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The Toronto streetcar system comprises eleven streetcar (tram) routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the municipal public transit operator. Totalling 305.8 kilometres in length, the network is generally concentrated downtown and in proximity to the city's waterfront. Some of the TTC's streetcar routes date back to the 19th century. Unlike newer light rail transit (LRT) systems, 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, though they still stop on demand at frequent stops. Before the TTC came into operation in 1921, there were seven distinct transit systems in the city. There were no transfers allowed between them, and so the free transfer has always been a sensitive issue for the TTC. The goal of ease in changing routes has affected the design of the system. There are underground connections between streetcars and the subway at Union, Spadina, and St. Clair West stations, and streetcars enter St. Clair, Bathurst, Broadview, Dundas West, and Main Street stations at street level. At these stations, no proof of payment is required to transfer between streetcars and the subway, as the streetcars have entered the paid area of the stations. Streetcars also pass by the entrances of St. Andrew, King, Osgoode, Queen, St. Patrick, Dundas, Queen's Park, and College—other downtown stations, although proof of payment is required to transfer between streetcars and the subway at these stops, as the streetcars stop outside of the stations themselves at these locations. Despite the use of techniques long removed in the streetcar networks of other North American cities, Toronto’s streetcars are not 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 began as solely a streetcar operator, with the bulk of the routes acquired from the private Toronto Railway 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 streetcar service in 1966 coinciding with the opening of the Bloor-Danforth subway, the TTC foresaw the end of streetcars by 1980. This policy of eliminating streetcar routes 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, purchasing new custom-designed CLRV and ALRV streetcars. 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 five kilometres 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 abandoned to free up streetcars for expanded service on other routes, and the Mount Pleasant route was removed owing to complaints from drivers that streetcars slowed their cars down, and because the track was ageing and needed to be replaced. Recent expansionThe TTC returned to building new streetcar routes in 1989, building first a short line from Union Station, travelling underneath Bay Street, and rising to a private centre median on Queen's Quay, running along the edge of Lake Ontario to the base of Spadina Avenue. This route was originally numbered 604, but was later renumbered 510 to fit with the numbering scheme of the other streetcar routes. This route was later lengthened northward along Spadina Avenue, continuing to travel in a private right-of-way in the centre of the street, and ending in an underground terminal at Spadina Station. This new streetcar route replaced the former route 77 Spadina bus, and now provides the main north-south transit service through Toronto's Chinatown. The route along Queen's Quay was extended to Bathurst Street in 2000 to connect to the existing Bathurst route, and take advantage of the newly refurbished Exhibition Loop at the Exhibition grounds. The harbourfront route is now operated as the 509 Harbourfront. Scarborough RTThe 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. Current and future expansionRoute 512 St. Clair is now being rebuilt to have a separated right-of-way similar to that of the route 510 on Spadina Avenue, to increase service reliability. On March 16, 2007, David Miller (the Mayor of Toronto) and the TTC announced Transit City, a major proposal for a 120-kilometre, $6.1-billion network of new LRT lines that would provide rail transit to underserved suburban areas of the city. As of July 2008, environmental assessments are underway for LRTs on Sheppard Avenue East and Don Mills Road, and for the harbourfront route, including an extension of the route from Exhibition Place to Queen Street West at Roncesvalles Avenue. RoutesThe TTC operates 305.8 kilometres or 190 miles of streetcar tracks throughout Toronto. Route numbersThe TTC has used route numbers in the 500 series for streetcar routes since 1980; before 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, according to the TTC. 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 were similarly a 312 St. Clair and a 304 King streetcar, but the St. Clair Blue Night service is now a bus route, while the King service was removed and partially replaced with extensions of other night bus routes. 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 510 Spadina and 509 Harbourfront routes.[1] 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 and controlled by specialized 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, Spadina Avenue, St. Clair Avenue West and Fleet Street. 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 is reinstating a separated right-of-way — removed between 1928 and 1935[2] — on St. Clair Avenue, from Yonge Street to just past Keele Street, to be completed by 2008. A court decision obtained by local merchants in October 2005 had brought construction to a halt and put the project in doubt; the judicial panel then recused themselves, and the delay for a new decision adversely affected the construction schedule. A new judicial panel decided in February 2006 in favour of the city, and construction resumed in summer 2006. One third of the St. Clair right-of-way was completed by the end of 2006 and streetcars began using it on February 18, 2007. The portion finished was from St. Clair Station (Yonge St.) to Vaughan Road. The second phase started construction in the summer of 2007 from Vaughan Road to Caledonia Road. The third and final phase from Caledonia to Gunns Loop (just west of Keele St.) will be completed by the end of 2008. In 2008, the tracks on Fleet Street between Bathurst Street and the Exhibition loop were converted to private ROW and opened for the 511 Bathurst and the 509 Harbourfront streetcars. Streetcar track and overhead power line were also installed at the Fleet loop, which is located at the lighthouse [1]. Current streetcar routesThere 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. The 508 Lake Shore is a rush-hour only service. Future expansion
Various plans for future routes include:
The City of Toronto's and the TTC’s Transit City report[3] released on March 16, 2007, proposes creating new Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines and Rights-of-Way (ROW) including:
The Ontario government has in its MoveOntario 2020 plan, proposed funding approximately 2/3 of the $5.5 billion of the seven Transit City lines, with the expectation that the federal government would fund the remaining 1/3. Abandoned streetcar routes
Toronto Street Railway routes
Toronto Railway routes
Toronto Civic Railway routes
See also abandoned streetcar routes [2] VehiclesNote: Hundreds of cars were acquired from the TTCs predecessor companies, the Toronto Railway, and Toronto Civic Railways, among others. The current fleet operates with 248 vehicles.
