Vancouver Metro Railways

The Vancouver Metro is a railroad established in Vancouver, BC. It was formed in 1936 following the merger of the Electric Railroads Co., and Alaska Southeastern. It's also recognized as the 2nd oldest railway in Canada that is still active.

## Predecessors

### Electric Railroads Co.

In 1889, the Electric Railroads Co. was formed by Edison Dubois with help from local funding. The electric tramway was built in 3ft trackage and was completed in 1891. Passenger service began soon after.

Prior to cars becoming common sight, the Electric Railroads succeeded and profited. Estimated ridership in 1897 was over 4,000 passengers a year, revenue of that same year was over $1,000 USD (approximately $35,000 USD in 2022).

When cars became popular in Canada in the 1900s, automobile accidents became common occurrences and painted a generally bad reputation on the Electric Railroads. In 1913, the Electric Railroads bought the (at the time) new wigwag signals from Magnetic Signal.

Also when cars became more common, less passengers rode the old trams and less revenue was earned. As a result, the Electric Railroads was given to the Alaska Southeastern Railway.

### Alaska Southeastern

In 1872, Alaska Southeastern was established as a freight and passenger line that served Anchorage to Whitehorse. The railroad's trackage generally followed the Gulf of Alaska and turned north to Whitehorse.

In 1903, Alaska Southeastern began construction of a line from the Klukwan Curve to Vancouver that would also follow the Alaskan Gulf.

In the 1920s, ridership numbers gradually decreased from 10,000 in 1920 to just over 2,000 in 1930. The invention of the automobile and widespread usage began to take a toll on railroads. Also worse, the Alaska Southeastern's customers turned to making their own railroads or using trucks.

This turn in Alaska Southeastern forced them to merge with another railroad looking to merge, and so talks began with the Electric Railroads in 1935. In June 1, 1936, a merger was settled in which the Alaska Southeastern's CEO would become the vice-CEO of the new railroad.

## Vancouver Metro Railways

When the railroads merged, the line from Klukwan to Vancouver was completed and long-distance passenger service began. The merger of the two railroads and the completed long-distance lines attracted many customers to use the new Vancouver Metro. Specifically, mines in the north were transporting goods to factories in Vancouver, and the railroad succeeded and profited over long-distance travel.

In the 1950s while diesel engines were becoming prominent, the Vancouver Metro stuck to steam locomotives, making it one of the most unique railroads in North America, though buying a few for short-distance travels.

The use of steam engines both attracted and deterred customers, as the steam locomotives could be seen as both a danger and hazard, or a historic, reliable relic of the past.

Nowadays in the 2000s, Vancouver Metro still uses many of its steamers and even new units. Long-distance passenger travel has mostly ceased due to flights being invented in the 1950s, but the passenger trains still run from Vancouver to Anchorage twice every month.