End of the line for Whitehorse trolley, as government funding dries up

It looks like Whitehorse's waterfront trolley has reached the end of the line, for good.

The Yukon government has cancelled funding for the tourist attraction, saying the trolley has been a bit of a drain.

"The government of Yukon financially supported the Whitehorse waterfront trolley for 18 years," said Tourism Minister Jeannie Dendys in the Yukon Legislature on Tuesday.

"Given our current fiscal framework, and the numerous fiscal pressures, the government of Yukon has made the decision to no longer fund the trolley."

The trolley has been around since 2000, and operated by the MacBride Museum since 2017. The little yellow car would chug at a leisurely pace along a dedicated stretch of riverside track downtown in summer, picking up and dropping off sightseers along the way.

Dendys says the average annual ridership has been about 10,500 passengers since 2005. Passengers would pay a few dollars to ride, but Dendys said the government was still subsidizing each rider by a substantial amount.

She said when the trolley began operating, the government expected it to ultimately become self-sufficient.

"This has not happened," Dendys said.

She also says the trolley and tracks need a lot of work, and the government doesn't want to keep pouring money in.

"With the ongoing development of the waterfront area, we do not feel that it's financially responsible to continue investing millions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades required to keep the trolley running safely — through an area that has not been fully developed yet," Dendys said.

Surprised and disappointed

Upgrades were already happening, according to Rick Nielsen of the MacBride Museum board. He says a significant amount of work was done over the last couple of years, to the tracks and rail bed, as well as the trolley itself.

It was out of service in 2017 for upgrades, and part of last summer as well. Work was expected to continue this year, but that's now been canned.

"We have some railway ties we don't know what to do with, you know, that have been bought and paid for," he said. "The railway ties, I imagine, will be for sale."  

He says the museum was surprised and disappointed to hear about the government's decision. He says the trolley was very popular, with good ridership. It received a little more than $100,000 each year in core funding. 

"Overall, there is a lot of money that's been put into this trolley system — in the millions of dollars — by successive government administrations. So one would hope that it would not be something that would be abandoned now, at this point," he said.

"But you know, again, that's the government's prerogative."