Streetcar News

[lip]

3 hours ago, ttc rider said:

That is incorrect. There was a hiatus between Monday, Dec 30, 2019 and Monday, Jan 13, 2020 inclusive, immediately after 511 Bathurst was fully converted to LF operation, during which time the 508 was indeed operated with buses.

However, starting on Tuesday, Jan 14, 2020, streetcar service returned to 508 and, save for a few days immediately after Jan 14, when buses and streetcars ran together, it was a consistent streetcar operation until Tuesday, March 17 inclusive.

What ended up happening was that there were days when additional RAD buses would be sent out in addition to the 5 streetcars runs. But the scheduled streetcar service was being deployed consistently.  Even after March 17, there were occasional streetcar runs on 508, despite ridership dropping precipitously.

Like I was saying earlier, the 508 operated seemingly whenever the TTC felt like providing the service (around February). How do I know this?

I used the service basically every day after streetcar service returned, and there was consistent streetcar service for the first few weeks up until around mid-February. That's where things started to get screwed up for whatever reason and there would be either: no streetcars/buses at all on the 508 at all at certain peak periods, RAD buses that would replace the streetcars along the actual route, RAD buses that would do some kind of odd diversion via Queen and Dufferin, or actual 508 streetcars operated as scheduled. There would be things happening where there would be something to the effect of: 2 days of 508 streetcar service, followed the next day by no 508 service, than 508 streetcar and RAD bus service, etc..

Point i'm making here is that 508 service was really hit or miss, all or nothing.

 

5 hours ago, CLRV4002 said:

In the meantime the 508 should just be run with buses via Park Lawn to avoid Humber Loop entirely 

When 508 RAD buses were being used, they usually operated via Park Lawn. There would be the off occasion they would use Windermere and Lake Shore, but 95% of the time it was through Park Lawn, as a result Humber Loop was skipped entirely.

 

15 hours ago, Xtrazsteve said:

The 508 doesn't really run well westbound in PM rush. It just gets stuck at Humber loop behind all the 501s. Ultimately a southern Etobicoke to downtown connection would have to be replaced with a rapid Waterfront West LRT with a new tunnel connecting to Union (not via Queens Quay) and 501 relocated to a new Park Lawn loop to be successful.

The 508 is horrific in the PM Rush Westbound. Blame this on the TTC's ridiculous schedule padding which screws up operations at terminals. That and the fact there are some moronic operators who choose to park the streetcars in front of a 508 car, instead of using the loop to park while they are on a break so they can allow the 508 to proceed.

There are times the 508 is held up for 15-20 mins waiting to get through the loop because there would be 4 cars ahead of it.

[Xtrazsteve]

Keep in mind that the Flexity's aren't reliable enough. Some days there's nothing available and the division decided not to send any out on the 508. Bombardier and the division management is more to blame. I also wonder if the TTC doesn't have the capacity to do all maintenance work that's causing more problems.

[63 Ossington]

Overhead problem at St. Clair West Station since at least the early afternoon; initially they were turning streetcars back west at Oakwood loop and cars east of it were stranded, pantos down. Buses were running the entire length of the route it appeared (Signs said Keele and St Clair Stn).  Later in the day the TTC stated that streetcars have been removed altogether from the route and were running shuttles while repairs were being done over the rest of the day. 33/90/126 looping via local streets, shuttles serving street level stops at SCW.

Photo is of stranded 4578 around 2 PM.

[CLRV4002]

8 hours ago, 63 Ossington said:

Overhead problem at St. Clair West Station since at least the early afternoon; initially they were turning streetcars back west at Oakwood loop and cars east of it were stranded, pantos down. Buses were running the entire length of the route it appeared (Signs said Keele and St Clair Stn).  Later in the day the TTC stated that streetcars have been removed altogether from the route and were running shuttles while repairs were being done over the rest of the day. 33/90/126 looping via local streets, shuttles serving street level stops at SCW.

Photo is of stranded 4578 around 2 PM.

