TTC: Streetcar Network

[Monarch Butterfly]

That's the whole point of my comment. There should always be "first" for streetcars. This isn't complicated. Any streetcar making a turn, travelling in any direction, should always be "first" ahead of any other signal phases for any traffic movements in any direction. This is not what happens now.

The other problem is the obsolete single-point track switches that the TTC is FORCED to be used because of their funding shortfall. In Europe, they get enough funding to pay for double-point track switches and electronic controls to switch them or hold them properly. Currently, streetcar operators have to stop at each and every switch before rolling through the intersection SLOWLY.

When the Toronto Transportation Commission was created in 1921, they took over the former tracks of the Toronto Civic Railway and the Toronto Railway Company. To handle the then new larger Peter Witt streetcars and trailers, they had to rebuilt the tracks for them (IE. wider devil strips, the space between two sets of parallel streetcar tracks and heavy tracks). The Flexity streetcars are larger than the old Peter Witt, PCC, and CLRV streetcars, so the tracks and especially switches should be rebuilt properly to handle them.

(Note the Toronto Civic Railway and Toronto Railway Company having the word "railway" in them. Before 1990, streetcars were considered street "railways". Being "railways", they had priority over the automobile, just like regular railways. Today, they are considered singular "vehicles", ignoring the number of passengers that they carry.)

 

[smallspy]

I remember those rumours.

Interestingly, this paper appears to indicate that power draw beyond acceptable limits for trolley poles, even adjusted ones, was expected for Flexity and this drove the decision to go with pantograph… but because the paper is wiring focused it does not speak to how the TTC mitigated the issue such that Flexities did indeed run with trolley pole power, and for a long time.

https://transittoronto.ca/archives/reports/ttc-conversion-to-pantograph-experience-apta-2016.pdf

They ended up using the same larger shoes of the ALRVs but in a larger holder in order to try and minimize the heat gain of drawing more current.

And while it works okay, the shoes do not last as long as they did on the CLRVs or ALRVs.

Dan

 

[JSF-1]

New video up, this one on the Toronto Suburban Railway which operated a small local streetcar network in the Town of West Toronto as well as interurbans to Weston, Woodbridge, and Guelph.

 

[Sauga89]

The 501 streetcar will be replaced by buses from August 6 to August 13 due to Ontario line construction. They are working on the Lakeshore East rail bridge over Queen St East.

 

[nfitz]

The 501 streetcar will be replaced by buses from August 6 to August 13 due to Ontario line construction. They are working on the Lakeshore East rail bridge over Queen St East.

My guess is that Metrolinx isn't being clear here, and the 501 won't be replaced, but instead will be detouring Broadview/Gerrard/Coxwell with shuttle buses only covering a portion of Queen East from about River to Kingston.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

A must read in Steve Munro's website: https://stevemunro.ca/2025/09/18/torontos-ambling-streetcars/

Toronto’s Ambling Streetcars​

This is the intro...

One year ago, the TTC’s Audit & Risk Management Committee endorsed management’s proposal of a peer review of subway and streetcar assets and maintenance programs by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP).

Much of the review concerned asset management, inventory of system components, condition tracking and planning for maintenance and replacement. There is also a concern that subway and streetcar maintenance could be better integrated due to common technologies. I will leave a full review of this until after the A&RM Committee considers the UITP report at its September 22, 2025 meeting.

One slide in the UITP’s presentation deck speaks to streetcar operations and notes the glacial pace of Toronto streetcars compared to other systems.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

The report is confidential and not for your eyes. Nothing to see here.

Steve Munro (@swanboatsteve.bsky.social)

TTC's Audit & Risk Management Committee will receive a peer review of streetcar and subway assets and maintenance at its Sept. 22/25 meeting. The main report is confidential in its entirety. What are they trying to hide...

bsky.app

Does Mayor Olivia Chow get a copy of the full report? Or is she NOT on the list allowed to read it? If she is allowed, maybe she can release it for the rest of us?

 

[zang]

The report is confidential and not for your eyes. Nothing to see here.

Does Mayor Olivia Chow get a copy of the full report? Or is she NOT on the list allowed to read it? If she is allowed, maybe she can release it for the rest of us?

It could be to avoid giving too much info away to a Province who wants to weaponize everything as a way to increase the number of cars on the street.

 

[nfitz]

The poster referring to extending the 501, not the 507. Presumably, therefore, the 501 would take over the 507 routing in this fantasy scenario.

They were talking about Lakeshore. I'm not aware of 501 running anywhere on Lakeshore in the middle of the day.

You say you've seen big gaps on Lakeshore in the middle of the day. And yet 507 service appears to be very good. How have you see big gaps in the middle of the day?

 

[T3G]

They were talking about Lakeshore. I'm not aware of 501 running anywhere on Lakeshore in the middle of the day.

It used to, and the post that I quoted, again, made reference to extending the 501, not the 507.

You say you've seen big gaps on Lakeshore in the middle of the day

No, I haven't. I said I've seen big gaps on the 501, which is the route the other poster wants to see extended to Port Credit.

 

[evandyk]

I've been taking the 504 bus from Broadview to Sackville this week and it's wild how much faster the bus is than the streetcars, even on the same streets with the same stops.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

It could be to avoid giving too much info away to a Province who wants to weaponize everything as a way to increase the number of cars on the street.

I have some doubts about that. Considering the track record - it might be a bad news report that they don't want to show until they have some of a plan to show as a response.

AoD

 

[Amare]

I've been taking the 504 bus from Broadview to Sackville this week and it's wild how much faster the bus is than the streetcars, even on the same streets with the same stops.

That's what happens when the TTC neuters all streetcar operations by having: excessive run times, slow zones sprinkled left/right, stop & proceeds, reduce speed operations to 10km/hr at signalized intersections, crawl through special trackwork rules, etc..

Bustituted service is faster 10 out of 10 times.

 

[Northern Light]

Councillor Saxe with a letter/motion to next week's Infrastructure and Environment Ctte seeking to speed up the SpadinaLRT

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2025/ie/bgrd/backgroundfile-259437.pdf

From the above:

Fine, as far as it goes.

But the request should have included removing some left turn permissions entirely, removing the u-turn at Nassau and closing that vehicle crossing and consideration for eliminating up to 5 total stops. (2 NB, 3SB )

 

[Jonny5]

Councillor Saxe with a letter/motion to next week's Infrastructure and Environment Ctte seeking to speed up the SpadinaLRT

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2025/ie/bgrd/backgroundfile-259437.pdf

From the above:
View attachment 690186

Fine, as far as it goes.

But the request should have included removing some left turn permissions entirely, removing the u-turn at Nassau and closing that vehicle crossing and consideration for eliminating up to 5 total stops. (2 NB, 3SB )

If you really want to do this right, have the signal system allow a streetcar-only movement phase both before the left-turn phase for cars, but also add a second one for streetcars after the end of the green signal phase for cars going north/south on Spadina, so there would be two opportunities for streetcars to move through the intersection on each cycle, one at the beginning and one at the end.