The Bombardier Flexity Outlook is a series of low-floored, articulated light-rail trams manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. Part of the larger Bombardier Flexity product line (many of which are not low-floor), Flexity Outlook vehicles are modular in design and commonly used throughout Europe.
Bombardier markets two types or families of designs as "Flexity Outlook".
The Eurotram was a design of electric tramcars designed by for use on the network of the Compagnie de Transports Strasbourgeois (CTS). It is initially contracted to Socimi and ABB. After Socimi went bankrupt, the order for Eurotrams was completed by ABB Group. Later models were manufactured under successor companies Adtranz and Bombardier Inc.
Bombardier began to market this type as Flexity Outlook (E), when they made them until 2004.[ citation needed ]
The more common Cityrunner, which has a more traditional tram design, is used by several cities in Austria (in Innsbruck, Linz and Graz), also Łódź (Poland), Geneva (Switzerland), Eskişehir (Turkey), and Brussels (Belgium), and vehicles for Marseille, (France) Valencia, Alicante (both Spain), Palermo (Italy) and Toronto (Canada) are in the design and production phase. [1] [2] (Although the Toronto Transit Commission has ordered the Flexity Outlook Cityrunner for its legacy system, Metrolinx has ordered the Flexity Freedom for Toronto's new Eglinton Crosstown line that is under construction along Eglinton Avenue in mid-Toronto.) [3]
While most Flexity Outlook trams are bi-directional, the Toronto cars are single-ended in order to meet the operating requirements of that city's legacy streetcar routes. Bombardier has built single-ended Flexity Outlook versions for cities including Graz, Łódź and Milan.
The Flexity Outlook Cityrunner has a modular design, allowing it to be customised for use on networks that require narrow vehicles or nearly unique tight curve radii, down to 10.973 metres (36 ft) in the case of Toronto. Toronto's version of the Outlook is gauged to fit its legacy streetcar lines, with a track gauge of 4 ft 10+7⁄8 in (1,495 mm).
Its closest competitors are the Citadis from Alstom, the Combino and S70 from Siemens, and Bombardier's other Flexity trams.
Bombardier Transportation operated a Flexity Outlook demo system in Vancouver from January 21 to March 21, 2010, coinciding with the 2010 Winter Olympics. The trams were on loan from a fleet of Flexity Outlook series made for the Brussels tram network. The service was called the Olympic Line and used electrified railway right-of-way owned by the City of Vancouver and not part of the regional transit authority (TransLink).
The temporary line operated from Granville Island to near Olympic Village Station on the Canada Line at 2nd Avenue. Service consisted of a 1.8-kilometre (1.1 mi) link with two stations, with cars operating every 10 minutes.
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers in the Greater Toronto Area, with numerous connections to systems serving its surrounding municipalities.
The Toronto subway is a rapid transit system serving Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is a multimodal rail network consisting of three heavy-capacity rail lines operating predominantly underground, and one elevated medium-capacity rail line. Two light rail lines, which will operate both at-grade and underground, are under construction.
A low-floor tram is a tram that has no stairsteps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspace.
The Toronto streetcar system is a network of nine streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is the busiest light-rail system in North America. The network is concentrated primarily in Downtown Toronto and in proximity to the city's waterfront. Much of the streetcar route network dates from the 19th century. Most of Toronto's streetcar routes operate on street trackage shared with vehicular traffic, and streetcars stop on demand at frequent stops like buses.
510 Spadina is a Toronto streetcar route in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission.
The Urban Transportation Development Corporation Ltd. (UTDC) was a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario, Canada. It was established in the 1970s as a way to enter what was then expected to be a burgeoning market in advanced light rail mass transit systems. UTDC built a respected team of engineers and project managers. It developed significant expertise in linear propulsion, steerable trucks and driverless system controls which were integrated into a transit system known as the Intermediate Capacity Transit System (ICTS). It was designed to provide service at rider levels between a traditional subway on the upper end and buses and streetcars on the lower, filling a niche aimed at suburbs that were otherwise expensive to service.
Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
The Socimi Eurotram was an electric tramcar designed for the tram system of Compagnie de Transports Strasbourgeois (CTS). Initially produced by Socimi, after the company became bankrupt Eurotrams were manufactured first by ABB Group's transportation division, then by Adtranz and finally by Bombardier Transportation, who marketed the tram as part of their Flexity Outlook range.
Transit City was a plan for developing public transport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was first proposed and announced on 16 March 2007 by then-Toronto Mayor David Miller and Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Adam Giambrone. The plan called for the construction of seven new light rail lines along the streets of seven priority transit corridors, which would have eventually been integrated with existing rapid transit, streetcar, and bus routes. Other transit improvements outlined in the plan included upgrading and extending the Scarborough RT line, implementing new bus rapid transit lines, and improving frequency and timing of 21 key bus routes. The plan integrated public transportation objectives outlined in the City of Toronto Official Plan, the TTC Ridership Growth Strategy and Miller's 2006 election platform.
