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Meet Your New Streetcars, Toronto

TTC unveils renderings of the new LRVs, hitting Toronto rails in 2013.

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As regular transit riders know, Toronto needs new streetcars. Our current fleet is more than worn around the edges; at the end of their expected lifespan, many vehicles are spending more time in repair shops and less on the rails. With ever-increasing ridership, the TTC was also eager to increase capacity on each vehicle, and has, moroever, to respond to growing requirements around accessibility in the transit system.

Bombardier won the contract to build the 204 light rail vehicles (LRVs) in 2009, at a cost of a little more than one billion dollars. After some public consultation to see what Torontonians were hoping for in their shiny new streetcars, and with the help of a panel of experts, Bombardier refined their design—and today the TTC released renderings of what these new vehicles will look like.

Each new LRV consists of five sections (one is the operator’s cab), including one that contains an accessibility ramp and a second that has designated space for bikes. For many though, the most noticeable change will be all-door loading, via two regular and two double-width doors. This will hopefully help with better distribution of riders on the cars (no more “please move back!” announcements?) and also speed up the process of loading passengers at each stop. According to the TTC—which has just put up a website dedicated to the LRVs—we’ll start seeing the vehicles in 2013, and eventually they’ll replace the entire existing fleet.

All renderings courtesy of the TTC.

The TTC is hosting a public event next week, to introduce the new LRVs. A “mock-up of the front half of the new light rail vehicle” will be on display at the Hillcrest TTC complex (1138 Bathurst Street) from November 12–15, 10 a.m.–7 p.m. each day.

CORRECTION, November 7, 1:50 p.m. This post originally incorrectly listed the address for the Hillcrest TTC complex as 1128 Bathurst Street. The correct address is 1138 Bathurst Street. We regret the error.

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Comments

  • Anonymous

    why do streetcars have to look like spaceships (for white people to ride them… poor people and yuppies don’t seem to care), unlike Americans people in Toronto seem to enjoy there regular looking trolly cars

    • http://twitter.com/maharper82 Matthew Harper

      I think it’s because a spaceship design is a cheap way to look expensive. But, c’mon who doesn’t love spaceships?

    • Tramways

      Racist much?

      Streetcars do not have to look like spaceships for “white people” to ride them (apparently in your world there is no such thing as a poor white person or a white yuppie). Perhaps you meant middle class or bourgeois, but simply opted for an easy slur instead?

      And as for Americans and streetcars … I would point out that in places like Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, New Orleans and several other American cities there are streetcars, both modern and historic, which do not look like spaceships and which are used by patrons from all walks of life — including white people. In those four cities you will find vintage streetcars still lovingly maintained and used in daily service as part of modern transit operations, together with more modern vehicles.

      As for what you disdain as “spaceship design,” it is characteristic of contemporary light rail vehicles being built, designed and used in cities all over the world — sleek and contemporary, yes, but most importantly designed for comfort and ease of access to all passengers. They are intended to be sturdy but also easy to maintain.

      This is somehow a problem?

    • Anonymous

      Brotherman, are you off of your meds again? It seems that you are, by this comment that you just made.

    • Gpwaceo

      Because there are no non-white poor people or yuppies? Idiot.

  • http://twitter.com/tdotdan Dan D

    Anyone else notice the first picture destination looks like it says “So longbranch”

    • http://twitter.com/AJeffGowland Aidan Gowland

      501

  • http://twitter.com/kretzm Michael Kretz

    Europe has had these types of streetcars for years. I’m glad we are finally catching up.

  • http://blog.yasmary.com yaz

    This may be a stupid question, but if you don’t have a metropass, how do you get on the streetcar on any of the other 3 doors?

    • http://twitter.com/larrylarry laurence

      The new streetcars will all operate with proof-of-payment, so you can board at any of the four doors, which will greatly reduce the time a streetcar is stopped at a stop (a big plus for drivers!). There will be a fare vending machine on-board and the TTC will be installing on-street ticket machines at many busy stops.

      • http://blog.yasmary.com yaz

        Kinda sucks that now that it has 4 doors, you still have to board through the front because you have tokens. :(

        • http://www.facebook.com/pedro.marques Pedro Marques

          Read the comment above you: you can board in any door, regardless of your method of payment. If you’re paying with tokens, you will drop your token in one of the vending machines inside the streetcar and get a transfer or you can do so at many stops that will be putting in ticket vending machines.

    • http://piorkowski.ca qviri

      Typically this is done through either purchasing tickets at machines at stations (a’la Viva), purchasing tickets in advance and somehow ‘canceling’ them once onboard, or purchasing tickets from a number of machines onboard, possibly implicitly by beeping in with an RFID card. First solution is unfeasible in Toronto given the number of stops in our legacy routes, and it’s going to be 2013 so hopefully we won’t be canceling paper tickets. Maybe we’ll have payment cards by then…

    • Jacob Louy

      People would pay by tapping their Presto Card on card-readers installed at every door as they enter. Those who don’t hold Presto Cards board the streetcar and purchase a ticket from the on-board ticket vending machines.

