British Columbia Electric Railway
| BC Electric | |
BCER system map in 1912, showing interurban and city routes alongside transmission lines. | |
BCER Sapperton line streetcar, 1908. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | London, Vancouver |
| Locale | Southwestern British Columbia and Vancouver Island |
| Dates of operation | 1897–1979 |
| Predecessors | National Electric Tramway and Lighting Company Limited (1890); Vancouver Electric Railway and Light Company Limited (1890); Westminster and Vancouver Tramway Company (1891) Consolidated Railway and Light Company (1895) |
| Successors | BC Hydro, Southern Railway of British Columbia, TransLink, BC Transit |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
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The British Columbia Electric Railway (BCER) was a historic railway which operated in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Originally the parent company for, and later a division of, BC Electric Company (BCE), the BCER assumed control of existing streetcar and interurban lines in southwestern British Columbia in 1897, and operated the electric railway systems in the region until the last interurban service was discontinued in 1958. During and after the streetcar era, BC Electric also acted as the province's primary electric utility operator and ran bus and trolleybus systems in Greater Vancouver and bus service in Greater Victoria.
In 1961, the province took control of BC Electric and these systems came under the control of Crown corporation BC Hydro. BC Hydro continued to operate the existing bus routes for a number of years, until the routes became part of BC Transit, and the routes in Greater Vancouver eventually came under the control of TransLink. Trolley buses still run in the City of Vancouver with one line extending into Burnaby.