TTC’s new streetcar takes early morning maiden voyage down Bathurst St.
“It was its first trip. We made it a short one, and we were very, very happy with it,” said TTC spokesperson Brad Ross.
TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION
The TTC's newest streetcar had a moonlit maiden voyage down Bathurst St. early Thursday morning. The trip was a test to see how the car would fare on city streets.
By: Graham Slaughter News reporter, Published on Thu Mar 14 2013
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The TTC’s streetcar of tomorrow had its maiden voyage overnight, giving Toronto night owls a rare glimpse of the state-of-the-art ride.
“It was its first trip. We made it a short one, and we were very, very happy with it,” said TTC spokesperson Brad Ross.
The new car made a moonlit round trip from the TTC’s Hillcrest facility to Bathurst station, making it the first ride on a city street. The route was chosen to test a variety of streetcar capabilities, including wide turning, braking and a dip beneath a bridge.
“We knew it would make it, we just wanted to see if there were any issues with clearance and grade,” Ross said.
The test was done around 4:30 a.m. to avoid traffic and confusing commuters. Another test will be run early Friday morning, this time taking a longer route to Exhibition Place. An instructor driver responsible for training new streetcar operators had the honour of piloting the premiere.
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“We didn’t want a whole lot of attention because we didn’t want to have the added stress of the world watching,” Ross said.
The new streetcars, designed by Bombardier, are equipped with added seating, doors on both sides and Presto capabilities. The design will undergo more testing inside the TTC’s Hillcrest facility over the coming months as engineers look for issues with electrical wiring and operations.
Riders will get to experience the new ride when the TTC introduces the new streetcars on the 510 Spadina route in early 2014.