This morning there is also no service east of Broadview on both the 501 and 506 for what the TTC is also calling overhead issues. Coincidence?

[nfitz]

1 hour ago, CLRV4002 said:

This morning there is also no service east of Broadview on both the 501 and 506 for what the TTC is also calling overhead issues. Coincidence?

That appears to have been on Queen near Coxwell based on the 22 and 501 detours; 506 cleared about 9:20, (506 is currently running from Coxwell Loop to High Park, with track replacement going on between Coxwell and Main).

[CLRV4002]

2 minutes ago, nfitz said:

That appears to have been on Queen near Coxwell based on the 22 and 501 detours; 506 cleared about 9:20, (506 is currently running from Coxwell Loop to High Park, with track replacement going on between Coxwell and Main).

At present there seems to also be quite a few 505 and 501 cars on King. Is that just short-turns to maintain headways or another issue? Why should the 505 be impacted? 

[bn2189]

I noticed 4417 on a flatcar at CP Lambton Yard tonight.  If the Wiki is right and it was "sent for repairs on 12 June," it sure hasn't gotten very far in a week...

Lance Gleich, Toronto ON

[ttc rider]

25 minutes ago, bn2189 said:

I noticed 4417 on a flatcar at CP Lambton Yard tonight.  If the Wiki is right and it was "sent for repairs on 12 June," it sure hasn't gotten very far in a week...

Lance Gleich, Toronto ON

The Wiki is correct, in that car 4417 was physically loaded onto the railcar transporter at Hillcrest and therefore off TTC property last Friday, June 12.

However, CP took their time and only picked up the shipment from Hillcrest yesterday. There is more on the topic in the Bombardier Flexity deliveries thread.

[smallspy]

On 6/20/2020 at 12:50 AM, ttc rider said:

The Wiki is correct, in that car 4417 was physically loaded onto the railcar transporter at Hillcrest and therefore off TTC property last Friday, June 12.

Nitpick - the portion of the siding where the cars are loaded and unloaded is still on TTC property.

 

It was off of the TTC rails on that Friday, but technically still remained on the property until the flatcar that the car sits on was taken away.

 

Dan

[Tom1122]

I looked on Transsee earlier and it said 4603 was on the 503. Can anyone confirm the 503 is being run with streetcars?

[GTAmissions1]

30 minutes ago, Tom1122 said:

I looked on Transsee earlier and it said 4603 was on the 503. Can anyone confirm the 503 is being run with streetcars?

Checked NextBus and there are around 10 streetcars operating on the route.

Streetcar service was restored as of June 21st (technically 22nd because it only runs on weekdays). 

[MK78]

I saw one at Bingham loop yesterday while passing by. Didn't catch the number. There was also 22A coxwell bus, which I thought was strange, I thought the streetcars returning to 503 would negate the need for 22A running during the week.

[bus_7246]

1 hour ago, MK78 said:

I saw one at Bingham loop yesterday while passing by. Didn't catch the number. There was also 22A coxwell bus, which I thought was strange, I thought the streetcars returning to 503 would negate the need for 22A running during the week.

You may have seen the streetcar before the car heads west to turn at Leslie in the evening

[Ed T.]

11 hours ago, MK78 said:

I saw one at Bingham loop yesterday while passing by. Didn't catch the number. There was also 22A coxwell bus, which I thought was strange, I thought the streetcars returning to 503 would negate the need for 22A running during the week.

 

10 hours ago, bus_7246 said:

You may have seen the streetcar before the car heads west to turn at Leslie in the evening

Yeah, if this was early evening, the streetcar would have been a straggler.

Of course the Kingston Road lines always run exactly on schedule, but there might have been a wee glitch with this run. 

[MK78]

It was around 7PM...

[Andythagiant]

1 hour ago, Ed T. said:

 

Yeah, if this was early evening, the streetcar would have been a straggler.

Of course the Kingston Road lines always run exactly on schedule, but there might have been a wee glitch with this run. 

