New TTC streetcars arrive on St. Clair this weekend

New low-floor TTC streetcars are about to hit the 512 St Clair route.

The TTC announced on Thursday that on Sunday, September 3, the new accessible and air conditioned streetcars will enter service after a brief ceremony at St Clair West station. At least two of the new streetcars will be operating along this route daily. That number will increase to 20 when the route is fully converted early next year, and when the new vehciles arrive.

Currently, the new low-floor streetcars are fully in service on the 509 Harbourfront, 510 Spadina and 514 Cherry routes.

The next routes to be fully converted to the low-floor cars will be the 504 King and 511 Bathurst routes. By the end of 2019, the TTC said it expects to fully service all 11 streetcar routes with 204 of the new vehicles in service.

And with the arrival of the new streetcars comes the end of the two-hour time-based transfer as operators on the new streetcars cannot issue paper transfers to customers.

The time-based transfer was introduced on the 512 St Clair route as a temporary measure in 2005 for customers and businesses during construction of the right-of-way, said the TTC in a release. Starting Sunday, fares paid on the 512 St Clair route, regardless of vehicle type, will be valid for one continuous trip including transfers to other lines and customers will be required to pay again if they choose to end their journey along the route for any length of time along St. Clair Ave.

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