There are many diversions coming up in the Fall for streetcar routes. Information on these appears in various places on the TTC site, mainly but not exclusively under Service Advisories. As an aid to riders, this article consolidates the available information in one place.
Updated November 28, 2025
***** This article is only for archival purposes. It has been replaced by a new one picking up from mid-November 2025. *****
Major events pending and in progress include:
- Construction on Queen between Davies (just east of the Don Bridge) and Broadview.
- Reconstruction of the intersection of College and McCaul, and of overhead in the vicinity.
- Reconstruction of track and overhead at and near Parliament and Carlton.
Other short term diversions will last only overnight or for a weekend.
Many of these are complicated by the ongoing Ontario Line work at Queen & Yonge forcing some diversions to be more complex than they might be otherwise.
This article will be updated when changes are announced.
- November 21: The 501 diversion via Broadview, Dundas and Parliament around water main and track work west of Broadview will begin on November 22.
- November 20: Equipment and material mobilization is underway on Queen west of Broadview.
- November 17: The 506 diversion has been changed today to avoid the intersection of Church & Dundas where construction blocks the northeast corner. Maps have been added from the TTC’s site.
- Effective November 16: The 503 Kingston Road bus will be cut back from Dufferin, and will now loop at York Street via Richmond and University.
- November 15: Diversions announced for two projects on 506 Carlton at Parliament & Carlton, and on Gerrard east of Broadview.
- November 9: King & Dufferin reopened for streetcar service. 503, 504, 508 will operate via their normal routes.
- October 30: King & Dufferin reopens for general traffic and buses. Streetcars to return following track testing.
- October 20: Water main reconstruction on Queen west of Broadview has been delayed until early November. 501 Queen streetcars will continue to operate on Queen Street until further notice.
- October 13: 504 King is operating with streetcars today over its full route except for the King/Dufferin diversion.
- October 9: Maps for 504 King and 506 Carlton diversions added.
- October 8: Construction at Queen & Broadview will not start on October 12, and so some diversions will not be required immediately. Information for 501 Queen and 503 Kingston Road has been updated.
- October 5: Nuit Blanch & Run For the Cure info moved to the archive section.
- October 1: Diversions of 505/305 Dundas and 506/306 Carlton for Nuit Blance and for the Run For The Cure added for October 3/4/5.
- September 23: The King/Dufferin start date has been changed to Sunday, September 28.
- September 12: King/Dufferin start date pushed back to September 29 or later. The project will now extend to mid-November.
- September 9: College/McCaul and Queen East details added.
- August 26: King/Dufferin Project
- The start date for this project has been changed to mid-September with the exact date to be confirmed. Although new schedules will be in place providing for diversions, service will continue to operate through on King Street until construction actually begins. This likely means that the project will extend further into October than the originally planned Thanksgiving weekend end date. The delay also means that the Tiff diversions will end before the King/Dufferin diversions begin.
- Branch lettering for 504 King A/B corrected.
- August 25: King/Dufferin Project
- Information about Kingston Road night service added.
- 304 King and 329 Dufferin confirmed to be diverted on the same routes as the 504A and 29 daytime services.
College & McCaul Project
Beginning on Thanksgiving weekend, October 12, the TTC will replace track at the intersection of College & McCaul. Following this work, they will upgrade the overhead power supply for full compatibility with pantographs on College and McCaul Streets.
506/306 Carlton cars will divert both ways via Spadina, Dundas and Bay. Service will return to College Street once the overhead upgrades are completed likely at year-end.
The 94 Wellesley service to Ossington Station will be increased while the streetcars are diverting around the area. This increase was removed on November 16.
As of November 15, track work is complete and overhead upgrades have begun at the intersection, on McCaul from College to Queen, and on College from Spadina to Bay. This work is expected to complete in December, weather permitting, and the diversion between Spadina and Bay will end when streetcars can use College Street.
Projects on the East End of 506 Carlton
Two projects will affect the 506 Carlton car east of Yonge in coming weeks:
- track replacement at Parliament & Carlton, and overhead upgrades in the immediate area, and
- track repairs on Gerrard Street east of Broadview that were deferred from past weekends.
