Toronto Transit Commission facilities

Toronto Transit Commission facilities are bus garages, carhouses, and subway yards for fleet and rolling stock of the Toronto Transit Commission.

Current

Arrow Road Bus Garage

Arrow Road Garage[1] operates a number of routes throughout North York, Etobicoke, Vaughan, and small portions of Old Toronto, and services mainly Orion VII Hybrids, and Orion VII NG hybrids, remaining 25 fleet of lift-equipped Nova RTS buses, and the new Novabus LFS Artics. During peak periods approximately 220 buses from the garage are in revenue service. [2] The garage operates are 35 Jane, 36 Finch West, 46 Martin Grove, 59 Maple Leaf, 60 Steeles West, 84 Sheppard West, 96 Wilson, 99 Arrow Rd, 101 Parc Downsview Park, 108 Downsview, 120 Calvington, 165 Weston Rd North, 191 Highway 27 Rocket, and 195 Jane Rocket as well as night routes 308 Finch East, 309 Finch West, 311 Islington, 312 St. Clair, 313 Jane, and 319 Wilson.

Birchmount Bus Garage

Birchmount Garage[3] is one of three bus facilities in Scarborough and is located at Birchmount & Danforth Roads. The garage operates many routes in East York, eastern portion of Toronto such as East Danforth, Markham, and Scarborough neighborhoods of Birch Cliff, Bendale, Clairlea, Cliffside and Kennedy Park). It services Orion VIIs and Orion VII NGs. It was built and opened on June 1, 1956 and is the oldest active garage the TTC has. During peak periods approximately 200 buses from the garage are in revenue service.[2] The garage operates 8 Broadview, 9 Bellamy, 12 Kingston Road, 16 McCowan, 17 Birchmount, 20 Cliffside, 21 Brimley, 22 Coxwell, 23 Dawes, 24 Victoria Park, 31 Greenwood, 57 Midland, 62 Mortimer, 64 Main, 65 Parliament, 69 Warden South, 72 Pape, 81 Thorncliffe Park, 83 Jones, 87 Cosburn, 91 Woodbine, 92 Woodbine South, 94 Wellesley, 102 Markham Road, 113 Danforth, 135 Gerrard, 143 Downtown/Beach Express, and 167 Pharmacy North, as well as Blue Night lines 300 Bloor-Danforth, 302 Danforth Rd.-McCowan, 322 Coxwell, and 324 Victoria Park. It also operates 504 King bus service during peak periods.

Davisville Subway Yard

Davisville Yard and McBrien Building at 1900 Yonge. (Top centre of photo)

Davisville Subway Yard was opened with the Yonge Subway in 1954. This facility is used to store trains and other non-revenue rail equipment. The carhouse performs light maintenance and repairs on the trains. Until the Wilson Complex was opened as part of the Spadina extension in 1978, Davisville was the only yard on the line.

The property is also home to:

Eglinton Bus Garage

Eglinton Bus Garage

The Eglinton Bus Garage[4] is located at Comstock Rd & Lebovic Rd. The current garage opened in 2002, replacing the old Eglinton Garage located at Yonge and Eglinton (now used as a permanent bus terminal for Eglinton Station) and the Danforth Garage. The garage services the TTC's Orion VIIs. The facility is sometimes referred to as "Comstock Garage" or "New Eglinton Garage" as prior to being officially named "Eglinton" the working name was "Comstock". The garage operates some routes in Scarborough and its areas of Clairlea, Golden Mile, Guildwood, Rouge Hill, West Hill and Wexford, East York, North York, Markham and northern Old Toronto. During peak periods approximately 250 buses from the garage are in revenue service.[2] The garage operates 25 Don Mills, 34 Eglinton East, 43 Kennedy, 54 Lawrence East, 67 Pharmacy, 68 Warden, 70 O'Connor, 72 Pape, 86 Scarborough, 87 Cosburn, 100 Flemingdon Park, 116 Morningside, 144 Downtown/Don Valley Express, 190 Scarborough Centre Rocket, 198 U of T Scarborough Rocket, and 224 Victoria Park North. Also on night routes operated by Eglinton such as 300 Bloor-Danforth, 303 Don Mills, 305 Eglinton East, 320 Yonge and 354 Lawrence East.

Greenwood Subway Yard

Main article: Greenwood Subway Yard
Greenwood Complex

The Greenwood Complex is a subway yard and subway maintenance shop on the Bloor-Danforth line. Maintenance and storage of trains for the Bloor-Danforth subway are done at Greenwood Carhouse. Equipment repairs, overhauls of subway cars and maintenance of revenue service equipment (turnstiles, etc.) are done at the Greenwood Shops.

