510 Spadina

510 Spadina
Flexity Outlook streetcar southbound on Spadina Ave. south of Queen St.
Overview
Type	Streetcar Route
Locale	Toronto, Ontario
Termini	Spadina Station (North) Union Station (South)
Stations	Spadina Union Queens Quay
Operation
Operator(s)	Toronto Transit Commission
Depot(s)	Leslie Barns, Russell
Rolling stock	CLRV, ALRV, Flexity Outlook
Technical
Line length	6.165 km (3.83 mi) [1]
Track gauge	4 ft 10 ^7⁄8 in (1,495 mm) - TTC Gauge
Electrification	600 VDC Overhead
Route number	510

510 Spadina (317 Spadina during overnight periods) is a streetcar route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission.

History

A Peter Witt streetcar on the original line, beside the Spadina Hotel on King St.

Spadina's streetcar service began in 1891, when a loop route called the Belt Line operated on Bloor Street, Spadina Avenue, Sherbourne Street, and King Street.^[2] In a 1923 reconfiguration of the streetcar network, this service was discontinued and Spadina became a separate streetcar route, which was operated until 1948, when it was replaced by buses.^[3] The tracks on Spadina between Dundas Street and Harbord Street were still used by the Harbord streetcar route until its discontinuation in 1966.^[3]

CLRV 4074 travels south on Spadina, south of College Street

The modern 510 Spadina route began as the 604 Harbourfront LRT route along Queens Quay in 1990. The route was later renamed the 510 Harbourfront. It became the 510 Spadina and replaced the 77 Spadina bus when a new dedicated right-of-way was opened in 1997, which extended the track north along Spadina Avenue from Queens Quay to Spadina station on the Bloor subway line.

The term "LRT" ("light-rail transit"), which had been adopted to project an image of modernity, was dropped when it led to residents and newspaper reporters imagining elevated guideways like those of the Scarborough RT running through their streets. It was found that the project was much easier to sell to the public and politicians when it was described as an improvement to the speed and reliability of traditional streetcar service.

In 2000, when the Queens Quay streetcar tracks were extended west to Bathurst and Fleet Streets, the name Harbourfront reappeared for a 509 Harbourfront route between Union and Exhibition Loop. The 509 and 510 routes share the trackage that had been used by the 604.

CLRV streetcar on a winter day on the 510 Spadina line

In 2005, The Globe and Mail newspaper published an article with criticisms that the switch to a dedicated right-of-way streetcar had been less beneficial than promised. Based on TTC documents, the author argued that service is about one minute slower (from Queens Quay to Bloor) during afternoon rush hour than in 1990. The author also cited TTC documents which show that the cost-to-revenue ratio of the route has fallen with the switch from buses to streetcars.^[4] Mitch Stambler, the TTC’s manager of service planning, responded by pointing out that streetcars offer a smoother and quieter ride, zero emissions, and economic development.^[4]

Ridership increased from 26,000 per day on the #77 bus route to 35,000 per day on the Spadina streetcar in 2004 and to over 45,000 per day in 2005-2006^[5] Streetcars on the Spadina portion run every 2–3 minutes every day.

On December 15, 2008, the next vehicle arrival notification system was installed for the 510 streetcar in the Spadina and Union subway stations. The next vehicle arrival notification system includes a display screen that shows the location of the streetcars in "real" time with a delay of one minute.^[6]

On June 18, 2012, all streetcar service on the line was suspended and replaced by buses.^[7] This was to allow major track work to be completed in preparation for TTC's low-floor Bombardier Transportation custom-made Flexity Outlook streetcars. In June 2013, it was announced that the Spadina line was to be the first to receive the new vehicles.^[8] The upgrades were completed and full streetcar service was restored two years later on August 31, 2014, including a ceremony at 10:00 am when the first two accessible low-floor Flexity vehicles officially entered revenue service.^[9] Coinciding with the launch of the new vehicles, the route became designated as a Proof-of-payment (POP) all-door boarding service, the first to be implemented full-time, as opposed to daytime hours (7 am to 7 pm) used on routes 501 Queen and 508 Lake Shore. This was necessary because operators of the Flexity vehicles are situated inside an enclosed cab and is not responsible for fare collection as on the CLRVs and ALRVs.^[10]

On September 6, 2015, after a 13-year absence, the TTC reinstated its overnight service on this route. The night service was designated as 317 Spadina, and was part of the expanded Blue Night Network streetcar services resulting from a $95 million investment from Toronto City Council. During overnight periods, streetcars operate approximately every 30 minutes. The TTC had operated an overnight service using buses on Spadina from 1987 until 1992 when it was discontinued due to a series of cutbacks in TTC service.

