Toronto streetcar system
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The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) operates eleven streetcar (tram) routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, totalling 305.8 km in length. Generally concentrated downtown and in proximity to the city's waterfront, much of the Toronto Transit Commission's streetcar network dates back to the 19th century. Unlike newer light rail systems, therefore, most of Toronto's streetcar routes operate in the classic style on street trackage shared with car traffic, and streetcars stop on demand at frequent stops like buses rather than having fixed stations. However, some routes operate (totally or partially) within their own rights-of-way.
There are underground connections between streetcars and the subway at Union, Spadina, and St. Clair West stations, and streetcars pass by the entrances of several other downtown stations. Streetcars also enter St. Clair, Bathurst, Broadview, Dundas West, and Main Street stations at street level.
Despite their use of techniques long-removed in most cities, Toronto's streetcars are in no way heritage streetcars run for tourism or nostalgic purposes; they provide most of the downtown core's surface transit service, and four of the TTC's five most heavily-travelled surface routes are streetcar routes.
History
From 1921 as the Toronto Transportation Commission, the TTC was solely a streetcar operator, with the bulk of the routes acquired from the private Toronto Railway Company and merged with the publicly-operated Toronto Civic Railways. In 1925, routes were operated on behalf of the Township of York (as Township of York Railway), but they were essentially TTC routes.
After World War II, the TTC began plans to eliminate all streetcar routes, in part because subway development was thought to eliminate the need for them. At the time of major curtailments in 1966 coinciding with the opening of the Bloor-Danforth subway, the TTC foresaw the end of streetcars by 1980. This policy was dropped in 1972 in the face of widespread community opposition by citizens' groups who succeeded in persuading the TTC of the advantages of streetcars over buses on heavily-travelled main routes.
The TTC then maintained most of their existing network, purchased new custom-designed CLRV streetcars, and then returned to building new streetcar routes in the 1990s, building first a short line along the edge of Lake Ontario (originally numbered 604, it is now operated as the 509 Harbourfront route) and then replacing the Spadina Avenue 77 bus route with the 510 Spadina streetcar, running in reserved lanes at the centre of the street. They now plan to similarly rebuild much of the 512 St. Clair line with a similarly separated right-of-way to increase service reliability.
The previous policy of eliminating streetcars and using buses for extensions built as the city developed northward account for the concentration of streetcar lines within 5 km of the waterfront. The busiest north-south and east-west routes were replaced respectively by the Yonge-University-Spadina and Bloor-Danforth subway lines, and the northernmost streetcar lines, including the North Yonge and Oakwood routes, were replaced by trolley buses (and later by diesel buses).
Two other lines that operated north of St. Clair Avenue were abandoned for other reasons: the Rogers Road route was to free up streetcars for expanded service on other routes, and the Mount Pleasant route ostensibly because of traffic problems it created.
The Scarborough RT line was originally proposed to operate with streetcars on a private right-of-way, but the plans were changed when the Ontario government convinced the TTC and the borough of Scarborough to use its then-new Intermediate Capacity Transit System (ICTS) metro trains instead. Another proposed streetcar rapid transit line from Kipling station was abandoned, but the ghost platform at the bus level is a hint of a streetcar line.
