One man’s forgotten streetcar tracks are another man’s historic treasure, like unearthing the fossils of Vancouver’s past, as a variation of this saying would go.
Earlier this month, contractors for the City of Vancouver constructing the new street plaza at the vicinity of the intersection of Robson Street and Bute Street found old railway tracks during their partial shallow excavation of the south side of the street, specifically under what was previously the curbside vehicle parking lane prior to the start of construction.
Upon inquiry, the City confirmed to Daily Hive Urbanized that these are indeed the remnants of the old streetcar line that used to run along Robson Street. Crews discovered steel rails and wooden rail ties.
“Historic railway materials will be removed and stored offsite, and the rail ties will be disposed of. Robson Street was one of a number of streets in the downtown and West End area with streetcar lines,” said the City.
Old streetcar track remnants on Robson Street, uncovered by the new Bute-Robson Plaza construction project, as of January 25, 2025. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Old streetcar track remnants on Robson Street, uncovered by the new Bute-Robson Plaza construction project, as of January 25, 2025. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Old streetcar track remnants on Robson Street, uncovered by the new Bute-Robson Plaza construction project, as of January 25, 2025. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Old streetcar track remnants on Robson Street, uncovered by the new Bute-Robson Plaza construction project, as of January 25, 2025. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Old streetcar track remnants on Robson Street, uncovered by the new Bute-Robson Plaza construction project, as of January 25, 2025. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
According to UBC Library’s Open Collections, the Robson Street streetcar was numbered the No. 5 Robson-Broadway East, running from English Bay via Davie Street (Denman Street, Robson Street on return), Granville Street, Hastings Street, Main Street, and Broadway East to Commercial Drive.
Today, TransLink’s existing trolley bus route, which runs on Robson Street along a portion of this historic streetcar line route, is also named the No. 5.
Previous streetcar lines in what is now downtown Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood ran along West Georgia Street to the entrance of Stanley Park, along Davie Street to English Bay Beach, and along Denman Street, joining the West Georgia and Robson Street lines to the Davie Street line.
In 1890, the first regular streetcar service was launched in Vancouver, and the network quickly grew across the region. By 1923, there were 17 local urban streetcar routes within the city’s current borders, along with four interurban railway lines reaching New Westminster, Burnaby Lake, Lulu Island (Richmond), and the Fraser Valley. The network was operated by the British Columbia Electric Railway Company, which was the predecessor of BC Hydro.
Streetcar line on the 1000 block of Robson Street, 1890s. (City of Vancouver Archives)
Streetcar line on Robson Street, 1910s. (City of Vancouver Archives)
Map of the routes of Vancouver’s streetcar and interurban railway lines, 1923. (UBC Library Open Collections)
List of the routes of Vancouver’s streetcar and interurban railway lines, 1923. (UBC Library Open Collections)
However, with the dawn of motor vehicles in the post-war era, the last streetcar line ended its service on April 22, 1955, and the last interurban railway service ended in 1958. The region’s first trolley bus routes began replacing some of the local urban streetcar lines within Vancouver in 1948.
In some cases, instead of removal, these streetcar tracks across the city were merely paved over for new roadways.
Similarly, in early 2023, site preparation and clearing work on Squamish Nation’s Senakw rental housing project revealed remnants of the 1902-built Kitsilano Trestle bridge across False Creek, located just east of the Burrard Street Bridge. Demolished in 1982, the trestle was a part of the interurban railway route from downtown Vancouver to Lulu Island via the Arbutus Corridor railway.
A vintage BC Hydro-operated trolley bus at TransLink’s Vancouver Transit Centre. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Remnants of the Kitsilano Trestle bridge on Senakw’s fourth phase footprint on the east side of Burrard Bridge. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
The City also told Daily Hive Urbanized that construction work on the new Bute-Robson Plaza is on schedule. Construction began in Summer 2024, and most of the work is expected to reach completion in March 2025, with the full plaza finished by Fall 2025.
The new Bute-Robson Plaza design narrows a short segment of Robson Street to the west and east of the intersection with Bute Street into a two-lane road for vehicles, removing the previous curbside vehicle parking lanes. This enables a significant widening of Robson Street’s sidewalks to better accommodate the substantial pedestrian volumes the retail strip experiences. Newly installed street lamp posts in the middle of the previous roadway show the future extension of the widened sidewalks.
Additionally, the new intersection will be raised to the same level as the sidewalks, with a wide north-south marked pedestrian crosswalk and cyclist crossing.
2024 revised scope concept: Final design of the Bute-Robson Plaza. (City of Vancouver)
Construction on the new Bute-Robson Plaza, as of January 25, 2025. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Construction on the new Bute-Robson Plaza, as of January 25, 2025. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Construction on the new Bute-Robson Plaza, as of January 25, 2025. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
To the south of this intersection, reaching the Rosemary Brown Laneway (the laneway just before Haro Street), the previous car-free pop-up plaza will be replaced with a new permanent design of high-quality pavers, a bike lane, landscaping, lighting, seating, and weather protection structures. To the north of the intersection to the Eihu Laneway (the laneway just before Alberni Street), an interim design will be established, which will permanently close through-vehicle access onto Robson Street to accommodate a bike lane, a relocated Mobi bike share station and gathering spaces. The contracted value of this project is about $7 million.
This forms a major segment of the City’s long-term plans for creating the future seamless, north-south Bute Street Greenway between the Coal Harbour seawall and Sunset Beach Park.
Construction on the new Bute-Robson Plaza, as of January 25, 2025. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Construction on the new Bute-Robson Plaza, as of January 25, 2025. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)