news Spotted: Toronto’s Brand-New Streetcars

A vehicle from the TTC's new fleet of streetcars has arrived for testing.





SPOTTED BY: The Junctioneer (who asked us not to use his real name)

WHERE: CPR Lambton Yard

WHEN: Tuesday, September 25, at approximately 7 p.m.

WHAT: First we saw the renderings. A little later, a model we could actually walk through. And now, evidence that they are actually on their way. Yesterday evening, one Toronto resident spotted the first test vehicle from the new fleet of TTC streetcars, at the Canadian Pacific Railway yard at Runnymede Road and Dundas Street West.

The vehicle arrived from Thunder Bay, TTC spokesperson Brad Ross told us by email, and will be moved to the TTC’s Hillcrest Yard soon for a first round of technical tests. Early next year you might spot the car, along with two additional test vehicles which will be arriving here soon, on Toronto streets, for further tests on the road. The new streetcars will enter service in 2014, gradually replacing the current fleet, with a scheduled completion of that process in 2018. We don’t have the final word on which route will be first to get the new vehicles, but Ross said it is “very likely” to be the Spadina 510.

This post originally stated that the first route to get new streetcars might be the Harbourfront 510 line. The correct name for the route is the Spadina 510. Torontoist regrets the error.

Spotted features interesting things our readers discover in their journeys across Toronto. If you spot something interesting, send a photo and pertinent details to [email protected].