Toronto's Streetcar Network

By the 1960s, most U.S. and Canadian cities had scrapped their streetcars in favour of buses. The TTC is frequently cited as the only North American operator to have retained a large-scale, city-wide legacy streetcar network continuously, making it the largest streetcar operator on the continent by default. Toronto streetcars date back to horse-drawn predecessor companies in the 1860s and were electrified in the 1890s; the TTC itself was formed in 1921, consolidating several private operators.

The "Red Rockets"

Starting in 1938, the TTC purchased President's Conference Committee (PCC) streetcars, which became affectionately known as "Red Rockets" — a nickname Torontonians extended to the streetcar fleet broadly. PCC cars remained in TTC service until 1995, an unusually long service life credited partly to Toronto's continued investment in overhauling rather than scrapping the fleet.

A modern fleet

The TTC replaced its aging PCCs with the Canadian Light Rail Vehicle, built in Switzerland; the first arrived in December 1977, entering revenue service in 1979. By the end of 2019, the TTC had received enough Bombardier Flexity Outlook low-floor streetcars to retire the last CLRVs, completing the network's most recent full fleet renewal.

Sources

• Transit Toronto — Red Rocket Renaissance: The A15 Class PCC Cars
• CBC News — Now 40 Years Old, the CLRV Streetcar Is a Piece of Toronto History That Almost Never Came to Be

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