Line 5 Eglinton, also known as the Eglinton Crosstown or the Crosstown, is a light rail line that is under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Metrolinx and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the line will be part of the Toronto subway system as its fifth route. The first phase of the 19-kilometre (12 mi) line will include 25 stops along Eglinton Avenue, from Mount Dennis station underground to Laird station, after which it will run predominantly at-grade within the street's median to Kennedy station, where it will connect underground with Line 2 Bloor–Danforth and Line 3 Scarborough.
The Scarborough Malvern LRT was a proposed light rail line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was part of Transit City, a plan to develop new light rail lines along several priority transit corridors in the city. In January 2016, the plan for this light rail route was revived and rebranded as Eglinton East LRT.
Trams in France date from 1837 when a 15 km steam tram line connected Montrond-les-Bains and Montbrison in the Loire. With the development of electric trams at the end of the 19th century, networks proliferated in French cities over a period of 15 years. Although nearly all of the country's tram systems were replaced by bus services in the 1930s or shortly after the Second World War, France is now in the forefront of the revival of tramways and light rail systems around the globe. Only tram lines in Lille and Saint-Étienne have operated continuously since the 19th century; the Marseille tramway system ran continuously until 2004 and only closed then for 3 years for extensive refurbishment into a modern tram network. Since the opening of the Nantes tramway in 1985, more than twenty towns and cities across France have built new tram lines. As of 2020, there are 29 operational tram networks in France, with 3 more planned. France is also home to Alstom, a leading tram manufacturer.
The Flexity Outlook is the latest model of streetcar in the rolling stock of the Toronto streetcar system owned by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). Based on the Bombardier Flexity, they were first ordered in 2009 and were built by Bombardier Transportation in Thunder Bay and Kingston, Ontario, with specific modifications for Toronto, such as unidirectional operation and the ability to operate on the unique broad Toronto gauge.
Tram Power is a Merseyside-based manufacturer of tramway vehicles. It built a single prototype, called the Citytram, which was tested on the Wirral Tramway and Blackpool Tramway from 2005 to 2007. The company is planning to build a tram line in Preston, Lancashire.
In 1921, the Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC) was created to integrate and operate the Toronto streetcar system. It inherited the infrastructure of two separate streetcar operators: the Toronto Railway Company (TRC) and Toronto Civic Railways (TCR). The TTC immediately embarked on a program to connect the TRC and TCR lines into one network. The TTC had to rebuild most of the track to provide a wider devilstrip so that the wider Peter Witt streetcars it was ordering could pass without sideswiping. Between 1938 and 1945, it placed five orders for air-electric PCC streetcars to replace the old, wooden streetcars of the TRC, and to address rising ridership. Between 1947 and 1951, the TTC placed three orders for all-electric PCC cars, with one order equipped with couplers for multiple-unit operation. Between 1950 and 1957, the TTC purchased PCCs from four American cities. By 1957, the TTC had more PCCs than any other city in North America. After the opening of the Bloor–Danforth subway in 1966, the TTC considered terminating all streetcar service in Toronto. However, in 1972, a citizens group led by Jane Jacobs and Steve Munro called "Streetcars for Toronto" persuaded the City to retain streetcar operation. This led to the development of the Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) and its longer, articulated cousin, the Articulated Light Rail Vehicle (ALRV), to replace the aging PCC fleet. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) mandated that the next generation of streetcars be wheelchair-accessible. Thus, to replace the CLRVs and ALRVs, Bombardier adapted its low-floor Flexity Outlook model for the TTC to navigate the Toronto streetcar system's tight curves and single-point switches, characteristics set in the 1920s to accommodate Peter Witt streetcars.
The Bombardier Flexity Freedom is a low-floor, articulated light rail vehicle developed by Bombardier Transportation for the North American market. It is marketed as part of the Bombardier Flexity family which includes other models of trams (streetcars) and light metro vehicles. They are produced in facilities in Thunder Bay and Kingston, Ontario, which once produced rolling stock under the names of Canada Car and Foundry (CC&F) and Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC), respectively.
The Eglinton Maintenance and Storage Facility is a rail yard and vehicle service centre for Line 5 Eglinton of the Toronto subway. The facility is located near the line's western terminus at Mount Dennis station, on lands formerly occupied by Kodak's Toronto campus.
Alstom Flexity is a family of modern trams, streetcars and light rail vehicles manufactured by Bombardier Transportation, since 2021 a division of French company Alstom. As of 2015, more than 3,500 Flexity vehicles are in operation around the world in Europe, Asia, Oceania, and North America in 100 cities among 20 countries internationally. Production of the vehicles is done at Bombardier's global production plants and by local manufacturers worldwide through technology transfer agreements.
Toronto-gauge railways are tram and rapid transit lines built to Toronto gauge, a broad gauge of 4 ft 10+7⁄8 in. This is 2+3⁄8 in (60 mm) wider than standard gauge of 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in which is by far the most common track gauge in Canada. The gauge is unique to the Greater Toronto Area and is currently used on the Toronto streetcar system and the Toronto subway, both operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. As well, the Halton County Radial Railway, a transport museum, uses the Toronto gauge so its rail line can accommodate its collection of Toronto streetcars and subway trains. Several now-defunct interurban rail systems also once used this gauge.
