The Toronto Transit Commission operates the largest remaining traditional
streetcar system in North America. The lines serve major corridors throughout
the city with the majority of service running in mixed traffic as streetcars did
in virtually all cities in the first half of the 20th century. The system is
very heavily used and has been expanded with lines serving the Harbourfront and
Spadina Avenue both opened since 1990. Plans for a massive expansion of the
system were announced in early 2007.
The APTA Streetcar and Heritage Trolley Subcommittee met in Toronto in early
June 2007. Click on the photos below to see enlarged views taken during that
meeting:
Participants in the subcommittee's tour on Toronto streetcars pose for a group photo.
The TTC made three generations of streetcar available for the tour from the 1940s, 1920s, and 1970s.
Star of the trip was this magnificently restored Peter Witt car from the 1920s. The city once had a huge fleet of these cars.
The TTC maintains two 1940s PCCs from a fleet that once numbered over 700. The cars were known as "Red Rockets."
A typical downtown Toronto view shows a Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) on Carlton Street.
The new Spadina streetcar line has been a great success and benefits from track laid in a reservation.
The large size of Toronto's system means that track replacement is normally underway at one or more points in the city.
The TTCs traditional main shops continue to service the large fleet of streetcars.
As part of the committee headed to dinner one night they encountered a car with a frozen axle. The TTC quickly placed the truck on a dolly.
Once the disabled truck was on the dolly, another CLRV was backed in front of it and quickly towed it away to clear the line.
The following news notes from
Rail Transit Online provide an overview of developments in Toronto's
streetcar service::
