This is a preliminary version based on GTFS data (the standard format for transit schedules used by online services) and some Service Advisories on the TTC site. I expect to receive the full list of September service changes early in the week of August 28 and will update this article accordingly including the usual detailed comparison of service levels.
Updated August 26 at 9:15 pm: 512 St. Clair updated to reflect complete bus replacement for work at various locations on the line.
Updated August 27 at 4:30 pm: At 10:30 am on August 28, the Mayor, TTC Chair and CEO will hold a press conference at STC Station to “outline how the TTC will increase service beginning September and into the fall.”
Updated August 29 at 5:30 pm: Due to changes in the Metrolinx schedule for work on the Lake Shore East Queen Street bridge, there has been a further revision of planned service. Please see this post for details.
SRT Replacement Service
The Scarborough Rapid Transit line (Line 3) is now permanently closed. It will be replaced by the 903 Kennedy-Scarborough Centre Express. This route will operate in reserved lanes between STC and Kennedy Station southbound via Midland and northbound via Kennedy.
This route began operations on Saturday, August 26. The route used leaving STC is via Progress, not via Ellesmere as had originally been proposed. This is a temporary route pending construction of a queue jump lane at Brimley & Ellesmere.
Although there has been talk of 70 buses per hour on the replacement service, the maximum scheduled service on the 903 in the AM peak is about 45 buses/hour, with a PM peak service of about 36 buses/hour. In November when more routes are through-routed from STC to Kennedy Station this number could increase. I await further information from the TTC on this.
I await feedback from the TTC about whether the scheduled service will be supplemented with “Run as Directed” buses.
Route 903 buses will stop only at Ellesmere and Lawrence, and they will not serve the former RT stations.
Route 954 Lawrence East Express are scheduled to continue to operate to Lawrence East Station, although plans are for it and other routes to serve Kennedy Station later in 2023. It is unclear whether this will be changed on an ad hoc basis to route the 954 buses to Kennedy Station to avoid problems with on-street transfers between the 903 and the 954 which would only work inbound (westbound/southbound).
Streetcars
501 Queen: In spite of expectations that streetcar service would return west of Sunnyside Loop in September (as announced in the July 2023 CEO’s Report), this is not in the GTFS schedules. The following services will operate:
- 501 streetcars between Sunnyside and McCaul Loop. They will have an extended recovery time at Sunnyside because the schedule assumed they would operate to Humber Loop.
- 501B buses between Wolseley Loop and Broadview diverting around Ontario Line construction between Bay and Church (same as the August operation).
513 (aka 501D) buses between Queen and Victoria and Neville Loop.Service to Neville Loop will be provided by route 505 Dundas running east from Broadview via Queen until September 22, and by 501D buses thereafter.- 501L buses are not in the published schedules but they will operate as in August between Dufferin and Long Branch. 507 Long Branch streetcar service will not return until the track reopens on The Queensway west of Sunnyside. This was a last-minute change, and the 501L service will be provided with “Run as Directed” (RAD) buses. It is not clear yet whether these will be tracked by transit apps.
- The 301 Night Bus will run from Neville to Long Branch.
Note that the 501 streetcar will no longer operate across Dundas from McCaul to Broadview. It is not yet clear whether this will resume when work at the Metrolinx bridge at DeGrassi completes, or if the 513 Queen East will become a streetcar operation.
The date for the 501 diversion via York-Adelaide/Richmond-Church is now set for May 2024 thanks to delays in Metrolinx doing the necessary track work on York Street. Why this was not simply included in the City’s contract now underway on Adelaide is one of those mysteries of Metrolinx-TTC-City affairs.
508 Lake Shore: This service will operate between Roncesvalles and Broadview via King peak periods only. When streetcars return to Long Branch, this route will be extended. Each 508 Tripper will make one trip from Roncesvalles to Broadview looping via Parliament, Dundas and Broadview, and returning westbound via King.
Cars will pass through Parkdale at about 7:30, 8:00, 8:20, 8:40 and 9:00 am eastbound. Westbound cars will pass Yonge at about 4:25 and every 20 minutes thereafter to 5:45 pm. These will effectively be peak extras on 504 King.
503 Kingston Road: This remains a bus operation until the next schedule period which begins on Thanksgiving weekend. Overhead installation is underway on the Church-Wellington-York loop of the 503 car.
504 King: All service that normally would terminate at Dufferin Loop will be extended to Roncesvalles for construction at the loop. Service east of Sumach Street (the Distillery branch turnoff point) will continue to be provided by the 72A Pape bus looping at Parliament-Front-Berkeley.
