Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company was a

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

and

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

transit operator serving the region around

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...

, Norwalk,

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...

and

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 20 ...

. It was formed in 1901 by United Gas Improvement Company of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

to manage the streetcar operations of the

Connecticut Light and Power Company Eversource Energy is a publicly traded, Fortune 500 energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts, with several regulated subsidiaries offering retail electricity, natural gas service and water service to appro ...

, which at the time included Central Railway and Electric Company, Norwalk Street Railway, and the Waterbury Traction Company. The newly formed Connecticut Railway and Lighting acquired

Bridgeport Traction Company The Bridgeport Traction Company was a streetcar transit company in the area around Bridgeport, Connecticut. The company was incorporated in 1893 through the consolidation of the Bridgeport Horse Railroad Company, Bridgeport Railway Company, and the ...

, Derby Street Railway, Milford Street Railway, Shelton Street Railway, Meriden, Southington and Compounce Tramway Company, and the Cheshire Street Railway. Connecticut Railway and Lighting was leased to the Consolidated Railway and in turn the

Connecticut Company The Connecticut Company was the primary electric street railway company in the U.S. state of Connecticut, operating both city and rural trolleys and freight service. It was controlled by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (New Haven), ...

between 1906 and 1936. Streetcar operations were discontinued in 1937 when all lines were converted to bus. Transit operations continued until 1972, when all remaining bus operations were suspended and taken over by Connecticut Transit, except in Bridgeport- by the

Greater Bridgeport Transit District Greater Bridgeport Transit (GBT) is a transit service serving the Greater Bridgeport region of the U.S. state of Connecticut. GBT provides local bus service to the cities/towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Stratford, Milford, Fairfield, Westport ...

in 1975.

Early History (1895-1906)

Founded in 1895 was the Gas Supply Company, it was authorized by legislature to manufacture and distribute gas fuel throughout

Fairfield County, Connecticut Fairfield County is a County (United States), county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is the List of counties in Connecticut, most populous county in the state and was also its fastest-growing from 2010 to 2020. A ...

. The name of the Gas Supply Company was changed in 1899 to Connecticut Lighting and Power Company, and its authority expanded to generating and distributing electricity. In 1901, the name was changed to Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company. A number of streetcar and electric utility companies were acquired during the intervening years, building up a large system in the

Naugatuck Valley The Naugatuck River Valley is the watershed area of the Naugatuck River in the western part of Connecticut. The Naugatuck Valley straddles parts of Litchfield County, New Haven, and Fairfield counties. The Route 8 corridor and Waterbury Branch ...

and surrounding region. All of the property controlled by CR&L was leased to the Consolidated Railway in 1906, which in turn was leased to the Connecticut Company.

Connecticut Company control (1906-1936)

In 1906 the CR&L streetcar lines were leased to the

, a subsidiary of the

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

created to control and operate the majority of electric trolley lines across the state. When the New Haven entered receivership, the Connecticut Company leases were cancelled in 1936 for lack of payment.

CR&L Lines (1936-1972)

Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company resumed independent operation of its lines in 1936, but worked quickly to convert the remaining streetcar lines to bus operation by 1937. Stockholders wished to get out of the transit business, and so those operations were sold off in 1943. A number of under-performing bus routes were discontinued over the years until all service was suspended in 1972. The transit franchises were succeeded by Connecticut Transit, except in Bridgeport by the

Greater Bridgeport Transportation Authority Greater Bridgeport Transit (GBT) is a transit service serving the Greater Bridgeport region of the U.S. state of Connecticut. GBT provides local bus service to the cities/towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Stratford, Milford, Fairfield, Westpor ...

after its formation in 1975. Between 1972 and 1975, remaining local bus routes in Bridgeport were taken over fully or in part by CR&L's competing smaller bus companies: Gray Line, Chestnut Hill, Bridgeport Auto Transit, and Stratford Bus Line. A former Milford CT school and charter bus company- Cross Country Coach, purchased a few of CR & L's older buses to operate a regional route between Norwalk, Bridgeport, and New Haven. This was a restoration of two former CR & L routes, which commenced in 1973 and continued until Cross Country Coach ceased operations in the early 1980s.

References

{{Authority control Bus transportation in Connecticut Streetcars in Connecticut Defunct Connecticut railroads Transportation in Fairfield County, Connecticut Defunct companies based in Connecticut

Early History (1895-1906)

Connecticut Company control (1906-1936)

CR&L Lines (1936-1972)

See also

List of Affiliated and Controlled Companies

References