On November 22nd, the TTC's Leslie Barns facility entered into regular service for the first time, with the first of Toronto's new streetcars leaving the facility at 5:30 AM on Sunday morning. Built to house the system's new Bombardier Flexity Outlook vehicles—the delivery of which has been significantly delayed—the maintenance and storage facility remains in the late stages of construction, with the official grand opening scheduled for 2016.

The exterior of the carhouse as it appears now, image courtesy of the TTC

Located at the southeast corner of Leslie Street and Lake Shore Boulevard, the Strasman Architects-designed and AECOM and Pomerleau-built Leslie Barns is designed to house over half of the new Flexity Outlook vehicles. Longer and differently configured than the TTC's older models—which feature mechanical access pits on the underside of the vehicle—with mechanical access now on top of the vehicles, the new fleet necessitated the construction of a more modern maintenance facility (featuring a large green roof, as seen below), while the retrofitted Roncesvalles and Russell carhouses will be home to the remaining rolling stock.

An October 2015 aerial view of the site, image courtesy of Fred Sandoval, via the TTC

While some of the building's exterior features—including the facility's extensive landscaping by Brown + Storey Architects—have yet to fully come together, the TTC's recent promotional video highlights the interior mechanical features of the facility, following a streetcar as it enters into one of the building's many service bays:

The entire facility is actually made up of four separate buildings, with the expansive, almost 190,000 square foot carhouse—which dominates the site—joined by a 685 square feet traction power substation, as well as much smaller irrigation and yard control huts. 

A rendering of the completed project, image courtesy of the TTC

With the first vehicles now being housed at the Leslie Barns, the TTC is no longer storing streetcars at the temporary Exhibition Loop facility, though with Bombardier so far behind on its delivery schedule, the facility is expected to remain mostly empty for the immediate future. 

The new streetcars have recently shown up along King Street East, image by Edward Skira

We will keep you updated as the project nears its official opening in 2016, with landscaping—together with the facility's exterior design elements—expected to make a significant impact on the site. In the meantime, check out our dataBase file for more information, including renderings of the completed project. Want to share your thoughts on the project? Leave a comment at the bottom of this page, or join in the discussion on our associated Forum thread, linked below.

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