TTC standardizes streetcars
TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE
January 06, 2010 5:33 a.m.
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/local/article/414428--ttc-standardizes-streetcars
It’s one more stop on the road to conformity.
Among the features that distinguish Toronto’s streetcars from those in other cities is the track gauge. TTC cars run on a wider gauge — that’s the distance between the inner edges of the two parallel rails.
Now, more than a century after Toronto’s first street rails were installed, there’s change afoot:
The TTC has agreed its new Transit City lines will conform to the worldwide standard established in England in 1845, which is about six centimetres narrower than the existing 1.5 metres.
The TTC and Metrolinx, the provincial agency that is funding the Transit City lines on Finch, Sheppard and Eglinton, want to make sure the new lines are compatible with any other light rail transit (LRT) that might be built in the province in the future. Mississauga, Hamilton, Ottawa and Waterloo have all expressed an interest in LRT, although none is committed.
There are no plans yet to physically link regional systems to the TTC’s Transit City lines, but converting to the standardized gauge could help the province get a better price on streetcars, said Metrolinx vice-president John Howe.
“What we want to do is remove as much vehicle customization as possible, because we think we can achieve better value for the taxpayer by taking an international off-the-shelf standard design, basically the same proven LRT vehicles that are used elsewhere in Canada, the U.S. and Europe,” he said.