Vehicles
| Make/Model | Description | Fleet size | Year acquired | Year retired | Notes |
| St. Louis Car Company Preston car | street car / rail grinder | 1 | 1931 as snow scrapper and converted in 1955 | 1976 | 1 became W28 Rail Grinder, formerly of the Toronto Railway Company |
| Birney Car - ex Toronto Railway Company / J.G. Brill Company | street car | 20 | 1939 | 1940-1941 | Sold as TTC was not interested in double-ended cars |
| Peter Witt - Large / Canadian Car and Foundry and J.G. Brill Company | street car; trailer | 525 | 1921-1923 | 1963 | |
| Peter Witt - Small / Ottawa Car Company | street car | 50 | 1923 | 1963 | Numbered 2800 - 2898 (even numbers only). Car 2898 preserved at Shore Line Trolley Museum, East Haven, Connecticut |
| St. Louis Car Company / Canadian Car and Foundry President's Conference Car A1 | street car | 745 | 1938 | 1946 | |
| St. Louis Car Company President's Conference Car | street car | 241 | 1940s | 1996 | New cars were A2-8; 205 acquired as second hand units were A9-10 - Cincinnati Street Railway, A11 - Cleveland Railway Company, A12 - Louisville Railway Company, A13 - Brimingham Railway and Electric Company, A14 - ex-Kansas City Public Service Company; A15 were A2-8 rebuilds 2 St. Louis Car Company PCC streetcar A-15 (used only for private charters and parades; car #4500 is one of these); St. Louis Car Company W30-W31 Rail Grinder - ex-PCC streetcar |
| SIG CLRV L1 | street car | 6 | 1977 | Designed by Urban Transportation Development Corporation | |
| Urban Transportation Development Corporation CLRV L2 | street car | 190 | 1977-1982? | Designed by Urban Transportation Development Corporation and manufactured by Hawker Siddeley Canada | |
| Urban Transportation Development Corporation ALRV L3 | articulated street car | 52 | 1983-1988 | Designed by Urban Transportation Development Corporation and manufactured by Hawker Siddeley Canada |
PCC streetcars
The TTC were among the first to buy the then state-of-the-art PCC streetcar when it was designed by a committee of public transport operators in the 1930s. These cars were bought to replace the Peter Witt cars and older vehicles inherited from the Toronto Railway Company. The TTC's first purchase was in the late 1930s, and by the end of the 1970s they had operated a larger fleet of PCCs than any other agency in the world. The early cars were retired and sent to Egypt, and some future cars were acquired from U.S. operators abandoning streetcar service, including Kansas City, Birmingham, and Cleveland. By the 1970s, the TTC sought to abandon the service as well, but supporters persuaded them to reconsider, and so a new streetcar model was needed to replace some of the aging PCCs.Two of the TTC's PCC streetcars, which operated in regular service until the mid-1990s, are retained for private charters. [link]
The CLRVs and ALRVs
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When the TTC reversed their decision to eliminate streetcars in the 1970s, they were faced with the problem of how to replace their ageing fleet of PCC streetcars given that most cities in North America were switching entirely to buses, and so there were no new mass-market streetcar designs already being built that Toronto could purchase as it had before. While Edmonton and Calgary chose to adapt German metro trains for the new systems they were installing around the same time, the TTC instead had a new streetcar designed in the traditional style, and so the two models of streetcars the TTC uses for revenue service today remain unique to the city. It was hoped that the new models could also be sold to the few other cities that continued streetcar service, such as Boston and Philadelphia, but this strategy proved unsuccessful.
The CLRV (Canadian Light Rail Vehicle, ordered 1977 - version L1 and L2) and the double-length ALRV (Articulated Light Rail Vehicle, ordered 1983 - version L3) were designed by the Ontario Crown corporation Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC). The first six cars were built by the Swiss Industrial Company (Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft, or SIG) and the rest by Hawker-Siddeley Canada Limited in Thunder Bay, with a propulsion system by Brush of England and bogies by MAN of Germany.
The CLRVs and ALRVs retain many features of traditional streetcar design: they collect their electric power by trolley pole rather than pantograph, and are unidirectional, with a driving position at only one end and doors on only one side, requiring track loops in order to turn around. Even the ALRVs, which are double-length with an articulated section at the centre, are not very long compared to some other modern trams, which may have as many as four articulations.
One ALRV can carry the equivalent of 50 cars or 61 passengers.
Both models of streetcar have high floors, accessed by stairs at each door. TTC staff have explored a number of possible means to make them wheelchair-accessible, including constructing level boarding platforms, lowering the track level, installing wheelchair lifts, and attach wheelchair-accessible trailers, but have concluded that none of these options is practical.
Unlike the TTC's earlier PCC and Peter Witt streetcars, the current models are never run in two-unit trains, or with trailers; the replacement of the two highest-volume routes with subway lines has decreased the number of passengers streetcars must cope with, and a single ALRV is long enough to provide sufficient capacity on today's busiest routes.
