Athens Railway & Electric Company

Overview

Athens Railway & Electric Company was a street railway and electric utility company that operated in Athens, Georgia, from 1910 until 1930. Formed as the successor to the Athens Electric Railway Company, it assumed control of the city’s streetcar system, electric generating facilities, and power distribution network. During its early years, the company expanded its electric utility operations, acquired additional power resources, and carried more than one million passengers annually on its streetcar lines. By the 1910s and 1920s, however, rising automobile ownership and declining ridership placed increasing financial pressure on the transit operation. In 1926, the company became part of a consolidation that helped form the modern Georgia Power Company. After years of losses, streetcar service was discontinued in 1930 and replaced by motor buses, ending nearly 45 years of street railway operations in Athens.