HSR Page

As its name suggests, the Hamilton Street Railway Company originally provided streetcar service in the City of Hamilton. Established in 1874, it was a privately run company until it was acquired by the city in 1960. Today, the HSR serves the cities of Hamilton and Stoney Creek and the towns of Ancaster, Dundas and Waterdown with the fourth-largest bus fleet in Ontario, providing service to 505,000 people. Totalling about 200 buses, the fleet consists of GM and MCI Classic, Orion VI, NovaBus LFS, and New Flyer C40LF, D40LF, DE40LF and DE60LFR buses. Connections with Burlington Transit can be made at the Burlington Bus Terminal and in downtown Hamilton near Copps Coliseum, while transfers with Oakville Transit can be made at the Burlington Bus Terminal.

All photos are by the webmaster.

	Like most Ontario transit systems, the HSR once ran large numbers of GM New Looks. However, because the HSR purchased their last New Looks in 1977, they were retired several years before other systems in the Golden Horseshoe. This bus was seen parked behind the Mountain garage on Upper James Street (old Highway 6) on Oct. 15, 2007.
	8201 was a 1982 GM TA-60102N, and is shown boarding passengers on King Street West in downtown Hamilton on Oct. 20, 2003. This bus was one of six originally delivered to the HSR in 1982 as part of a provincial study into the feasibility of articulated buses. Hamilton was the last city in North America to use these buses in revenue service.
	8212 was shown waiting at a red light, while 510204 waits to enter service on Oct. 20, 2003. This photo was taken while both buses were on King Street West in downtown Hamilton.
	8212 was another 1982 GM articulated bus, seen on King Street West at the Eaton Centre on Oct. 20, 2003. This bus was originally OC Transpo 8221, sold to the HSR in the late 1980’s when OC Transpo decided to purchase Orion III buses instead.
	This GM articulated bus was spotted on Dec. 24, 2003, behind OC Transpo’s Merivale Garage on Colonnade Road in Nepean, near Ottawa. This bus is actually a former Ottawa bus sold to Hamilton in the 1980’s, and then returned in 1999 along with HSR 8202, which eventually became OC Transpo 8222, and one other former OC Transpo bus.
	The HSR rebuilt two of their GM artics in 2004, renumbering 8203 and 8206 to 518203 and 518206, respectively. Part of the rebuild included replacing the front ends, exit doors and taillight clusters with parts taken from withdrawn GM Classics. They continued to operate until they were replaced by the New Flyer DE60LFR buses in early 2007. The two buses are shown behind the Mountain garage on Oct. 15, 2007. 518203 was recently acquired by the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine, where the bus will be preserved, but the other GM articulated buses were scrapped in July 2009.
	8711 was a 1988 MCI TC-40102N, shown on King Street West on October 20, 2003.
	8715 was another 1988 MCI Classic, spotted at Gore Park in downtown Hamilton on Oct. 15, 2007.
	8812 was a 1988 MCI Classic, seen waiting on King Street West near Gore Park on Oct. 20, 2003.
	8914 was a 1989 Orion 05.501 diesel, seen on King Street West on October 20, 2003. These buses were the only Orion V diesel buses purchased by the HSR, but they have since been withdrawn from service.
	9115 was a 1991 Orion V CNG, seen on James Street South in downtown Hamilton on Oct. 20, 2003. These buses were bought to replace the HSR trolleybuses, which were withdrawn from service in December 1992. Like their diesel counterparts, all the Orion V CNG buses have been retired.
	9615 is a 1996 New Flyer C40LF, shown on James Street South near King Street West on Oct. 20, 2003. These buses were the first to be equipped with digital headsigns.
	9623 is another 1996 NFI C40LF. It is seen at Gore Park at James Street South on Oct. 15, 2007. These are the oldest buses in HSR service as of January 2011.
	9704 was a 1997 NovaBus LFS, shown waiting for passengers at Gore Park on Oct. 20, 2003. Unlike most Ontario transit systems, the HSR orders its buses with the wheelchair ramp at the centre door instead of at the front door.
	9706 was another 1997 LFS, shown on King Street West near Gore Park on Oct. 15, 2007.
	9709 was spotted on King Street East at Gore Park on Oct. 15, 2007.
	9719 is shown on James Street South on Oct. 15, 2007. The last of the LFS buses was retired from service in July 2010.
	9807 is a 1998 New Flyer C40LF, seen laying up at the Burlington bus terminal on Oct. 20, 2003. This photo clearly shows the centre doors positioned one window forward, an option not often seen on these buses.
	9908 is a 1999 Orion 06.501 CNG, shown on James Street South on October 15, 2007.
	9912 is another 1999 Orion VI, shown at Gore Park in downtown Hamilton on October 20, 2003. These buses were ordered with the exit doors in the middle of the bus instead of at the rear, which is more common on buses in Ontario.
	9921 was spotted on James Street South on Oct. 20, 2003.
	510204 is a 2002 New Flyer C40LF, seen waiting on King Street West near Gore Park on Oct. 20, 2003. This bus shows the exit doors moved back to the “conventional” position, and also shows the HSR’s numbering scheme for a few years, where the year of purchase was indicated by the middle two digits. This bus was later renumbered 0204.
	0215 is another 2002 NFI C40LF, shown on James Street North at the Eaton Centre on Oct. 15, 2007.
	0305 is a 2003 NFI C40LF, seen on Main Street West in downtown Hamilton on Oct. 15, 2007.
	510308 is another 2003 New Flyer C40LF, spotted at Gore Park on Oct. 15, 2007. This bus still has the six-digit fleet number used between 2002 and 2005.
	0407 is a 2005 NFI D40LF, the first New Flyer diesel buses purchased by the HSR. It is shown at Gore Park on Oct. 15, 2007.
	0408 is another 2005 New Flyer D40LF, spotted waiting for riders at the Burlington bus terminal on Oct. 15, 2007.
	0509 is a 2005 NFI D40LF, shown at Gore Park on Oct. 15, 2007.
	0512 is shown parked at the Mountain garage south of Hamilton. This photo was taken on Oct. 15, 2007.
	510514 is another bus with the six-digit fleet number. It was spotted at Gore Park on Oct. 15, 2007.
	0602 is a 2006 New Flyer DE40LF, one of the first hybrid buses purchased by the HSR. It is shown leaving the Mountain garage on October 15, 2007.
	0610 is a 2006 New Flyer DE60LFR, spotted parked at the Mountain garage on Oct. 15, 2007. This bus is used on the limited-stop Bee-Line service that operates along King and Main Streets, service downtown Hamilton and McMaster University. These buses use the Allison EP40 parallel hybrid system, unlike the Orion VII hybrids in Toronto which use series hybrid engines.
	0710 is a 2006 New Flyer D40LF, seen waiting for passengers at Gore Park on Oct. 15, 2007.
	0721 is another 2006 NFI D40LF, spotted on Hunter Street West near the GO bus terminal on Oct. 15, 2007.

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