      Not sure if Metropasses and tokens would be phased out or not.

      • Anonymous

        I like my Metropass very much. Since I have no need or desire to travel outside of Toronto on public transit, the ‘benefit’ of being able to seamlessly move between transit systems is useless to me. I want to have a card, pay a fee once a month, and ride the TTC as often as I like. If that option was folded into the Presto card, I’d be all ears.

        • http://twitter.com/torkevo Kevin

          …good thing it is ;) You can have a money amount and monthly or weekly passes on it. You could have your Metropass on it, then tap onto the GO at Union, tap off in Oakville (since GO fare is distance based), and then tap onto Oakville Transit (where it only deducts the reduced fare since it knows you’re transferring). It’s quite nice, I got one for just that purpose… now only to wait for Metropasses on Presto :)

  • Keithtalent5000

    Does it have the magic ability to proceed through vehicles waiting to turn left?

    • http://piorkowski.ca qviri

      Current streetcars have that too. It’s not like they don’t have the power. It’s just not considered proper to push vehicles out of the way :(

  • http://piorkowski.ca qviri

    Can’t wait to see one of these make a hard right turn. Road snake coming through!

    • Anonymous

      I’ve seen the system they have in Manchester, where they have long-ish trams. It’s weird, but it works.

  • John Duncan

    Awesome. Though I wish they’d kept a centre circle headlight, for tradition’s sake.

    Also really hoping the TTC starts talking more about where these will be rolling out first.
    i.e. anything other than starting with the King & Spadina lines seems insane.

    • Boxcar

      I believe Queen Street will be getting them first because the ALRVs are the most difficult to maintain and the TTC wants to get rid of them as soon as possible.

      • Eliot Rossi

        I’ve heard Queen will be getting them last.

        • Anonymous

          No, it’s more logical for Queen to get it first.

  • therandomdialer888

    Looks good. I hope the doors open and close faster than the crappy doors on the new subways and new buses.

  • http://twitter.com/brianyyz Brian B

    Just rode similar streetcars in Zurich and Geneva. Looking forward to them in Toronto!

    • http://twitter.com/kretzm Michael Kretz

      Same. Swiss transit system is a grade way above ours.

  • Carmen

    Thse don’t look wheelchair accessible.

    • http://twitter.com/AJeffGowland Aidan Gowland

      The article talks about how they are accessible.

  • DownWithSeats

    There appears to be insufficient space between the pairs of double seats for a person to stand while also leaving room for other passengers to move past them. Given how crowded the current streetcars get during rush hour, perhaps seats should simply have been omitted from the new design entirely (apart from a few near the front doors for the elderly and individuals with disabilities).

  • gmckhool

    The accessible area of the streetcar looks like it suffers from the same problem as the new subway cars: the paucity of poles to hold on to. That huge center area is useless with poles. I shake my head every time I get on the new subway cars and try to look for someplace to hold on around the accessible seats.

    • gmckhool

      Sorry I meant to say useless withOUT poles.

    • Anonymous

      Poles by the doors encourages clustering at the doors, and central poles block passages, which reduces how many people can board the train during rush hour.

    • Anonymous

      There are over head poles to hang onto in these areas, a person of average height should have no problem using them if they’re as high up as the over head poles on the new and previous version of the subway trains.

      The aisles do look incredibly narrow to me, hopefully that’s just a case of the lens used for these photos distorting the perspective, though I doubt it. Regardless I’m looking forward to the new streetcars, they should really speed up the commute with all door passenger loading and no stairs.

      • Jacob Louy

        I suspect it’s because of the bogie and wheel equipment that inevitably takes a bit of floor space. Could be wrong though…

    • Anonymous

      Put poles in there, and you’ve just made it an obstacle course for people in wheelchairs.

  • http://blog.yasmary.com yaz

    Aside from the fact that they are longer… they seem really small.

    • http://twitter.com/AJeffGowland Aidan Gowland

      They seat 70, and can have a maximum of 181 people stand…

  • W. K. Lis

    Note that the mock-up is written up as being the front half of the new light rail vehicle. Both downtown streetcars and Eglinton light rail vehicle will look similar, except that the streetcar will have doors on one side only and driver cabins at one end, while the Eglinton LRV will have doors on both sides and driver cabins at both ends. Don’t know for sure, but the Eglinton LRV could also be wider by a few centimetres.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=570176979 Greg Boone

    Some of those seat configurations look as if they will really restrict passenger flow through the cars. It totally reminds me of those buses with the raised sections in the back. I would hope the width between the seats would be increased.