Hillcrest Complex

The Inglis Building at Hillcrest

Hillcrest Complex[5] is the TTC's largest facility and is responsible for most of the maintenance work on the system's surface vehicles, including heavy overhauls, repairs and repainting. It is located adjacent to the intersection of Bathurst Street and Davenport Road. The site is also home to the TTC's Transit Control Centre, but the operational headquarters of the organization remain at the McBrien Building at 1900 Yonge Street.

Hillcrest Complex was opened in 1924 by the TTC to replace smaller facilities inherited from the Toronto Railway Company and Toronto Civic Railways.

Lakeshore Bus Garage

Wheel-Trans vehicles at Lakeshore

Lakeshore Garage supports the TTC Wheel-Trans fleet of ELF, Friendly Buses and Orion II Community buses. Lakeshore opened in 1980 as the main garage for Gray Coach Lines, which moved out in 1991 following the sale of Gray Coach Lines to Stagecoach Holdings. From 1991 onwards the facility has been occupied by Wheel-Trans.

Leslie Barns

Main article: Leslie Barns

Leslie Barns is a light rail vehicle storage and maintenance facility under construction at the southeast corner of Leslie Street and Lake Shore Boulevard. It will house and service the new Flexity Outlook light rail vehicles.

Malvern Bus Garage

Malvern Complex in Scarborough

Malvern Garage is a bus garage servicing vehicles in the Malvern Division. The garage operates some routes in north and eastern Scarborough and Markham such as Agincourt, L'Amoreaux, Malvern, Milliken, Ontario and the east half of North York (Bayview Woods – Steeles and Newtonbrook). It services Orion VII Hybrids, and Orion VII NG hybrids, and the new Novabus LFS Artics. During peak periods approximately 230 buses from the garage are in revenue service.[2] The garage operates 38 Highland Creek, 39 Finch East, 53 Steeles East, 85 Sheppard East, 95 York Mills, 129 McCowan North, 130 Middlefield, 131 Nugget, 132 Milner, 133 Neilson, 134 Progress, 139 Finch-Don Mills, 199 Finch Rocket, 300 Bloor-Danforth, 302 Danforth-McCowan, 308 Finch East, 309 Finch West, 321 York Mills, 353 Steeles East, and 385 Sheppard East.

McCowan RT Yard

SRT trains in the McCowan Carhouse

McCowan Yard was opened in 1985 to service the Scarborough RT.

Most maintenance on RT vehicles is done at the facility, but some work is done at Hillcrest Complex and Greenwood Subway Yard.

The facility will close and likely be demolished following the closure of the RT.

Mount Dennis Bus Garage

Buses on lifts at Mt Dennis Garage

Mount Dennis Garage, the newest of the TTC's garages, opened on 23 November 2008 (after sitting empty for a year). The facility covers routes for west and central Toronto. It services Orion VII Hybrids, and Orion VII NG hybrids, and Novabus LFS Artics. During peak periods approximately 230 buses from the garage are in revenue service.[2] The garage operates 6 Bay, 14 Glencairn, 26 Dupont, 32 Eglinton West, 35 Jane, 41 Keele, 47 Lansdowne, 52 Lawrence West, 55 Warren Park, 63 Ossington, 71 Runnymede, 77 Swansea, 79 Scarlett Rd., 89 Weston, 126 Christie, 127 Davenport, 141 Downtown/Mt. Pleasant Express, 161 Rogers Rd., 171 Mt. Dennis, 300 Bloor-Danforth, 307 Eglinton West, 316 Ossington, 320 Yonge, 329 Dufferin, and 352 Lawrence West. It also operates 504 King bus service during peak periods.

Queensway Bus Garage

Queensway Garage is the major facility for Etobicoke and services New Flyer D40LF and Orion VIIs. The garage operates some routes mainly in Etobicoke such as Alderwood, Mimico, New Toronto, Rexdale and Thistletown as well as the west half of Old Toronto. During peak periods approximately 150 buses from the garage are in revenue service.[2] The garage operates 15 Evans, 30 Lambton, 37 Islington, 44 Kipling South, 45 Kipling, 48 Rathburn, 49 Bloor West, 50 Burnhamthorpe, 66 Prince Edward, 73 Royal York, 76 Royal York South, 80 Queensway, 110 Islington South, 111 East Mall, 112 West Mall, 123 Shorncliffe, 145 Downtown/Humber Bay Express, 168 Symington, 192 Airport Rocket, and 300 Bloor-Danforth.

Roncesvalles Carhouse

Roncesvalles Carhouse

The Roncesvalles Carhouse houses approximately half the TTC's streetcars. The facility is located west of the City's downtown core and services half the system's streetcar routes. The carhouse operates 501 Queen, 301 Queen, 504 King, 506 Carlton, 306 Carlton, 508 Lake Shore, 509 Habourfront, 510 Spadina, 511 Bathurst, and 512 St. Clair.