The future
As the original CLRVs will reach the end of their thirty-year service life in 2007, the TTC must soon either rebuild or replace them. Until recently, their official plan was to rebuild the CLRVs to extend their useful life by about ten to fifteen years and add new features such as air conditioning, and not purchase any new streetcars until the ALRVs reached the end of their lives. With new funding from senior governments, however, they now intend to refurbish only one hundred CLRVs to meet Toronto's immediate requirements, and buy new low-floor, higher-capacity trams to replace the current fleet and run planned routes along the waterfront and in the inner suburbs. The remaining 96 streetcars will be rebuilt only if the introduction of new models is delayed.
It seems, however, that no 'off-the-shelf' design will work for Toronto; in addition to the city's unique track gauge (see below), the streetcar network contains much tighter curves and steeper slopes than most new tramways, so the TTC believe that they will have to find a model that meets seventy to seventy-five percent of their needs, and then customise its design significantly.
Although the Bombardier Flexity Swift trams used by the Hiawatha Line in Minneapolis and the Siemens S70 Avanto vehicles of Houston's METRORail were among the first examined by councillors, the TTC have recently reported that so far the most suitable vehicles they have seen are those of Portland's recent streetcar network. These Astra streetcars, manufactured by Škoda in the Czech Republic, are narrower and shorter than most modern trams, and operate in a mixed-traffic environment similar to much of Toronto's network.
TTC commissioners hope that the first new streetcars could be in service as soon as 2009, but a TTC report suggests that it is unlikely they could be introduced before 2011 or 2012 because of the amount of design work necessary to produce a vehicle that meets Toronto's requirements.
The report also notes that current projections for population increases and new lines indicate that by 2026, the TTC will need to extend its fleet to between 350 and 480 streetcars, suggesting that the replacements for the CLRVs and ALRVs will be merely the first of a large fleet.
List of past Toronto streetcars
| Make/Model | Description | # passengers | Year acquired | Year retired | Notes |
| Canadian Car and Foundry/Brill Peter Witt streetcar - Large with trailers | streetcars | 392 | 1921-1923 | 1963 | retired; 1 refurbished for tours |
| Canadian Car and Foundry/Ottawa Car Company Peter Witts - Small Witts | streetcars | 196 | 1921-1923 | 1965 | retired |
| St. Louis Car Company and Canadian Car and Foundry PCC streetcars | streetcars | total of 745 with 205 second-hand and 540 brand-new; some PCCs became work cars for the streetcar service and some to the subway | 1938 | 1996 | retired; 1 refurbished for tours |
Work Cars
| Make/Model | Description | Fleet size; | Year acquired | Year retired | Notes |
| Birney Car - ex-Toronto Railway Company (retired) | rail grinder | 1 | 1931 | 1976 | retired |
| St. Louis Car Company W30-W31 | rail grinder | 2 | 1976 | 1999 | ex-PCC streetcar - retired |
| St. Louis Car Company W28 | rail grinder | 1 | 1931 | 1976 | ex-TRC Preston car - retired |
| Toronto Railway Company C1 | crane | 1 | 1921 | ? | sold to Halton Radial Railway |
| W5 | snow plow | 1 | ? | ? | ? |
| W16 | dump car | 1 | 1920s | ? | |
| W26 | sand car | 1 | 1950 | 1967 | |
| S-30 | snow sweeper | 1 | 1947 | 1970 | New York City's Third Avenue Railway System |
| Russell Car Company / S-31 | snow sweeper | 1 | 1947 | 1973 | Built in 1920 as Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway P-601; to Third Avenue Railway System as 86 in 1935; to TTC as S-31 in 1947; preserved at Seashore Trolley Museum, Kennebunkport, Maine |
| S-33 | snow sweeper | 1 | 1947 | 1960s | New York City's Third Avenue Railway System |
| Russell Car Company / S-36 | snow sweeper | 1 | 1947 | 1973 | Built in 1920 as Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway P-607; to Third Avenue Railway System as 89 in 1935; to TTC as S-36 in 1947; preserved at Shore Line Trolley Museum, East Haven, Connecticut |
| Russell Car Company / S-37 | snow sweeper | 1 | 1948 | 1973 | Built in 1920 for the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway; to Third Avenue Railway System 1935; to TTC as S-37 in 1947; preserved at Halton County Railway Museum |