These will trigger a complex and changing set of diversions for 506 Carlton.
- Track work on Gerrard will restrict streetcars from operating east of Broadview. A replacement bus service will operate between Main Street Station and Parliament. This will require two suspensions of streetcar service east of Broadview on November 17 and 18.
- Track and overhead work at Parliament Street will require Carlton cars to divert via Church, Dundas and Parliament.
The two sets of diversions produce the following announced arrangements:
- During all of these periods, 506/306 Carlton cars will divert via Dundas between Spadina and Bay (College/McCaul project).
- From late on November 17 they will also divert between Church and Parliament.
- Monday, Nov. 17 from 10am to 9pm streetcars will operate between High Park and Broadview looping via Parliament, Gerrard, Broadview and Dundas Street.
- Monday, Nov. 17 from 11pm to 10am Tuesday, Nov 18, streetcars will operate from High Park to Main Street Station.
- Tuesday, Nov. 18 from 10am to 9pm, streetcars will operate between High Park and Broadview.
- Tuesday, Nov. 18 from 9pm to Sunday, Nov. 30 at 4am, streetcars will operate from High Park to Main Street Station.
The work at Parliament & Carlton will also require the 65 Parliament bus to divert southbound via Carlton, Sherbourne and Gerrard.
Queen Street West of Broadview
Two projects are planned for Queen Street between Broadview and Davies Street east of the Don River.
- Fall-Winter 2025/26: Watermain replacement
- Spring 2026: Track replacement
Several routes are affected:
- 501/301 Queen streetcars will divert both ways via Broadview, Dundas and Parliament during both phases of the project. This diversion will be scheduled, but will not actually begin until construction is underway. Mobilization for this work began in the week of November 17, but the diversion does not actually start until November 22.
- 503 Kingston Road will continue to operate with buses between Bingham and Dufferin Loops.
- During phase one, buses will operate via Queen and Parliament both ways to serve stops missed by the 501 Queen diversion. The diversion began on November 16.
- During phase two, westbound buses will divert via Broadview, Dundas and River.
- 504/304 King streetcars will operate to Distillery Loop.
- 504/301B replacement buses will operate between Broadview Station and King & Parliament.
501 Queen
Updates:
- November 22: The route diversion via Broadview, Dundas and Parliament for water main and track work begins.
- Ongoing: Ontario Line diversion westbound via Church/Richmond/York and eastbound via York/Adelaide/Church.
503 Kingston Road
Updates:
- September 9: Information about the Queen Street water main and track work west of Broadview added.
- November 9: With normal streetcar service resuming on King Street through Parkdale, the 503 Kingston Road bus resumes its terminus at Dufferin Loop.
- November 12: Although the loop is open, buses continue to use an on street loop east of Dufferin.
- November 16: The 503 Kingston Road route will no longer operate west of University Avenue. It will loop via York, Richmond and University.
- November 17: Watermain work on Queen west of Broadview begins. 503 buses will operate via Queen and Parliament to serve stops missed by the 501 Queen diversion.
- Spring 2026: Track work on Queen west of Broadview begins. 503 buses will operate eastbound via Queen, but will divert westbound via Broadview, Dundas and River.
504 King
Updates:
- November 9: King & Dufferin reopened for streetcar service.
Queen/Broadview diversion:
- September 9: Information about the Queen Street water main and track work west of Broadview added.
- October 9: Map showing diversions effective October 12 for 504 King added.
- October 12: Queen Street water main work diversions begin. 504/301 buses will operate from Broadview Station to King & Parliament. All streetcar service will terminate at Distillery Loop. Thanksgiving Day saw normal streetcar service in the east end of 504 King because construction has not yet begun.
- November 21: The start date for water main work is now November 22. This will not affect the 504D bus as it will operate through the construction zone as shown below.
- October 30: Reopening of King & Dufferin. Streetcar service will resume on King Street following testing of new track (TBA).
505 Dundas
No announced events.
506 Carlton
- November 18 10pm to Nov. 30 4am: Service diverts via Church/Dundas/Parliament for track and overhead work at Carlton & Parliament.
The standard diversion for work at McCaul Street is shown below. This will end when overhead reconstruction on College is finished. Note that the 94 Wellesley diversion shown here is no longer used as construction on Hoskin and Harbord Streets is complete.