505 Dundas: Due to Metrolinx work at Queen and Degrassi, 505 Dundas cars will operate to Woodbine Loop via Broadview, Gerrard, Coxwell and Queen. The Metrolinx work has been deferred, and Dundas cars will continue to operate via Queen with the route extended east to Neville Loop until September 22. After that date, Dundas cars will operate to Woodbine Loop via Broadview, Gerrard, Coxwell and Queen.
506 Carlton: Streetcar service to Main Station will be restored. The 506C shuttle bus from Castle Frank Station will cease operation. At the west end of the line, streetcars will continue to use Dundas West Station during construction work on Howard Park Avenue. Night service will revert to streetcars on the 306 Carlton Blue Night route.
512 St Clair (Updated): The streetcar service will be completely replaced with buses for work at St. Clair West Station and on overhead at various locations. Buses will run through to Gunn’s Loop.
Buses
22 Coxwell: The 22 Coxwell bus will continue to operate between Coxwell Station and Queen at all hours. Service on Kingston Road will be provided by the 503 Kingston Road bus.
47 Lansdowne: The 47A Lansdowne service will resume looping at Earlscourt Loop rather than being extended west to Gunn’s Loop.
Main Station Loop: With the end of construction at Main Station, normal operation will resume on 20 Cliffside, 23 Dawes, 62 Mortimer, 64 Main, 87 Cosburn, 113 Danforth and 135 Gerrard. The 113 Danforth and 135 Gerrard routes will interline and will load at on street stops outside of the station.
Routes 87 Cosburn and 64 Main will continue to interline except evenings all days and on weekend mornings.
134/913 Progress: With construction at STC Station complete, the normal Progress bus service will return and the 985 Sheppard East Express will no longer extend to Centennial College.
Steve Munro 
So the streetcar service to Long Branch loop have been delayed? If so for how many weeks?
Steve: The next schedule change is on Thanksgiving weekend, but I have not received word yet on whether that is a new definitive date.
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I am not really surprised that the 501 Queen car will not be running west of Sunnyside. I drive past there regularly, and I don’t really observe much work being done. This section of the line has been closed for over 3 years now. It’s really very depressing.
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First glance, my comment is regards the 501:
Whoa…that’s a long layover, but reading the travails the 501 is having at the eastern end, that padding might be needed.
Steve: Given that the streetcars will not run east of McCaul Loop, any travails will be from there westward. Looking at the details of the schedule, there will usually be four or five cars at Sunnyside.
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Do you have any idea on what’s going on with the 996 eastbound? It now terminates at a dead end (Ellesmere Station.)
Do you know if there are any plans to extend it to STC?
Steve: The 996 Wilson Express will continue to terminate at Ellesmere Station. I am waiting for further details on future route changes. All of this was not supposed to happen until November, but the derailment pushed everything forward.
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(The 501 streetcars) will have an extended recovery time at Sunnyside. I’m assuming that they will be “parked” on The Queensway’s “brand new and improved” (now with concrete) right-of-way?
From the Roncesvalles yard tracks to the “new” traffic signals at Sunnyside Avenue, both westbound and eastbound. Except for the traffic lanes on The Queensway and Sunnyside Avenue. We can’t dare be in the way of single-occupant automobiles, now can we?
The priority is still low for public transit. Looking for ways to save money by stretching out the construction.
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Would you be able to do a route analysis of the 36 Finch West? Evening service is abysmal with lots of bunching and big gaps.
Steve: I have been collecting 36 Finch West data since March this year and am planning an analysis (along with many other routes) later this year.
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“903 Scarborough Express”
Not to be confused with the 986 Scarborough Express, which also runs out of Kennedy…
Steve: The full name is 903 Kennedy-Scarborough Centre Express. I will amend the article to avoid confusion.
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Sunnyside Loop isn’t big enough for a big pack of streetcars laying over. I assume some will sit on the street, if not loop through the yard.
Steve: Looping through the yard, they will also compete for space with the 504 service relocated from Dufferin Loop. Considering that the restoration of streetcars west of Sunnyside was announced in the July CEO’s Report, something fairly critical must have been discovered quite recently. I await info from the TTC on what is going on.
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Look at the schedule of a random Roncesvalles-McCaul car it shows layovers of 5-10 minutes at both ends of the line.
Steve: Yes, but look at that 12 minute running time from Roncesvalles to Sunnyside Loop, and a comparable time eastbound, in addition to the recovery time. The schedule was clearly designed for trips to Humber, and the western destination was changed at the last minute.
