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TTC Service Changes Effective October 15, 2017

The service changes for the October-November period are relatively minor.

On the streetcar network, provisions for construction diversions on 505 Dundas and 506 Carlton end, but for 501 Queen and related routes a new project at McCaul plus the ongoing streetcar shortage leave service in that corridor with temporary schedules:

  • 501 Queen streetcars will operate from Neville to Roncesvalles, but they will divert via Church, King and Spadina for about three weeks during the reconstruction of the intersection at McCaul.
  • 501L Long Branch and 501M Marine Parade bus service continues as it was in September.
  • Bus trippers have been shifted from King to Queen where they will operate between Woodbine and Sunnyside.
  • Kingston Road services 502 and 503 continue to operate with buses.

The 511 Bathurst route continues to operate with buses although the introduction of Flexitys on 512 St. Clair is releasing CLRVs that could be redeployed elsewhere. How quickly streetcars will return to temporarily bused routes remains to be seen.

Although schedules for routes at the Renforth Station (formerly “Gateway”) were altered in September, this facility is not yet complete and routes continue to operate to their former termini.

2017.10.15_Service_Changes

14 thoughts on “TTC Service Changes Effective October 15, 2017”

  1. October 15th is still only two months before the really big service changes when Line 1 extension opens into Vaughan. Just a little tweaking being done before the big event.

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  2. Will there be any chance of an analysis of the revised 121/72 service in the future? Ideally comparing the current 121/ 72 service, the previous split 172/72 service, and the blended 72 to downtown service before all of that. (AND perhaps other time periods where there were different configurations)

    Steve: I have some 121 data, but have not been pulling it regularly. Whether the TTC plans any in depth analysis, I don’t know. There is no question that hooking up the eastern waterfront service with a line that runs through all the mess around the dome was not a good idea, but the TTC rarely acknowledges such mistakes.

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  3. The other day – Wednesday, September 20, 2017 – I was surprised to see streetcars at Bathurst station for the first time since the CNE. These streetcars were on the “505 Dundas” and “506 Carlton” routes, not “511 Bathurst”. That route is currently using shuttle buses, and has been using them since Sunday, September 3, although streetcars were running on that route until the closing day of the CNE – Monday, September 4; I rode streetcars to the CNE that Sunday (September 3).

    WIth the rate that new low-floor Flexity Outlook streetcars will be arriving from Bombardier, and the “512 St. Clair West” and “504 King” currently being converted to them thus freeing up older streetcars (CLRVs and ALRVs), it looks like the “511 Bathurst” route will be using shuttle buses until Saturday, November 25, and streetcar operation to resume Sunday, November 26.

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  4. Today (September 27), I saw a new Flexity Outlook streetcar arrive, Number 4445, at the TTC depot at Bathurst Street and Davenport Road; there are now 45 Flexities in circulation, on various routes – “510 Spadina”, “509 Harbourfront” (streetcars have been fitted with pantographs on this route), “514 Cherry”, “504 King”, and “512 St. Clair West”; and during the latter spring and for most of the summer (until Labour Day), “511 Bathurst” was using Flexities in addition to CLRVs and ALRVs. There will be more of them Flexities arriving here from Bombardier, and are to be deployed to the “512 St. Clair West” and “504 King” routes. It’s almost October, 2017, and this doesn’t leave too much time (less than two years) for the other 159 Flexities to arrive, and full conversion of all 11 of TTC’s streetcar routes to happen, at some time in 2019.

    The “511 Bathurst” route continues to use shuttle buses (since September 3rd), and is expected to use them for a few more weeks, until there are more older streetcars (CLRVs and ALRVs) becoming available. Roughly when is that (the return of streetcars to “511 Bathurst”) to be expected?

    Steve: The changeover date for 511 back to streetcars has not been announced. Also, car 4446 has left Thunder Bay.

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  5. Steve, when will the changeover date for “511 Bathurst” back to streetcars be announced?

    Steve: I don’t know.

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  6. It’s been a month since the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) ended, and (the last) streetcars were taken off the “511 Bathurst” route and is now fully switched fully to a curbside shuttle bus operation after Labour Day. The high-spirited exitement aboard the “511 Bathurst” streetcar during the running of the CNE (just like like the streetcars themselves) – climaxing during the weekend of the Canadian International Air Show – is now a distant memory. There’s the usual chit-chat of the passengers on the shuttle buses travelling along Bathurst Street and along Fleet Street, between the Bathurst subway station and the Exhibition Loop, sometimes carried out in the many different languages spoken in T.O.

