
| Ridership | 20,624,536 (2009) | |
| Data sources: | CUTA 1991/2 CTHF/SSG 2000 website 2002 (logo) CTF [Aug. 2010] (ridership) |
Hamilton and Barton Incline Railway (11 June 1892 - 26 December 1931 and 01 March 1932 - 14 May 1932)
Funicular (Mills 1971).
Hamilton Incline Railway (1900 - 1906)
Funicular. Operation sold to a new company 1906. (Mills 1971).
Wentworth Incline Railway Limited (1906 - 15 August 1936)
Funicular. Continued from the HIRy. Operations suspended 03 November 1913 due to an accident,
resuming 30 April 1914. (Mills 1971).
Hamilton Jitney Service Association (circa April 1915 - 1916?)
The "jitney craze" in Hamilton played out similar to
to other Canadian cities. Jitney operators were reported to be
operating circa April 1915
when most of the 40 in operation belonged to the HJSA.
By 20 March 1916 there were 60 in service and the
Hamilton Jitney Association was wound-up, leaving the drivers as independents.
The only operator mention in the pages of CR&MW was
Hamilton Jitney Co. in the May 1915 issue.
(CR&MW 1915-1918).
Mount Hamilton Bus Company (? - circa 1926)
In early 1926
Mount Hamilton Bus Lines, Ltd. was operating 3 buses between Sherman Avenue in Hamilton and Hamilton Mountain, on an
approximately half-hour headway (CR&MW February 1926, p. 96). A second survey a few months later said the route was
operated by
W.L. Owen using 1 bus, on an hourly schedule, for a fare of 7¢ or 4 tickets for 25¢ (CR&MW May 1926, pp. 262-263).
Owen was probably the owner of MHBL.
MHBCo acquired circa 1926 by the HSR.
The Canada Coach Lines
Intercity and suburban arm of the HSR
enterprise. Some former CCL services now conducted by the HSR.
| Animal railway | 15 May 1874 - 1893 |
| Funicular | 11 June 1892 - 15 August 1936 |
| Electric railway | 02 July 1892 - 06 April 1951 |
| Motor bus | 26 August 1926 - present |
| Trolley coach | 10 December 1950 - 30 December 1992 |
Brantford and Hamilton Electric Railway Company (21 December 1907 - 30 June 1931)
Incorporated 1904 (Dom.)
Line from Hamilton to Brantford.
Service opened from Hamilton to Ancaster 1907, and through to Brantford 23 May 1908.
Came under the control of the
Hamilton Cataract, Power, Light and Traction Company,
which became the
Dominion Power and Transmission Company
in 1907. Dominion Power
was acquired by the
Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario
in April of 1930.
Hamilton and Dundas Street Railway Company (01 March 1898 - 05 September 1923)
Incorporated 1875/76 (Ont.)
Opened as a steam dummy railway line May 1879 from
Hamilton to Dundas. Electrified 1898.
Acquired 17 September 1899 by the
Hamilton Cataract, Power, Light and Traction Company,
which became the
Dominion Power and Transmission Company
in 1907. At the end of service, city
trackage in Hamilton was sold to the
Hamilton Street Railway and
most interurban trackage went to the
Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway for steam operation.
By 1926 replacement bus service was offered by four carriers:
bus operator
Highway King Buses Ltd. (from 1921, up to 6 trips/hour, fleet of 13 buses),
and three coordinated jitney/bus operators:
J.J. Gravelle,
G. Green, and
William Rogers (3 trips/hour, 3 buses). (CR&MW May 1926, pp. 262-263).
Hamilton, Grimsby and Beamsville Electric Railway Company (17 October 1894 - 30 June 1931)
Incorporated 1892 (Ont.)
Opened as far as Grimsby via Winona October 1894. Opened through to Beamsville October 1896. Extension to Vineland opened 28 April 1904.
Vineland extension passenger service ended circa end of May 1905 (and freight service at the end of the 1905 fruit harvest).
Controlling interest acquired
by the
Grand Trunk Railway in 1902, then
by the
Hamilton Cataract, Power, Light and Traction Company in
1904. The latter became the
Dominion Power and Transmission Company in 1907.
Dominion Power
was acquired by the
Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario
in April of 1930. (Photo Hamilton Public Library collection)
Hamilton Radial Electric Railway Company (July 1896 -
05 January 1929)
Incorporated 1893 (Ont.) as the
Hamilton Radial Electric Street Railway Company.
Name changed to the above in
1894. Line from Hamilton to Burlington and Oakville.
In February 1901, came under the contol
of the
Hamilton Cataract, Power, Light and Traction Company,
which became the
Dominion Power and Transmission Company
in 1907. At the end of service, city
trackage in Hamilton was sold to the
Hamilton Street Railway.
The
Dominion Power and Transmission Company held another subsidiary, the
Hamilton Terminal Company, which operated the joint terminal facilities
in Hamilton for Dominion's radials. Trackage and cars owned by
the HTCo were shared among the radial operations.
The author is always interested in comments, corrections and further information. Please email to: dawwpg@shaw.ca This page last modified: Wednesday, 01-Jan-2020 13:35:11 CST