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Any word if Route#150 will actually ever happen? I know 2023 goes through another two service change cycles or so, but it seems like it’s on the furthest backburner now, perhaps because of the interim #72 arrangement?
Steve: I asked a while ago about 150 Eastern, and it’s on hold due to construction that would interfere with the route. No word yet on a start date, and I’m waiting for the 2024 service plan to come out for more info.
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Steve said:
I would have assumed that the TTC would have standard time allowances for all ‘sectors’ of all routes so a change of terminus could be easily accomplished but, of course, the TTC probably has to do things de novo each time and are using an abacus or their fingers & toes. If using AI did not need some human intelligence to set it up in the first place, one might recommend it to them for things like schedules!
Steve: No, it’s a case that crews would already have been signed with work breaks based on a route that went to Humber. If the schedule were recast, this would entail a major upheaval. On the bright side, they could implement the change without waiting for a formal Board Period break because the running time was already available. I am not sure about the 507 Long Branch service unless its operators have just been assigned ad hoc to the 501L. I expect more info when the detailed service memo comes out in the next few days.
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I will join with David in looking forward to an analysis of the Finch West bus service. I am now living in the Veterans housing at Toronto Legion Veterans Homes near Finch and Bathurst. This makes me a frequent user of the Finch bus. So I can testify that gapping and bunching are a major problem with this route.
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Shameful.
I would suggest that anyone working on this should be ashamed of themselves… but I’m not sure if anyone _is_ working on it. Certainly they’re very rarely working on it on the Queensway.
Honestly, given the way this project has been handled, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was some garden-variety mess-up like Transportation Services literally missing the memo that they’re supposed to put up the traffic signal at Sunnyside Avenue.
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I had no idea that construction was planned for St. Clair West station and will miss the streetcars.
Steve: The TTC has just posted details of work planned for St. Clair starting in September and running through summer 2024. I will be writing a separate article here soon.
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I want 985 to stop at Midland and Progress while going and coming to STC. After Midland and Sheppard there are three intersections before STC but it stops nowhere. At least should stop at Midland and Progress.
Steve: Send this as feedback to the TTC’s Service Plan (although I am fairly certain that TTC planners read this blog).
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Appreciate the update! Do you know why the 503 is diverting to the Church-Wellington-York loop instead of just using King through the downtown core?
I don’t understand why new tracks are being added/updated on Wellington, Adelaide, and Richmond while Queen is closed for Ontario Line construction and there is already a traffic-restricted route along King across the downtown core. So confused. Any info on this is appreciated.
Steve: I don’t know what the 503 buses are up to other than, maybe, sort of, establishing the future resumed streetcar operation. The track installation on Wellington should have been finished at least two years ago, well ahead of the OL work, but Hydro screwed up and delayed the project. Richmond already has track. Adelaide had track, sort of, although parts were missing and there have not been streetcars there for decades. That work is nearly complete. The delay in getting through Queen streetcar service is thanks to Metrolinx whose part of the project on York from Queen to Adelaide is, for some reason, not happening briskly. Instead of the originally hoped for November 2023 conclusion, it’s now May 2024. The track on Adelaide all the way to Spadina is intended for diversions, and the TTC has wanted to re-install it for years, but had to wait out many condo construction projects. Building the OL diversion was the perfect time to do the whole stretch from Spadina to Victoria (the block over to Church already has active track).
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Steve, I thought track repair/rehabilitation at the entrance to St Clair West Station was done some time ago, or was that just the ramps leading underground.
John
Steve: Only part was done a while back. This is the rest of the station as you can see from the drawings.
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Quick update on the Queensway from passing by. It looks generally mostly done. Contrary to my calumnies, signals are up at Sunnyside, just bagged. Main thing I saw missing was finishing up the platforms at Glendale – there’s no railing or shelters. Everything that should be concreted seemed to be concreted over, so hopefully no more months-long delays as long as they can get the platforms done.
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In the not-so-distant future, the “507 Long Branch” streetcar will be reinstated. This route ran between the Humber loop and the Long Branch route, serving the lakeside communities of Mimico-Humber Bay, New Toronto {“Lakeshore Village”}, and Long Branch, until 1995 when it merged with the “501 Queen” route. This route, the “507 Long Branch” was the first to use CLRV streetcars when they debuted.
Steve: After appearing in the September schedules, but not actually operating, the 507 and the 501 to Humber are planned to return with the mid-November schedules, but it is not yet a sure thing.
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