Transportation

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St. Catharines and the Niagara Region boast one of the oldest integrated transit systems in North America.

St. Catharines was home to one of the first inter-urban street railways in North America – first established in 1879 and eventually linked St. Catharines with Niagara-on-the-Lake, Thorold, Niagara Falls, Welland, and Port Colborne.

Originally operated as a horse drawn system, the cars were eventually electrified as early as 1887. Later the lines were replaced by buses in the 1940s and 1950s.

The street railway line in St. Catharines ran across the city, including up to the pier in Port Dalhousie where it connected to steamers that would take travellers across Lake Ontario to Toronto and back.

The last service on this inter-urban route was discontinued in 1960 making this one of the last inter-urban lines to run in Canada.Today, Niagara Regional Transit is readily available across the city and region.