- October 12 to late 2025: Service diverts both ways via Spadina/Dundas/Bay for track and overhead work at College and McCaul.
507 Long Branch
No announced events.
508 Lake Shore
- November 10/25: Normal service via King Street West restored.
509 Harbourfront
- As of September 22 there is no diversion on this route.
510 Spadina
- As of September 22 there is no diversion on this route.
511 Bathurst
No announced events.
512 St. Clair
No announced events.
Past Events
Information on events/diversions that have completed has been moved here as an archive, and to remove clutter in the main article.
Tiff Diversions
The Toronto International Film Festival will occupy King Street at various times forcing service diversions. Although a mid-evening break is shown for September 8 and 9, from past experience this may not occur or will be accompanied by service delays.
- September 4, 5 a.m. to September 8, 5 a.m.
- September 8, 2:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.
- September 9, 2:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Although King Street will be open, service delays are expected due to activity at the Tiff Lightbox:
- September 10, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.
- September 11, 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.
- September 12, 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.
- September 13, 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Although track was reinstated on Adelaide between Spadina and York at least in part to deal with Tiff, the streetcars will divert both ways via Queen to York.
Nuit Blanche & Run For The Cure
Thanks to the combined effect of road construction and the CIBC Run For The Cure, there will be little east west transit service between Bloor and Queen from Bathurst to Church on October 5 between 7am and 1pm.
- 505 Dundas cars will operate via Queen Street, including the Ontario Line diversion.
- 506 Carlton cars will be replaced by buses west of University Avenue and these will operate via Bloor Street because of bike lane construction on Harbord Street.
- 94 Wellesley buses which operate infrequently west of Yonge are diverting via Bloor Street west of Queens Park.
There also appears to be an error in the TTC’s diversion announcement for 505 Dundas with an incorrect start date and time, and I await clarification on this.
Updated October 3: The Media Relations notice regarding coming diversions includes the following text about Run for the Cure diversions: “On Sun., Oct. 5, between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m., the 94 Wellesley, 505 Dundas and 506 Carlton routes will divert during the CIBC Run for the Cure.” As of 8am on October 3, the diversion notice page is still incorrect.
The 505/305 Dundas service will also be affected by Nuit Blanche between Spadina and McCaul on October 3/4.
King & Dufferin Archive
The replacement of track at King & Dufferin was originally planned for 2024, but was deferred to 2025. Because the intersection will be closed to all traffic, there will be no through transit service on Dufferin south of Queen, and no service on King between Dufferin and Roncesvalles. Note that the 929 Dufferin Express bus will loop at Queen Street.
This work begins after Labour Day and will run approximately to Thanksgiving weekend on or after September 29 28 and will run to mid-November. The project includes only track replacement and should progress much faster than the recent project at King and Church where water main reconstruction took most of the time.
Updated November 9/25: The intersectin reopened to streetcars and normal service on 503 (bus), 504 and 508 has resumed.
Updated October 30/25: The intersection reopened to buses and general traffic. Streetcars will return following track testing (TBA).
Updated September 23/25: The start date for this project has been changed to September 28.
Updated September 12/25: The start date for this project has been pushed back to at least September 29. The end date is now projected to be in mid-November.
Updated August 26/25: The start date for this project has been pushed back to mid-September, date TBA. This change means that the King/Dufferin and Tiff diversions will not occur at the same time. This will also push the end date further into October than originally expected.
Updated August 25:
The schedules for September show the following effects of this project on night services:
- 301 Queen: No change
- 303 Kingston Road: Discontinued. Service on Kingston Road will be provided by the 322 Coxwell night bus.
- 304 King: Diverts via Shaw and Queen following the daytime 504A route.
- 329 Dufferin: Diverts via Queen, Shaw and King following the daytime 29 route.
501 Queen Archive
- September 14/15 7pm to 7am: City electrical work. Service diverts bothways via Parliament/King/Church with a bus replacement from Broadview to York.
- September 25-27 11pm to 4am: Streetcars will divert via King Street between Shaw and Roncesvalles with a replacement bus service on Queen for infrastructure work.
