Streetcar No. 4041, Where Are You?

Of the city’s 196 streetcars, only one is air conditioned; streetcar No. 4041 is the new option for keepin’ your cool. You can catch this Rocket on the Spadina 510 route and since there’s a large white box perched upon its roof, you’ll be able to spot it from afar. The cooling system for Canadian Light Rail Vehicle No. 4041 is a $50,000 trial that began in early July on the Queen 501 route.

The TTC intends to refurbish half or perhaps all of the streetcars over the next few years. While the city would like to refurbish all the vehicles, the TTC would rather replace 96 of them with new streetcars. The estimated total AC project cost: $5 million. The estimated cost of an entire streetcar makeover (including AC, new propulsion systems, and other improvements which remain a mystery to the general public): $1.3 million per vehicle. Fifteen cool streetcars will hit the tracks by either this December or next December (depending on your news source).

Steve Munro (our local transit activist) fills us in on other TTC service improvements that will (or should) be implemented this September.

Photo from David Topping's 69 Stations project.