PCC streetcarsThe 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 also older vehicles inherited from the Toronto Railway. 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 newer 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 ageing PCCs. Two of the TTC’s PCC streetcars, which operated in regular service until the mid-1990s, are retained for special events such as parades, private charters[4] and special revenue runs, such as holidays in the summer [5]. Most PCCs were scrapped with a few becoming restaurants, housing and other uses. A few cars were purchased by railway museums:
The CLRVs and ALRVs
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 stadtbahn (city rail) 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 as the German designs became widely used for the new paradigm of light rail in North America. The CLRV (Canadian Light Rail Vehicle, ordered 1977 - version L1 and L2) and the one-and-a-half-length ALRV (Articulated Light Rail Vehicle, ordered 1987 - version L3) were designed by the Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC), an Ontario Crown corporation. The first six cars were built by 'Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (Swiss Industrial Company, 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 the pantograph more common on modern vehicles, 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 have two body sections connected by an articulation, are not very long compared to some other modern trams, which may have as many as four articulations. This has much to do with the fact that the TTC network is largely a "traditional" streetcar network dating back to as early as the 19th century, and not a modern LRT system dismantled decades ago then rebuilt to modern standards more recently. Loops and trolley-pole infrastructure was already in place when the vehicles were built, and the requirement for compatibility with a large fleet of existing vehicles, meant that the CLRVs and ALRVs were built to fit a traditional system rather than a new LRT system. Furthermore, the TTC has never seen any conclusive reason to upgrade the infrastructure; new projects and rebuilds have needed compatibility with the existing system, ensuring these traditional elements will remain indefinitely. 
According to the TTC[6], one CLRV replaces 60 private cars in the morning rush period or 72 passengers, whereas one ALRV can carry the equivalent of 90 cars or 108 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. Notably, the CLRVs originally came with couplers, but these were removed owing to safety concerns. Next-generation streetcarAs the original CLRVs will reach the end of their thirty-year service life, 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. On July 26, 2006 the first streetcar with air conditioning (number 4041) entered revenue service. 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. In June 2007 the TTC launched a public consultation on the design of its new streetcars, including an online survey available at www.mynewstreetcar.ca, and displays at Finch and Scarborough Centre stations, the Albion Centre, and Dundas Square. Mock-ups of the Bombardier Flexity Swift (as used in Minneapolis) and Siemens Combino Plus were on display at the 2007 Canadian National Exhibition in front of the Direct Energy Centre. On 19 September 2007, the TTC published their specifications for the ‘LF LRV’, as they are calling the proposed new streetcars, which explains what they are seeking beyond that the vehicle be compatible with the TTC’s existing tracks, which require tight turning radii, good hill-climbing ability, and compatibility with single-leaf switches. The tender requests a streetcar of 27–30 m, with multiple points of articulation, and three powered bogies. Though the document states that the TTC would accept a well-designed 70% low-floor streetcar, they have since decided to seek a 100% low-floor design; folding ramps may be fitted at the doors to allow stepless boarding where platforms are not available. The initial fleet replacing the CLRVs and ALRVs are to remain single-ended with doors on the right only, and to retain current collection by trolley pole, but the TTC also request that provision be made for future conversion to pantograph, and that the option of buying a bi-directional version of the streetcar for new lines be available. Provision will be made for ticket-vending machines on board, rather than have the driver take fares as is current practice. The TTC are tendering for an initial order of 204 streetcars, with the first prototypes to be delivered in 2010.[7] 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. Bombardier, Siemens, Ansaldobreda, Mytram, Škoda, and Vossloh Kiepe, and Kinki Sharyo all expressed interest in competing to supply the new streetcars, but most dropped out of the bidding at various stages.