    People took these shuttle buses to get to events at Exhibition Place, such as the Fall Home Show at the Enercare Centre (September 15-17), and the combined Toronto Antique & Vintage SHow and the Toronto Vintage Clothing Show at the Queen Elizabeth Building this past weekend(September 30 & October 1), and also the On Common Ground festival at Historic Fort York (September 15-17) and the Toronto Urban Roots Festival at Garrison Common (September 14-17). These events generate a little bit of excitement, not quite the high-spirited excitement of the CNE.

    Once again, people are patiently awaiting the return of streetcars to the “511 Bathurst” route, and that depends on how quickly the new streetcars arrive in T.O. from Bombardier, and how many of them – the more the better.

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  8. So another service cut on 504 on Broadview?

    TTC is justifying this based on adding capacity with the LFLRVs on 514. But that’s a lot less service on Broadview and Queen E (and even the King E stops that you often see people left behind at, on River and Sumach),.

    I’d assumed the 501 detour would be running down King East in Corktown somehow, so no big deal. But turns out it’s Bathurst and Jarvis (didn’t read that far).

    Ouch.

    Steve: The 501 detour is via Church, King and Spadina around trackwork at McCaul. Yes, there are problems with service cuts on King, and they kick in just before the pilot project to improve travel times. A great way to sabotage the pilot, but hey that’s TTC “planning”.

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  9. Today, I was at the Bathurst station on the Bloor-Danforth subway line, and one thing I noticed was the main entrance is now blocked off. However, there is a temporary entrance/exit, one built onto the south side the station, directing people to the bus and streetcar bays. Speaking of streetcars, the “511 Bathurst” route continues to operate with shuttle buses (some of them going only as far south as King Street while must go to the Exhibition loop), and for how many more weeks before streetcars make their ‘triumphant’ return?

    When this construction is completed, there will be new turnstiles like those at a few other stations (example: Finch), which customers swipe their plastic cards – Metropasses, weekly passes, and Presto cards – to enter the station in order to board subway trains (underground) and surface vehicles – buses (and streetcars)

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  10. When will the next shipment of Flexities arrive? Which routes will they be deployed to, if and when they do arrive?

    Steve: They arrive continuously, and the rate has picked up a bit recently although not to the level expected from Bombardier’s claimed schedule (7-8 cars/month). The TTC’s plan for conversion of routes were updated in April 2017 and this has not changed.

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  11. Steve, when is the next TTC service changeover date? What changes are expected? Will it mean the return of streetcars to the “511 Bathurst” route, which is currently using shuttle buses (and has been using them since September 3rd although streetcars were still running on this route on that date)? Some of these shuttles on the “511 Bathurst” route go only as far south as King Street.

    Steve: The next schedule change is on November 26, and after that on December 17. I have not yet received a list of the changes for that date, but as I have said many times in response to your comments, the TTC does not plan to restore streetcar service on 511 Bathurst until sometime next spring.

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  12. Something also not to forget that will affect the 511 streetcars is that whenever the city rebuilds the Bathurst st bridge over the railroad corridor, they will either have to switch to buses or detour down Spadina.

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  13. Steve, although I’m missing the streetcars on the “511 Bathurst” route, particularly the low-floor Flexity Outlooks, I should get accustomed to the shuttle buses. They have been running on the “511 Bathurst” route since September 3 (although streetcars were still running on this route for the duration of the CNE) are to stick around, for a few months, until about mid-spring 2018. Actually, this is a good time to run shuttle buses, as it’s the tourist off-season. Streetcars are most likely to make their triumphant return to this route, in plenty of time for the tourist season, and tourists would prefer to ride streetcars to get to their destination. One tourist attraction served by the “511 Bathurst” route is Ontario Place, located south of the Exhibition grounds.

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  14. It looks like the 501 and 504 are on an unscheduled diversion for the next 2 weeks because of deterioration of the rail joint spanning the expansion joint on top of the DVP at Queen. The stretch of Dundas east of Parliament has never seen so many Flexity cars!

    Steve: That diversion started a few days ago, but the expansion joint has been in rough shape, with a slow order for operation, for quite some time.

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