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TTC: Flexity Streetcars Testing & Delivery (Bombardier)

Leslie Street is clearly the best route though one day, when the Portlands gets developed the route along Commissioners will be another possibility, clearly stupid to build that route now!
 
I was on the St. Clair streetcar today. While passing through the St. Clair West station, I noticed that the streetcar (a CLRV) could fit just so at the eastbound stop at the station. With the new low-floor light rail vehicles expected in a few years being about twice the length of our current CLRV's, shouldn't the stops at the St. Clair West station fit 1 LFLRV or 2 CLRV's? Didn't they just finish reconstruction of St. Clair West station? What happens when the LFLRV's arrive? Will the stops be shifted around or will additional construction have to be done?

There will have to be other construction between now and the LFLRV arrival to accommodate them. Safety islands (IE. College Street, Bathurst Street, Lake Shore Blvd.) may have to be lengthened, for one.
 
At St Clair W, I assume they'll just use the current unloading area as westbound, and the current loading areas as the eastbound. I travel through there every day and I don't think we'll miss the load-unload separation.
 
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I'm in Councillor Bussin's ward nearby, and we've been getting a lot of communication from here on the new LRV facility, and to go out and make our views known. Presumably she thinks we'd be supportive ... though a lot of people shop at Loblaws at Leslie/Eastern or drive down Lakeshore (which will surely need extended signals at Leslie ... the current signals are so short that there is a sign warning pedestrians that they will need two stages to cross), so who knows?
 
So with only a bit more than 2 years before we start seeing this vehicle in revenue service ... at least in test mode; does anyone have any idea how the fareboxes will work?

With 5 doors and no access to the driver, then whatever is there must be self-serve, and in an absence of system-wide acceptance of a fare card, would have to give transfers. I frequently travel on the current cars with a child, a token, and a children's ticket, and receive 2 transfers. I'm really curious how this will be automated. Lots of ways of doing it, but none really fit in with what TTC currently do.

Perhaps there is some explanation in all this of the current test of the new fareboxes ... which really don't seem to have much point for the existing vehicles (though the current test units don't seem to issue transfers).
 
Looks like the decision is in to utilize the Bombardier options on Transit City vehicles rather than do a whole new procurement. This likely means that there will not be large differences between the Downtown fleet and the Transit City fleet which is good news in my opinion.
 
From the PDF on the new LRV storage facility:

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Looks like the decision is in to utilize the Bombardier options on Transit City vehicles rather than do a whole new procurement. This likely means that there will not be large differences between the Downtown fleet and the Transit City fleet which is good news in my opinion.
Is it though? The Flexity vehicles are narrower than units other cities are using, because of the tighter curves, etc. The units they had in Vancouver seemed extremely narrow. I know the Toronto versions will be a bit wider, but wouldn't we be better served by procuring a different design that was more suited to these LRT routes?
 
Is it though? The Flexity vehicles are narrower than units other cities are using, because of the tighter curves, etc. The units they had in Vancouver seemed extremely narrow. I know the Toronto versions will be a bit wider, but wouldn't we be better served by procuring a different design that was more suited to these LRT routes?

If you look at the Bombardier website, you will see that the Flexity has different widths for different cities. Just like the lengths could be different. Just like the PCC, they can be flexible in size, when being made.
 
If you look at the Bombardier website, you will see that the Flexity has different widths for different cities. Just like the lengths could be different. Just like the PCC, they can be flexible in size, when being made.
I don't doubt you ... but I don't see anything documenting the different widths for different cities - perhaps I'm not looking in the right place. Though as I pointed out, the Toronto version are going to be a bit wider than those very narrow units in Vancouver ... just doesn't seem as wide as a CLRV.
 
The Downtown cars can be at least as wide as the CLRVs which are 2.59m and the articulated segments are shorter so the overhang on curves is reduced possibly allowing for greater width if clearances on straight sections allow it. In comparison the Flexity model on display during the Vancouver Olympics was 2.3m wide and the ones in Bremen Germany are 2.65m wide. The TTC subway is 3.13m wide and the NYC subway is 2.62m for comparison.

Summary the Downtown streetcars will be at least 2.59m wide, only 3cm thinner than the NYC subway car. The Transit City cars could be made wider as the Flexity models have a range of widths. The gauge will be smaller for the Transit City cars though because they are going with standard gauge.
 
I don't doubt you ... but I don't see anything documenting the different widths for different cities - perhaps I'm not looking in the right place. Though as I pointed out, the Toronto version are going to be a bit wider than those very narrow units in Vancouver ... just doesn't seem as wide as a CLRV.
From W.K.Lis' link, go to "Flexity Trams", choose from each of the cities under "Reference Projects" and take a look at their technical data.
 

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