[8] Siemens gained a great deal of attention for their Combino Plus in 2007, with newspaper advertisements and a web site (now defunct) at www.combinoplus.ca, but eventually decided that ‘it was in our better interest not to bid’; ultimately, only Bombardier and TRAM Power submitted bids.[9] Bombardier initially displayed a mock-up of the Flexity Swift originally built for the Minneapolis project, but later offered a variant of the Flexity Outlook to meet the 100% low-floor requirement,[10] promoting it with a web site called ‘The Streetcar Redefined’. TRAM Power's product is the City Class Tram, a prototype of which was being tested on the Blackpool tramway until it caught fire on January 24, 2007.[11] On July 18, 2008, the TTC announced that both bids had been rejected — according to TTC chair Adam Giambrone, Bombardier's entry 'would have derailed on Toronto streets', while TRAM Power's was not 'commercially compliant' — and reopened the contract.[12] Bombardier actively disputes this claim, adding that it can either supply a compliant car or pay for $10.4 million of construction to make the TTC's track network compliant, but the TTC (as of its August 27 commission meeting) has entered into direct negotiations with three Alstom, Siemens, and Bombardier. Regardless of who is selected, new streetcars will not appear in Toronto until at least 2010, providing that capital funding is secured. In its most recent capital budget, there is no solid commitment to fund the purchase of new streetcars from any level of government although the contract is to be awarded in fall of 2008. As a result of this, the TTC is facing a shortage of available streetcars. Because the CLRVs are reaching the end of their usable lifespan, they require more frequent repairs, and of the TTC's 248 streetcars, only 186 are available for service, leaving a deficit of almost 10 vehicles in the morning rush hour. The TTC plans to refurbish 132 CLRVs, and perform scheduled mid-life maintenance on all of its ALRVs, however in the meantime the TTC has considered replacing streetcars on Bathurst Street and Kingston Road (routes 502, 503, and 511) with buses during the morning rush hour on a contingency basis, so that they can increase service on busier routes until new vehicles arrive. List of past Toronto streetcarsTraffic Cars
Work Cars
Track gaugeThe tracks of Toronto's streetcars and subways (apart from the Scarborough RT) are built to the unique track gauge of 4 ft 10⅞ in (1,495 mm), 60 millimetres (2 3/8 in) wider than the usual standard gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in). There are arguments over the reason for this. One popular (some say false)[who?] belief, sometimes quoted by the TTC themselves, is that the City of Toronto feared that the street railway franchise operator, first in 1861 the Toronto Street Railways, then in 1891 the Toronto Railway, and in 1921 the TTC, would allow the operation of steam locomotives and freight trains through city streets, as was common practice in Hamilton, Ontario (until the 1950s) and in many U.S. cities, such as New York, New York (New York Central), and in Syracuse, NY (Erie Railroad). Standard gauge rails in the streets would have allowed this, but of course steam railway equipment could not follow the abrupt curves in the streetcar network. Opposition to freight operation in city streets precluded interchange even with adjacent radial lines even after the lines changed to TTC gauge. Electric railway freight cars could negotiate street curves, but still freight operations to downtown were not allowed until the final few years of radial operation by the TTC. Some suggest 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 Williams Omnibus Bus Line did change the gauge of their buses in 1861 so as to do this. The unique gauge has remained to this day, since converting all tracks and vehicles would be expensive and would lack any real benefit. 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. PropertiesLoopsSince 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):
Source: Toronto Streetcar Track Map Carhouses
Toronto's streetcars are housed and maintained at various carhouses or "streetcar barns":
Inactive carhouses once part of the TTC's streetcar operations:
Lost carhouse
Source: The TTC's Active Carhouses During the construction of the St. Clair route, streetcars are being parked at three temporary locations:
FacilitiesThe TTC vehicles are serviced and stored at various location throughout the city:
Operator trainingA mockup of a CLRV is used to train new streetcar operators is located at Hillcrest. The training simulator consist of an operator cab, front steps and part of the front of a streetcar. Operators also train with a real streetcar. Front and rear rollsigns on the vehicle will identify it as a training car. Statistics
References
See also
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
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