503 Kingston Road Archive
- As of mid-August: 503 Kingston Road streetcar service is extended west on King from Dufferin to Sunnyside Loop to avoid CNE congestion at Dufferin Loop. The downtown routing via Queen to Spadina continues.
- August 31: With the schedule change, the 503 changes to bus operation and will resume its normal route on King Street west from the Don River. The western terminus during the King/Dufferin project will be east of Dufferin at Joe Shuster Way.
- Night service on Kingston Road will be provided by the 322 Coxwell night bus and the 303 night car will not operate. Service on 304 King is improved to compensate for removal of the 303 cars.
- September 4-13: Tiff diversions as described above.
- September 12: Start and end dates for King/Dufferin project revised.
- September 23: Start date for King/Dufferin project revised.
- September 25-27: 503 buses will operate on King between Spadina and Shaw while 504 streetcars divert to Queen Street (see map under route 504 below).
- September 28: King/Dufferin project began.
- October 30: King/Dufferin reopened. 503 bus temporarily extended west to Roncesvalles pending streetcar restoration on King West in early November.
- November 9: With the completion of the King/Dufferin project, 503 service returns to Dufferin Loop.
504 King Archive
- As of mid-August: 504 King streetcars operate between Broadview and Dundas West Stations diverting via Queen between the Don Bridge and Shaw Street, including the Ontario Line diversion downtown. 504C King buses operate from Bathurst Street to the Distillery District, and 504D King buses operate from Bathurst Street to Broadview & Gerrard.
- August 31: Streetcar service is restored to King Street. 504A cars operate from Distillery Loop to Dundas West Station. 504B cars operate from Broadview Station to Wolseley Loop at Bathurst & Queen.
- September 4-13: Tiff diversions as described above.
- September 12: Start and end dates for King/Dufferin project revised.
- September 23: Start date for King/Dufferin project revised.
- September 25-27: Streetcars will divert via Spadina, Queen and Shaw for infrastructure work between 11pm and 4am.
- September 28 : King/Dufferin project began.
- October 13: Although the 504D shuttle from Broadview Station to King & Parliament began on October 12, the service on Thanksgiving Day, October 13, is operating with streetcars over the normal east end route. 504D buses will return on October 14.
- October 30: Reopening of King & Dufferin. Streetcar service will resume on King Street following testing of new track (TBA).
- November 9: King & Dufferin reopened for streetcar service.
505 Dundas Archive
- October 3 at 7:15pm to October 4 at 5:00am: Dundas 305/505 service will divert between Spadina and McCaul Streets both ways for Nuit Blanche. There will be no service on Dundas Street.
- October 5, 7am to 1pm: Dundas 305/505 service will divert between Bathurst and Church via Queen (including the Richmond/Adelaide diversion) for the Run for the Cure. There will be no service on Dundas Street.
- September 12 11pm to September 15 4am: Service diverted both ways via Parliament/Gerrard to Broadview with a replacement bus between Jarvis and Broadview Station.
506 Carlton Archive
- November 18 10am to 9pm: No streetcar service east of Broadview for track repairs on Gerrard east of Broadview, and at Carlton & Parliament. A bus service will operate.
- November 17: No streetcar service east of Broadview between 10am and 9pm for track repairs on Gerrard east of Broadview. A bus service will operate.
- November 17 11pm to Nov. 18 10am: Service diverts via Church/Dundas/Parliament for track and overhead work at Carlton & Parliament.
- October 5 from 7am to 1pm: Due to the Run for the Cure, buses will serve the west end of the route including a diversion. Streetcars will serve the east end of the route. Buses will divert via Bloor Street between Queen’s Park and Bathurst. Note that there will be a concurrent diversion of service from 505 Dundas (see above) and 94 Wellesley (long running diversion for bike lane installation on Harbord Street).
August 18-29: 506/306 Carlton service is diverting both ways via Church/Dundas/Broadview for infrastructure work. Replacement bus from Yonge to Coxwell.
Updated August 21: Due to infrastructure work, the 506 replacement buses have been extended east to Main Station until August 29.
