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After 35 years in service and “a lot” of stops across Toronto, the oldest subway train in the TTC’s fleet, the last with bench seating and without air conditioning, was retired Friday morning.

At 7:27 a.m., the H4 train left eastbound for Greenwood Station. From there it crossed the city twice on the Bloor-Danforth line. The train’s arrival at Kennedy Station after 9:00 a.m. was its last stop.

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“I don’t think anybody will miss the lack of air conditioning, but they were a good stable hard-working subway train, very reliable in its day,” said TTC spokesperson Brad Ross. “It’s progress, but it’s also some nostalgia on a day like today.”

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From the 1960s up until 1990, H-series trains, easily recognizable by their orange bench seats, were built by Hawker Siddeley Canada, (“H” for Hawker) and later by its new owner, Urban Transportation Development Corporation.

A couple of the train’s cars will still be used by TTC workers as work cars, transporting maintenance workers and equipment after hours, and the rest of the train will be sold for scrap, Mr. Ross said.

In 24 to 36 months the entire Yonge-University-Spadina line will use the newest subway model, the Toronto Rocket, and the entire Bloor-Danforth line will be switched over to the T1, the train commuters on the Yonge line are used to.

Mr. Ross said the TTC is now well on its way to having a completely updated and air-conditioned service.

“The entire TTC fleet of buses and subways are now air-conditioned,” he said. “Next will be streetcars.”

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