Russell Carhouse

Streetcars parked at the Russell Yard

The Russell Carhouse houses approximately half the TTC's streetcars. The facility is located on Queen Street East near the intersection with Greenwood Ave. and services half the system's streetcar routes. The carhouse is named for T.A. (Tommy Alexander) Russell (founder of Russell Motor Car Company) and friend of Robert John Fleming (Canadian politician) former Mayor of Toronto and GM of Toronto Railway Company. The carhouse operates 501 Queen, 301 Queen, 502 Downtowner, 503 Kingston Road, 504 King, 505 Dundas, 506 Carlton, and 306 Carlton.

Vincent Subway Yard

Vincent Yard at Dundas West Station looking westwards towards Keele Station.

Vincent Yard (sometimes known as Keele) is the smallest subway yard in the subway system. The yard consists of a short four-track section of track and tunnels to store cars, and is located between the Dundas West and Keele Stations on the Bloor-Danforth line. The capacity of the yard is eight (6 car) train sets: one in the tunnel and one outdoors on each of the four tracks. Leading up to 2014, the yard has been used for work trains only, and three of the tracks were closed off. However, as of 2014, Vincent Yard is under construction in order to reactivate it for train storage.[6]

Although it may have been sometimes referred to as Keele Yard, the official name used by the TTC is Vincent after a long lost street of the same name that once ran in the area.[7]

Wilson Bus Garage and Subway Yard

Wilson Subway Yard viewed from a southbound train
Wilson Bus Garage viewed from a southbound train, facing west

The Wilson Complex is the largest bus facility and second largest subway yard in the system. The garage serviced the TTC fleet of natural gas powered buses before they were scrapped or converted to Diesel operation. Wilson services the remaining 42 fleet of lift-equipped Orion Vs, Orion VII NGs, Orion VII EPA10s, and the new Novabus LFS Artic 3rd/4th Gen 9000-9056. This garage operates the most surface routes in the TTC network (the role previously taken by New Eglinton), it operates many of the largest routes throughout Central Toronto, North York, York, Old Toronto, Vaughan and few in East York and Scarborough. During peak periods approximately 240 buses from the garage are in revenue service.[2] The garage operates 5 Avenue Road, 7 Bathurst, 10 Van Horne, 11 Bayview, 28 Bayview South, 29 Dufferin, 33 Forest Hill, 42 Cummer, 51 Leslie, 56 Leaside, 61 Avenue Road North, 74 Mt. Pleasant, 75 Sherbourne, 78 St. Andrews, 82 Rosedale, 88 South Leaside, 90 Vaughan, 95 York Mills, 97 Yonge, 98 Willowdale-Senlac, 103 Mt. Pleasant North, 104 Faywood, 105 Dufferin North, 106 York University, 107 Keele North, 109 Ranee, 115 Silver Hills, 117 Alness, 122 Graydon Hall, 124 Sunnybrook, 125 Drewry, 142 Downtown/Avenue Road Express, 160 Bathurst North, 162 Lawrence-Donway, 169 Huntingwood, 193 Exhibition Rocket, 196 York University Rocket and its night routes 310 Bathurst, 316 Ossington, 320 Yonge, and 329 Dufferin.

Historic

Planned

McNicoll Bus Garage

In 2006 the TTC was proposing lands near Kennedy Road and McNicoll Avenue be acquired to build a bus garage. TTC hosted a public open house on November 27, 2013 to gather input from residence and area businesses. TTC has advised within the next five years, the TTC will need a new bus garage to accommodate its growing ridership and expanding bus fleet. Zoning by-laws allow the bus garage to be built as it is zoned for "Heavy Industrial". Residents raised concerns regarding increase emissions, added traffic, disruption of noise from early morning, and late evening bus traffic. TTC will run an Environmental Project Report to address these concerns. This will also include a Traffic Impact Study to determine what options will be needed. [8]

Mount Dennis/Weston Road LRT carhouse

Main article: Eglinton LRT Carhouse
Future site of the carbarn for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

A planned maintenance and storage facility for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT would be built on a derelict parcel of land between Weston Road and Black Creek Drive. The derelict parcel was a Kodak plant for almost 100 years. The yard will be adjacent to the Weston Road LRT station and a new GO train station.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Transit Toronto - Arrow Road Garage
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 http://www.ttc.ca/PDF/Transit_Planning/Service_Summary_2015_02_15.pdf
  3. ↑ Transit Toronto - Birchmount Garage
  4. ↑ Transit Toronto - Eglinton Garage
  5. ↑ Transit Toronto - Hillcrest Complex
  6. ↑ TTC Website: Projects - "Keele Yard"
  7. ↑ Transit Toronto - The Vincent Subway Yard
  8. ↑ http://www.ttc.ca/PDF/Transit_expansion_PDFs/McNicoll_Bus_Garage_Report_Open_%20House_%20Nov_27%20_2013.pdf