| Russell Car Company / S-39 | snow sweeper | 1 | 1948 | 1973 | Built in 1920 as Trenton & Mercer County 31; to Third Avenue Railway System as 82 in 1935; to TTC as S-39 in 1948; to Public Service of New Jersey as 5246 in 1973; now at Transport of New Jersey in Newark as 5246, semiactive in stub tracks at Newark terminal |
Track gauge
The tracks of Toronto's streetcars and subways (apart from the Scarborough RT) are built to the unique track gauge of 4 feet 10 7/8 inches (1,495 mm), 60 mm (3 3/8") wider than the usual standard gauge of 4 feet 8 1/2 inches (1,435 mm). There are arguments over the reason for this. One popular albeit false belief, sometimes quoted by the TTC themselves, is that the City of Toronto feared that the Toronto Railway Company, which held the franchise to run streetcars before the TTC was created, would allow the Canadian Pacific Railway to operate steam locomotives through city streets. The more practical reason is that early tracks were used to pull wagons smoothly in the days before paved roads, and that they fit a different gauge.The unique gauge has remained to this day, since converting all tracks and vehicles would be expensive and unproductive. Some proposals for the city's subway system involved using streetcars in the tunnels, and possibly having some routes run partially in tunnels and partially on city streets, so the same gauge was used, though the idea was ultimately dropped in favour of dedicated rapid-transit trains. The use of standard-gauge tracks on the Scarborough RT makes it impossible for there to be any track connection between it and the other lines, and so when RT vehicles need anything more than basic service (which is carried out in the RT's own McCowan Yard), they are carried by truck to the Greenwood subway yards.
Routes
The TTC operates 305.8 kilometres or 190 miles of streetcar tracks throughout Toronto.
Route numbers
The TTC has used route numbers in the 500 series for streetcar routes since the late 1970s; prior to then, streetcar routes were not numbered, but the destination signs on the new CLRVs were not large enough to display both the route name and destination. The only exceptions today to this numbering scheme are the 301 Queen and 306 Carlton Blue Night Network routes, which correspond to the regular 501 and 506 routes; there was similarly a 312 St. Clair streetcar, but this Blue Night service is now a bus route.The one other exception to the 500 series numbering was the Harbourfront LRT streetcar. When introduced in 1990, this route was numbered 604, which was intended to group it with the subway/RT routes (although these have no numbers in public use) instead of the other streetcars. In 1996 the TTC stopped trying to market the route as 'rapid transit' and changed the number to 510; the tracks were later extended in two directions to form the 509 Harbourfront and 510 Spadina routes. [link]
During times when streetcar service on all or a portion of a route has been replaced temporarily by buses (e.g., for track reconstruction), the replacement bus service is typically identified by the same route number as the corresponding streetcar line. Shorter-term replacement or supplementary shuttle bus service (e.g., due to a track blockage or short-term street closure) is usually marked simply as 'SPECIAL' on the bus destination sign.
Private rights-of-way
The majority of streetcar routes operate in mixed traffic, generally reflecting the original track configurations dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, newer trackage has largely been established within private rights-of-way, in order to allow streetcars to operate with fewer disruptions due to delays caused by automobile traffic. Most of the system's private rights-of-way operate within the median of existing streets, separated from general traffic by raised curbs but controlled by traffic signals at intersections. Queen and former Long Branch cars have operated on such a right-of-way along the Queensway between Humber and Sunnyside loops since 1957. More recently, private rights-of-way have been opened downtown along Queen's Quay and Spadina Avenue.Short sections of track also operate in tunnel (to connect with Spadina, Union, and St. Clair West subway stations). The most significant section of underground streetcar trackage is a tunnel underneath Bay Street connecting Queens Quay with Union Station; this section, which is approximately 0.7 km long, includes one intermediate underground station at Bay Street and Queens Quay.
