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The Toronto Railway Company (TRC) was the operator of the streetcar system in Toronto between 1891 and 1921. It electrified the horsecar system it inherited from the Toronto Street Railway, the previous operator of streetcar service in Toronto. The TRC was also a manufacturer of streetcars and rail work vehicles, a few of which were built for other streetcar and radial operators.
Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC) was the public transit operator in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, beginning in 1921. It operated buses, streetcars and the island ferries. The system was renamed the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in 1954.
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. Since 2019, the network has used low-floor streetcars, making it fully accessible.
The 512 St. Clair is an east–west streetcar route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It operates on St. Clair Avenue between St. Clair station on the Line 1 Yonge–University subway and Gunns Road, just west of Keele Street.
501 Queen is an east–west Toronto streetcar route in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It stretches from Long Branch Loop in the west to Neville Park Loop in the east, running on Lake Shore Boulevard, in a reserved right-of-way within the median of the Queensway, and on Queen Street. This route operates as part of the TTC's Blue Night Network service, operating from approximately 1 am to 5 am as the 301 Queen.
504 King is an east–west Toronto streetcar route in Ontario, Canada. It serves King Street in Downtown Toronto as well as Broadview Avenue on the east end and Roncesvalles Avenue on the west end of the line. The route consists of two overlapping branches: 504A between Line 2 Bloor–Danforth's Dundas West station and Distillery Loop, and 504B between Broadview station – also on Line 2 – and Dufferin Gate Loop. The two branches overlap on King Street between Dufferin and Sumach streets, both passing St. Andrew station and King station on subway Line 1 Yonge–University.
The Toronto Transit Commission version of the Peter Witt streetcar was designed by the Cleveland Street Railway in the United States and built under license by Canada Car and Foundry of Montreal. A small number were also built by the Ottawa Car Company and the Preston Car Company. Between 1921 and 1923, 575 of these streetcars were ordered by the TTC for use on Toronto streets.
The 502 Downtowner was a streetcar route operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It ran from the Bingham Loop at Victoria Park Avenue and Kingston Road in the Beaches neighbourhood to McCaul Loop in downtown Toronto. Starting in September 2019, all streetcar services along Kingston Road were consolidated into the 503 Kingston Rd route.
Neville Park Loop is the eastern terminus of the 301/501 Queen streetcar line, the longest streetcar route of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is also the terminus of the 143 Beaches/Downtown express bus service. It is located at the southwest corner of Queen Street East and Nursewood Road in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto. It is named after the street which is just west of the loop.
Humber Loop is a station and intermediate turning loop for streetcars on the 501 Queen line of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is located between the Gardiner Expressway and The Queensway just west of the Humber River in Toronto. The loop is accessed by a private right-of-way that connects tracks eastbound to The Queensway and westbound to Lake Shore Boulevard. The 501 streetcar is split here; higher capacity streetcars head east from here to Neville Park Loop, and shorter Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) streetcars head west from here to Long Branch Loop.
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.
Jane Loop was an important Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) streetcar turning loop and bus station, prior to the completion of the Bloor Danforth Subway line. The Jane Loop opened on December 31, 1923; it was the western end of Bloor Streetcar line from 1925 to 1968. The loop was at a boundary between two zones in the TTC's zoned fare system. Half a dozen or so buses and trolleybuses terminated at the loop.
The Toronto Transit Commission operated a separate Spadina streetcar line on Spadina Avenue, from 1923 to 1948. Spadina Avenue is a major north–south road in downtown Toronto.
The Toronto Railway Company Belt Line was a streetcar route that operated in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The route was created by the Toronto Railway Company in 1891 and taken over by the Toronto Transportation Commission in 1921, which cancelled the route in 1923 as part of its reorganization of streetcar routes.
The Toronto Transit Commission operated the Bloor streetcar line along Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue, extending at its longest from Jane Street in the west end of the city to Luttrell Avenue in the east. Both Luttrell and Jane loops at the termini were transfer points between streetcars and suburban bus routes. The line was abandoned in 1966 with the opening of the Bloor-Danforth subway line, except for two stubs of the line abandoned in 1968.
Beginning operation in 1861, the Yonge streetcar line was the first streetcar line in Toronto and the first in Canada. It started off as a horsecar line and closed in 1954 operating two-unit trains of Peter Witt motors pulling a trailer. Under the Toronto Transportation Commission, the Yonge line was the busiest and most congested streetcar line in the city leading to its replacement in 1954 by the Yonge Subway line, also Toronto's first and the first in Canada.
The Rogers Road streetcar line was a streetcar line that operated mainly within the Township of York from 1924 to 1974. The line was owned by the Township of York Railways, which in turn was owned by its namesake municipality. The Township of York Railways contracted with the Toronto Transportation Commission, later the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), to operate the line.
The 514 Cherry was a streetcar route of the Toronto streetcar system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that operated from June 19, 2016, until October 7, 2018. The 514 operated through the financial district and downtown Toronto between Dufferin Gate Loop and the Distillery Loop. It used to supplement with the 504 King service along King Street, specifically to the dense residential areas in Liberty Village, the Canary District and the Distillery District. The City of Toronto's "King Street Visioning Study" proposed a transit and pedestrian corridor through which this route would operate.
Various organizations operated streetcars on Parliament street, in Toronto, Ontario. The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) discontinued scheduled service on Parliament in 1966, when it opened the Bloor-Danforth subway.
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.
References
- ↑ James Bow (2013-06-23). "The last Peter Witt (#2766) (Last Modified on June 23, 2013 10:10 AM)". Transit Toronto . Retrieved 2013-07-15.
- ↑ Pete Coulman, James Bow (2013-04-27). "A History of the TTC's Belt Line Streetcars". Transit Toronto . Retrieved 2013-07-15.
The proposal called for the historic cars to operate in a loop through downtown Toronto on their own route. Regular TTC fares would apply, and transfers to connecting routes would be offered and accepted. Recalling the BELT LINE operation that had anchored downtown streetcar service for thirty-two years, the new route was designated the BELT LINE TOUR TRAM.
- ↑ Steve Munro (2013-03-31). "Looking Back: Restoring the Peter Witt Cars 2766 and 2894". Archived from the original on 2015-03-04. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
1973 was quite a year for the streetcar system in Toronto. The TTC had just decided to keep its fleet, and embarked on the rebuilding of its PCCs. At the same time, an interest in TTC heritage led to the creation of the "Belt Line Tour Tram", a regular fare tour car looping around downtown.
- ↑ Beth Dunlop (1973-07-02). "Renovated 1923 Trolley A Ringing Success With Toronto Riders". Toronto: The Pittsburgh Press. p. 102. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
- ↑ "Welcome to the MyTTC Streetcar History Home Page" . Retrieved 2013-07-15.
1973 and 1974 would see TTC introducing the Belt Line Tour Tram summer only route using Peter Witt cars that ran King Street, Queen Street by Spadina Avenue in the west and Church Street in the east every 45 minutes between 10:00 AM and 9:00 PM seven days a week. It ran from May to September only. Regular fare and transfers were allowed to use this line. TTC would promote this line as a sightseeing trip giving various histories and other information by a tour guide.