Leslie Barns

In previous years, the Toronto Transit Commission has opened the doors to one of its several maintenance yards, such as Greenwood Yards, Russell Carhouse and Hillcrest Shops .

This year, as part of Doors Open, the TTC's brand new Leslie Barns were opened to the public to show where (eventually) 123 new Bombardier Flexity streetcars will be housed. By now, there should have been over 70 plying Toronto's streets. Production delays with the builder Bombardier has meant that only 20 are in the Commission's possession. One of these is being used for training purposes (4401), while the newest arrivals, cars 4420 and 4421 are undergoing testing. After several years of disrupting the neighbourhood surrounding the Barns, it gave the community an insight into what the source of their headaches and hopefully a source of pride for the entire city. That is if Bombardier manages to finally deliver the entire fleet.

Photos taken near Leslie Street and Lake Shore Boulevard East in Toronto, Ontario on May 28, 2016.

New Streetcars on the 510 Spadina Line

 

For the first day of revenue service for the new Bombardier Flexity streetcar fleet on the Toronto Transit Commission's 510 Spadina streetcar line, the TTC introduced cars 4400 and 4403 to the general public. This comes after their unveiling in local parades and months of testing both day and night.

Photos were taken from within or around the cars as they trundled along Spadina Avenue and Spadina Crescent on August 31, 2014.

Streetcars At The 2014 Beaches Lions Easter Parade

Photos of Toronto's rolling streetcar history (and future) taken along Queen Street East, between Silver Birch and Beech Avenues, Toronto, Ontario on April 20, 2014.

New Toronto Streetcar - Night Time Test Run

Nighttime shots of the TTC's new streetcar (4401) beginning a test run near Connaught and Queen Streets in Toronto, Ontario on April 9, 2014. 

For the daytime version, see my previous post here.

New Toronto Streetcar

Today I finally got to see Toronto's newest generation of streetcar in action as it entered a testing run from the Russell Carhouse at Queen and Connaught Streets in east-end Toronto. The sleek, quiet and LONG (30m) vehicles are meant to replace an aging fleet of Canadian (and Articulated) Light Rail Vehicles which have been plying Toronto streets since 1979 (1988 for the ALRVs). The first of these new quasi-"Flexity" cars will enter service on the Bathurst, Spadina and Harbourfront routes later in 2014.

Photos taken near Queen and Connaught Streets in Toronto, Ontario on April 2, 2014.



Some additional photos of the new (and old, older and REALLY old) cars are in in the posting TTC Hillcrest Shops Tour 2013 from November 2013.