August 29 3pm to September 1 4am: 506/306 service diverts via Parliament/Queen/Coxwell for infrastructure work. Replacement bus from Parliament to Coxwell.
September 7 11am-8pm, September 8 11am-7pm: Service diverts via Church/Dundas/Parliament for the Cabbagetown Festival. No replacement bus service as Parliament Street will be closed.
508 Lake Shore Archive
- September 2: Streetcars return. Eastern terminus changed from Broadview Station to Distillery Loop.
- September 4-13: Tiff: The 508 Lake Shore cars will follow the same diversion as 504 King.
- September 29: Streetcars divert around the King/Dufferin project via Queen and Shaw.
- November 10: Reopening of King & Dufferin and restoration of through service.
509 Harbourfront Archive
- September 19-22 : Streetcar service will run from Queens Quay Loop to Exhibition Loop with a shuttle bus to Union Station during infrastructure work. (See map below under 510 Spadina.)
510 Spadina Archive
- As of mid-August, 510 Spadina cars terminate at Queens Quay Loop until 7:30 pm with all service to Union provided by 509 Harbourfront. This arrangement is for heavier CNE service on the 509. Regular service resumes on September 1.
- September 19 11pm to September 22 4am : Streetcar service will run from Spadina Station to Queens Quay Loop with a shuttle bus to Union Station during infrastructure work. (See map below.)
512 St. Clair Archive
- From September 29 to October 2, service between 11pm and 4am will operate with streetcars on the west end of the route, and buses to the east. Streetcars will run only to Oakwood Loop on the 29/30 and to Bathurst Station on the 30/1 and 1/2. Information on the TTC website describes transfer arrangements that do not make sense because they propose a westbound transfer where no stop exists. I await clarification of this situation from the TTC.
Steve Munro 
Thx Steve for trying to make sense of it all. I’m old enough to remember getting to the Ex via exhibition west Kingston rd streetcars. It baffles me that KR cars now go to sunny side at Ex time rather than Dufferin, I.e. go out of the way to avoid the loop. I also assume the 503 cars will be back on KR after the Dufferin construction is finished. Why not just put the 503 cars back on the regular Wellington/York route?
Steve: The TTC may not restore streetcars to the 503 soon because … wait for it … they are short of streetcar operators. Plans to increase service on three other routes (St. Clair, Dundas and Bathurst) mean the 503 could be a bus for some time even though they have a large fleet of streetcars. This is what comes of budgeting for minimal growth, but buying equipment because the capital subsidies are available.
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I wonder what is causing the lack of streetcar operators.
Maybe it’s just me but on the surface it seems better than buses and less stressful than subways.
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I feel there needs to be an up to date streetcar map posted on the TTC website to show how things are operating each and everyday. Even as a transit geek I can’t keep up. Don’t know tourists are supposed to navigate.
Steve: The TTC does produce a map that is sort of current, but it is only in the memo detailing service changes, and it does not pick up all of the short-term changes. See my article about the July changes for an example (the September memo isn’t out yet). The website includes links to most of the diversion info from the schedule pages of affected routes, and on the main Service Advisories page. However, some changes are detailed elsewhere (notably major projects such as King/Church and King/Dufferin) and a rider unfamiliar with the site would never find them.
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Steve, there will be some shuttle bus operation on at least a couple of streetcar routes in the next weeks and months.
The 510 Spadina route will terminate at Queens Quay and Spadina, then shuttle buses take over the route, run along Queens Quay to Union Station.
After the Labour Day long weekend, the 503 Kingston Road route will also switch to shuttle bus operation.
Steve: Yes. This and other changes are detailed in my article.
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Maybe I’m missing something, but why can’t the 503 return to its regular Wellington/York/King routing on Aug. 31st?
Steve: With the 504 diverting north to Queen at Shaw, the 503 bus provides service on King west. Also, they claim to be short of streetcar operators, and the move to a six minute headway on St. Clair, Bathurst and Dundas leaves them without enough for the 503. Frankly I think that the TTC deliberately short changes the streetcar system for personnel and buses routes at every possible opportunity.
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We will see if they take the opportunity during the shutdown to fix the busted up joint under the trailing switch at Queen and Broadview. It’s been broken for several years and they hadn’t touched it during prior closures.