With the January 3, 2016 service changes, it was expected that the 510 Spadina streetcar line would normally operate exclusively with the TTC's newer Flexity streetcars, thus making 510 Spadina the first fully wheelchair-accessible streetcar route in the city. However, older ALRV streetcars may be used on this line as backups in the event of insufficient availability of the Flexity streetcars.^[11]

Route

510 Spadina
Legend
Yonge–University line Bloor–Danforth line Spadina Station  127  Sussex Avenue Harbord Street  94  Willcocks Street Knox College College Street  506  Nassau Street Dundas Street West  505  Sullivan Street Queen Street West  501  Richmond Street West Adelaide Street West Charlotte Street King Street West  504  Front Street West CN Oakville sub. CP MacTier sub. Bremner Boulevard Gardiner Expressway Queens Quay Loop ↑ Spadina Av. ↓ Queens Quay 509 to Exhibition Lower Spadina Avenue  509  Rees Street Lower Simcoe Street York Street ↑ Queen's Quay ↓ Bay Street Queens Quay Station  Island ferry   6/6A   97B  Union Station  6/6A   72A/72B   509  Yonge–University line GO, VIA & UPX

510 streetcars are operated in their own right-of-way (ROW), except for the one-way short turn loop at Spadina and King streets, via Adelaide Street West and Charlotte Street. There are no plans to institute a right-of-way here as it would not benefit operation significantly.

Most stops along the routes are surface stops with islands separating the regular traffic from the streetcar tracks, and have streetcar traffic signals, partial shelters, and railings to protect patrons from the traffic.

Streetcars enter underground subway stations at Union and Spadina TTC stations, and a dedicated underground streetcar station at Queens Quay. Except late at night, every other or two of three streetcars operate only between Spadina subway station and King Street, the busiest portion of the route.

Route branches

• 510 Spadina to Union Station/510 Spadina to Spadina Station: Spadina to Union via Queens Quay
• 510 Spadina to King: Southbound from Spadina to Spadina Ave and King St.
• 510 Spadina to Queens Quay and Spadina: Southbound from Spadina to Queens Quay and Spadina Loop

Points of interest

Location	Stops
University of Toronto	Sussex Avenue – College Street
Kensington Market	College Street – Dundas Street
George Brown College	Dundas Street
Chinatown	College Street – Queen Street
Fashion District	Queen Street – Bremner Boulevard
Rogers Centre	Lower Spadina Avenue – Simcoe Street
CN Tower	Lower Simcoe Street
Queen's Quay Terminal	York Street, Queen's Quay Station
Harbourfront Centre Islands ferry docks	Queens Quay Station

^[12]

Stops

510 Spadina southbound at Harbord St.

Stops along 510 consist of a raised concrete platform with a partially covered shelter and railings along the entire boarding area. Platforms are located on the far-side of most intersections, to make room for left-turn lanes on the near side. TTC streetcars are equipped with a Surface Vehicle Automatic Stop Announcement System (SVASAS) which calls out the stops through the public address system and on the LED board.

See also

• Toronto streetcar system

References

1. Toronto Transit Commission (September 18, 2009). "TTC Service Summary" (PDF).
2. Mike Filey (2003). "Toronto Sketches 7: The Way We Were". Dundurn Publishing. pp. 19–21. ISBN 9781550024487. Retrieved November 2012.
3. John F. Bromley and Jack May (1973). 50 Years of Progressive Transit. Electric Railroaders' Association. pp. 37, 74, 107, and map section.
4. Stephen Wickens (May 7, 2005). "RAPID TRANSIT? NOT ON SPADINA Summary".
5. http://www.lightrailnow.org/news/n_newslog001.htm, http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/pdf/ridership_cost_stats_bus_streetcar_05_06.pdf
6. TTC launches next vehicle arrival notification pilot project
7. Mackenzie, Robert (13 June 2012). ""Get on the bus, the Spadina bus"...". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
8. Kalinowski, Tess (18 June 2013). "TTC announces Spadina as first line for new streetcars". Thestar.com (Toronto Star). Torstar. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
9. Munro, Steve (5 September 2014). "Flexities Debut on Spadina". Transit & Politics. WordPress. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
10. "Proof-of-Payment (POP)". Fares & Passes. Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved March 2015.
11. Steve Munro (4 December 2015). "TTC Service Changes Effective January 3, 2016". Retrieved 2015-12-06.
12. "510 Spadina: Route Description". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved 2009-10-06.

External links

• Trains and Streetcars
• Route 510 - Spadina Streetcar (Transit Toronto)
• Light Rail Now! Newslog