3 of them were running in a pack westbound at 5 PM yesterday.

[nfitz]

4 hours ago, MK78 said:

It was around 7PM...

The last westbound 503 isn't scheduled to leave Bingham loop until 7:24 pm - and it's every 10 minutes until that point. Meanwhile the first 22A leaves Bingham at 7:03 pm, running every 11 minutes.

So about a half-hour overlap.

Though even a few years ago with 502/503 each running every 12 minutes, it wasn't unusual to see a 503 heading east a half-hour after the scheduled time, the schedule was so absurdly unrealistic. Though, that's hopefully not the case anymore as they are using about 12 cars every 10 minutes, as opposed to the impossible 6 cars every 12 minutes on 503.

[Xtrazsteve]

12 hours ago, nfitz said:

The last westbound 503 isn't scheduled to leave Bingham loop until 7:24 pm - and it's every 10 minutes until that point. Meanwhile the first 22A leaves Bingham at 7:03 pm, running every 11 minutes.

So about a half-hour overlap.

Though even a few years ago with 502/503 each running every 12 minutes, it wasn't unusual to see a 503 heading east a half-hour after the scheduled time, the schedule was so absurdly unrealistic. Though, that's hopefully not the case anymore as they are using about 12 cars every 10 minutes, as opposed to the impossible 6 cars every 12 minutes on 503.

Although the website says the last car leaves Bingham Loop at 7:24pm, nextbus schedule indicates 5:14pm is in fact the last trip departing for downtown, 5:24pm - 7:24pm trips (every 10 min) are bounded for the carhouse. There is 13 cars scheduled for rush hour and 12 for midday. 

I think the unrealistic trip times have been fixed. With the use of new cars and low ridership, I witness they run rather empty on at Queen East around 4:30pm last Tuesday.

[nfitz]

23 hours ago, Xtrazsteve said:

Although the website says the last car leaves Bingham Loop at 7:24pm, nextbus schedule indicates 5:14pm is in fact the last trip departing for downtown, 5:24pm - 7:24pm trips (every 10 min) are bounded for the carhouse. There is 13 cars scheduled for rush hour and 12 for midday. 

Last cars after PM rush are always going back to the yard from Bingham. I was just trying to point out that it's normal to see both streetcars and buses there at 7pm ... as per the above post.

[ttc rider]

Bathurst St at Bloor has re-opened to streetcar traffic as of yesterday evening, so change-offs between Hillcrest complex and the rest of the system are possible again. Route 512 will remain based out of Hillcrest for the remainder of the summer board.

[bus_7246]

44 minutes ago, ttc rider said:

Bathurst St at Bloor has re-opened to streetcar traffic as of yesterday evening, so change-offs between Hillcrest complex and the rest of the system are possible again. Route 512 will remain based out of Hillcrest for the remainder of the summer board.

We just finished signing work for the August board period yesterday, and St Clair operations returns to Leslie effective August 2nd

[ttc rider]

3 hours ago, bus_7246 said:

We just finished signing work for the August board period yesterday, and St Clair operations returns to Leslie effective August 2nd

Thanks. I should have said "...for the remainder of the current board", since August is still technically "summer". Thanks for the correction !

[Tramguy]

The last  TTC SERVICE SUMMARY I am able to find, ended on May 9th.  Where would I get subsequent and/or current boards?

[Mar_AC_23]

42 minutes ago, Tramguy said:

The last  TTC SERVICE SUMMARY I am able to find, ended on May 9th.  Where would I get subsequent and/or current boards?

The TTC hasn't posted any of the service summaries beyond the March board.

[Mar_AC_23]

On 7/29/2020 at 5:31 PM, Tramguy said:

The last  TTC SERVICE SUMMARY I am able to find, ended on May 9th.  Where would I get subsequent and/or current boards?

New service summary posted: https://www.ttc.ca/PDF/Transit_Planning/Service Summary_2020-06-21.pdf