Steve: Yes, that’s been a problem for ages.
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This is a good opportunity to permanently convert some route to electric articulated buses. Also note that the Ontario Line will render some streetcar routes obsolete.
Steve: Actually the OL will not render streetcar routes obsolete. It will bleed some ridership from certain neighbourhoods, but the main effect will be for longer haul rides from outside of the core. The TTC has a large underused fleet of streetcars thanks to budget decisions in past years to strangle hiring. There is a similar but less dire situation with the bus fleet.
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The lack of streetcar operators…..did a bunch of them move up to Line 5 and Line 6?
Steve: Possibly, but this has been a problem for some time. The TTC Board has asked for a staffing plan that will support a ridership growth strategy as part of the 2026 budget. Obviously you cannot run more service and attract more riders without budgeting for enough staff. Meanwhile, there are plans to improve service on St. Clair, Bathurst and Dundas in the fall, and that eats into the pool of streetcar operators.
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This is perhaps a naive question but why does the streetcar network have this shortage, but seemingly not the bus network? Is it that hard to train a streetcar operator?
Steve: The official answer goes roughly like this: Operators dislike the chaotic situation with streetcar ops downtown, and they bid out to bus divisions when they can. Streetcar operators are more expensive to train because it’s a more complex vehicle compared to driving a bus. This extra cost is compounded by turnover.
That said, I think part of the problem is that TTC has been under-resourcing the streetcar side of things for years going back to a period when fleet availability and maximum possible service were issues. Now with a bigger fleet, we don’t have the staff needed to operate it. There is supposed to be a staffing plan coming to the TTC Board as part of the 2026 budget, and it will be interesting to see what spin they put on the problem.
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I think a big part of this can be traced to how politicians think. They love standing in front of some new rolling stock and cutting a ribbon and getting their picture on the news. Or getting a photo taken with a shovel at a groundbreaking. However, none of them are want a picture being seen giving more streetcar operators paycheques every week. Anything that isn’t a photo op always seems to get the crappy end of the funding stick.
Steve: Another important point is that TTC management has never told the Board how much service could actually be operated if only the budget had headroom for enough staff to use the available fleet, and the Board is blissfully unaware of this equating more service with more vehicle purchases.
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Why is it that the board listens to everything management says without ever questioning the rationale behind it?
Steve: We have not had an activist board that challenges what management says for some time, but this is changing. Too slowly for my taste, frankly.
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Do you know what will next weeks TTC service changes look like? Have you received the memo for that yet?
Steve: There are many changes. I am working on it. Patience is a virtue!
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I just received the notice for the track and water main repair between Broadview and Davies – expected to be completed between “Fall 2025 and Spring 2026”. It’s such a short stretch of road – how could it possibly take that long?
And has the east end done something to offend the transportation powers that be? Between cutting us off from the Gardiner, going above ground with the Ontario Line, and the incessant route changes on the Queen and King streetcars, the only reliable mode of transportation is walking.
Steve: I asked about this a while ago, and the TTC advised that it’s water main work this fall, track work next year. I too am not impressed.
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Unfortunately, the accessibility ramps were not re-installed at the 2 TTC stops at King/Church, even though other features were i.e. bollards, yellow strips, concrete blocks even the large planter. This omission is disheartening, as it neglects a critical accessibility need. I submitted 2 Service Requests through the 311 app but there has been no movement. I also emailed my Councillor. Any suggestions on how this can be escalated to get immediate action?
Steve: I have just been through King and Church and there are two fresh but rather small asphalt ramps. How well they will last remains to be seen.
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I’m curious. As a downtown liberal elite, streetcars could be a useful way for me to travel. However, I’ve mostly taken to walking because figuring out what is running, diversions, and where replacement buses run and stop is just too hard to fit in my tiny brain. Steve, can you tell us when was the last time that all streetcar routes were running their full lengths using streetcars and not buses and with no diversions? I can’t recall that ever happening.
Steve: It is a very long time ago, about 20 years. Projects like the St. Clair and Harbourfront rebuilds made for long periods with an incomplete system. I will be amused to see if we get full service for FIFA, but expect there will be uses somewhere even though we have 264 streetcars.
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