High Level Bridge Streetcar, Heritage streetcar in Edmonton, Canada
The High Level Bridge Streetcar is a heritage streetcar line running from Whyte Avenue in Old Strathcona to Jasper Plaza in downtown Edmonton, with four intermediate stops. It crosses the North Saskatchewan River on the upper deck of the High Level Bridge, a two-level steel structure whose lower deck once carried the Edmonton Radial Railway. The line uses former Canadian Pacific rail track and the Ribbon of Steel corridor.
The High Level Bridge's upper deck carried Canadian Pacific Railway trains from 1913, while its lower deck held the Edmonton Radial Railway streetcar tracks until that system closed in 1951. In 1979 car 1 ran across the bridge again, and the Edmonton Radial Railway Society was founded in 1980. After CP rerouted its trains in 1989, the society electrified the old line and began regular service between Strathcona and Grandin in August 1997.
At the Strathcona terminus, you can explore a modest museum displaying photographs and objects from Edmonton's transit past. The collection shows how important streetcars once were to the city's everyday life and how people traveled before cars took over.
The streetcar operates only during the warmer months from May through October, so plan your visit accordingly. You can buy tickets directly from the conductor using cash, making it easy to board when you arrive.
The 1921 Osaka tram No. 247 was meant to be broken up for spare parts when the Edmonton Radial Railway Society acquired it, but the plan changed and it became the line's first operating car. It ran in 1995 behind a generator trailer before the overhead wire was restored in 1997.
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