    • http://piorkowski.ca qviri

      The buses with the raised sections wouldn’t be nearly as problematic if they had a third door in the back and people could enter and leave through it.

    • http://twitter.com/brianyyz Brian B

      It is more that the bogies take up room, narrowing the walkways. The interior looks about the same as other modern vehicles of this type, be that they are in Budapest, Geneva, or Zurich. But if you want classy looking vehicles, go to Zurich. *So* attractive inside.

  • http://twitter.com/AJeffGowland Aidan Gowland

    Overdue, but I’ll take it.

  • Peter

    The best part of these new babies is hopefully the extinction of the morons who are too clueless, or too self-centered, to move to the back of the streetcar.

  • W. K. Lis

    Would be nice if they could display a
    Toronto Railway Company ancient streetcar,
    a Toronto Transportation Commission Peter Witt streetcar,
    a Toronto Transit Commission Presidents Conference Committee (PCC) streetcar,
    and a Toronto Transit Transit Commission Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) streetcar
    all at the same time they show off
    the Bombardier Low-Floor Light Rail Vehicle (LFLRV) streetcar mock-up at Hillcrest.

    • Anonymous

      For what? Those other streetcars can be seen any other time that the TTC wants to show them. This is the chance to show what the new streetcars are like.

      • W. K. Lis

        When was the last time we saw a TRC streetcar, except at the Halton County Radial Railway museum, in Toronto? If they were displayed next to each other, at least we could compare the new streetcar with those from the past.

    • http://twitter.com/mark_dowling Mark Dowling

      Sorry WK but this is about the future. We need people to concentrate on how good the new ones are and not be distracted by the legacy stuff.

      I know it’s anathema to the streetcar railfans but I would consign the Witts, PCCs, CLRVs and ALRVs to somewhere like Halton without a second thought. My regret is that we didn’t go the whole hog and buy double end double side door cars for downtown which would have allowed crossover operation in addition to loops – particularly given the massive cost an increase in capacity at Union Loop will entail.

      • Anonymous

        Actually, I think that the CLRVs and ALRVs could be sold to places like Shaker Heights (where there are already a couple of PCC cars now running and carrying passengers.)

  • Jay Whitehead

    We got something similar here in Australia – Melbourne not to long ago. The French ALSTOM Citadis C Class (pic) http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/Tram_Melbourne/3010-Collins-St-7-b.jpg

  • Jaaaaaaaat

    FELT SEATS! TO COLLECT FECES URINE AND BARF LIQUIDS!!!

    use plastic please.

    • Anonymous

      Felt seats don’t break apart, and the plastic ones are hard to sit on; plus, some people like to (or have to) travel a long way on the streetcar home or to work, so comfort is essential; that’s why the seats are made of felt, you fool. As well, the introduction of Presto and also of fare machines at the door in the car itself will most likely keep out the homeless/fare scoffers, so your homeless-disdaining self will feel safe, don’t worry.

  • http://twitter.com/mark_dowling Mark Dowling

    If cars like this were ready to roll when St Clair reopened with proof-of-payment/all-door-boarding etc., maybe more people would have felt it was worth the hassle.

    • Anonymous

      Mark, the people who complained about this were and are pretty ignorant, and just needed to get a clue. St. Clair was changing anyway, and half of the places that were there would have closed down even if there hadn’t been any construction of the right-of-way lanes. The truth is, people love cars way too much this supposedly advanced city, and that factored into why people were against it so much. At least now that these new streetcars are coming, whatever concerns about clogged traffic there were will become irrelevant.

  • FASHIONOTES

    This is the best news I’ve heard in a long time! Can we get a little AC up in these new streetcars?!

    -M from http://fashionotes.com

    • Anonymous

      They will all be equipped with A/C!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Antonio-Da-Costa/639812638 Antonio Da Costa

    I see we are catching up with the rest of the word. I have ridden on street car’s very much like this in Amsterdame. What we need now are more people to be respectful, curtius and considerate riders who don’t try to trash or deface them.

  • J-Dub

    they’ll also have air conditioning, which is about-bloody-time. i’m not digging the seats facing each other, but i suppose that’s small potatoes. i like the accomdation for bicycles. hell, i’ll bet even rob ford must be (begrudgingly) thinking that these look pretty dope.

  • Toronto Biatch

    Can we please get more subway lines in the central city rather than expanding the current ones into nowhere? Hell of a lot better than these slow things. It’s faster to walk!

    • Anonymous

      For what? The reason Transit City was being built in the first place was because subways were (and are) nor really feasible anymore (sorry, I don’t think that the DRL would work). LRT lines cost less to build, don’t require that much tunneling except in certain sections of a city, and are just all around better than subways (especially considering how Toronto subways don’t work anymore with all the water damage they suffer from the big snowfall this city gets.) The main problem with streetcars and how fast they are (or aren’t) is due to the amount of automobiles on the street, and not the streetcars themselves.