Kitchener and Waterloo Street Railway

Kitchener and Waterloo Street Railway
Streetcar photographed on King Street at King and Ontario in front of the Canadian Block building.
Operation
Locale	Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Open	1888
Close	1946 (replaced by trolleybus service)
Status	Closed
Lines	1
Horsecar era: 1888–89–1895 Owner(s) Berlin and Waterloo Street Railway Company Track gauge ? Propulsion system(s) Horse-drawn Depot(s) Corner of King Street and Cedar (now Bridgeport) Street, Waterloo Stock 2 horsecars Route length Cedar Street in Waterloo to Scott Street in Kitchener
Early electrification era: 1895–1906 Owner(s) Berlin and Waterloo Street Railway Company Propulsion system(s) Electricity Depot(s) Corner of Albert (now Madison) Street and King Street in Berlin starting in 1900 Route length Extended to Albert (now Madison) Street and King Street in Berlin starting in 1900
Municipalization era: 1906–1946 Owner(s) 1906–12: Town of Berlin 1912–16: City of Berlin 1916–46: City of Kitchener Operator(s) Kitchener Public Utilities Commission Propulsion system(s) Electricity Depot(s) 1923–46: Car barns at Kitchener Junction station Stock 1906: 8 electric trams, 8 trailers

The Kitchener and Waterloo Street Railway was a street railway in Berlin (renamed Kitchener) and Waterloo in Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada. Horsecar service began in 1888 under the original Berlin and Waterloo Street Railway name and continued until the system was electrified in 1895, when the existing horsecars were converted for electric service. This proved ineffective, and the company suffered from under-investment. In 1896, a local consortium bought out the company and purchased a new fleet of purpose-built electric trams. The system was municipalized in 1907 and was run by the Town (later City) of Berlin/Kitchener until the end of service. The railway was renamed in 1919 to reflect the name change of the City of Kitchener, which had occurred in 1916. In 1927, it was reorganized under the Kitchener Public Utilities Commission, which continued operations until 1946, when streetcar service was discontinued and replaced with trolleybus service.^[1][2]