The TTC plans to reinstate a separated right-of-way — abandoned in the 1940s — on St. Clair Avenue, from Yonge Street to just past Keele Street, to be completed by 2007. However, a court decision obtained by local merchants in October 2005 has brought construction to a halt and put the project in doubt; the judicial panel has since recused themselves, but the delay for a new decision has adversely affected the construction schedule. A new judicial panel decided in February 2006 in favour of the city, and construction may proceed once the weather is favourable and new building contracts are arranged.
Current streetcar routes
There are currently 11 streetcar routes in Toronto:
The 512 St. Clair line is currently under reconstruction, building a reserved right-of-way similar to the 510 Spadina.
Future expansion
Various plans for future routes include:
- Continuing a route along Kingston Road into Scarborough, then returning along Eglinton Avenue and stopping at Kennedy subway station
- A route eastward along Queen's Quay, into new developments on the port lands
- More coverage and line connections in southern Etobicoke
- Extending 512 St. Clair to Jane subway station.
- Extending the Dundas streetcar from Dundas West (TTC) north to Runnymede Loop at Dundas and Runnymede to connect to a westward extended 512 St. Clair
- Converting the 25 Don Mills bus to streetcar operation
- Creating an LRT from Union (TTC) along Queens Quay East and Cherry Street to Parliament and possibly extending it to Castle Frank (TTC)
Abandoned streetcar routes
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Properties
Loops
Since all of Toronto's current streetcars are unidirectional, they require off-street track loops in order to change direction.The following loops are or have been used by the TTC (some are no longer used or have been disposed of):
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Source: [Toronto Streetcar Track Map]
Carhouses
Toronto's streetcars are housed and maintained at various carhouses or "streetcar barns":
| Yard | Location | Year Open |
| Hillcrest Shops | Davenport Road and Bathurst Street | 1924 |
| Roncesvalles Carhouse | Queen Street and Roncesvalles Avenue | 1895 |
| Russell (Connaught) Carhouse | Connaught Avenue and Queen Street) | 1913 |
Inactive Carhouses once part of the TTC's streetcar operations:
| Yard | Location | Year Open | Year Closed | |
| Danforth Carhouse | Danforth and Coxwell Avenues | 1915 | 2002 | |
| Eglinton Carhouse | Eglinton Avenue and Yonge Street | 1922 | 2002 | |
| Lansdowne Carhouse | Lansdowne Avenue and Paton Avenue | 1911 | 1966 | |
| St. Clair (Wychwood) Carhouse | Wychwood south of St. Clair Avenue West | 1913 | 1991 |
Lost carhouse
| Yard | Location | Year To Open | Notes |
| Runnymede Carhouse | Runnymede Road | 1926 | proposed carhouse / never developed and abandoned in 1960s |
Source: [The TTC's Active Carhouses]
Facilities
The TTC vehicles are serviced and stored at various location throughout the city:
| Shop Name | Year Open | Location |
| D.W. Harvey Shops | 1987 | Hillcrest Complex |
| W.E.P. Duncan Shops | 1985 | Hillcrest Complex |
| Transit Control Centre | 1968 | Hillcrest Complex |
Trivia
- The TTC still has a blacksmith employed to make specialized parts for the overhead wires used by the streetcars. The pole to the overhead wires is called a "witch's broom".
- The lights, or bullseyes, over the route sign on today's CLRV and ALRV, are relics of the past streetcars in Toronto. Before lighted route signs, single green and red lights on the front and back of the cars allowed people waiting for streetcars at night to tell which direction a car in the distance was travelling.
- To reduce friction noise of wheels on tracks on curved sections of track, water is piped in to the tracks; if oil was used for lubrication, it would destroy the tires of cars that drive over the tracks.
- Sand is used for the brakes for extra traction; you might notice spilled sand on the streetcar floors near the front of the car.
See also
External links
- [Transit Toronto Streetcar Pages]. Transit Toronto.
- Jeff Gray. [TTC to shop for new streetcars]. Globe and Mail. 23 June 2005.
- [Future Streetcar Fleet Requirements and Plans]. Toronto Transit Commission report. 22 June 2005.
- Christopher Livett. [Toronto's Streetcar System] (schematic track map). Transit Toronto.
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