Spadina streetcar line (1923–48)

For other uses, see Spadina streetcar line.
A Peter Witt streetcar on the original Spadina line, beside the Spadina Hotel on King St.
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The Toronto Transit Commission operated a separate Spadina streetcar line on Spadina Avenue, from 1923 to 1948.[1][2][3][4] Spadina Avenue is a major north–south road in downtown Toronto.

In the 1920s, the newly formed TTC (then the Toronto Transportation Commission) combined, amalgamated and rationalized the tracks, routes, and rolling stock of several privately held streetcar companies. The Toronto Railway Company had operated streetcars on Spadina Avenue as part of the Belt Line.[5]

The Belt Line had run streetcars in both directions, along Spadina, King Street, Sherbourne and Bloor Street. The first streetcars to run exclusively on Spadina ran from Fleet Street (today's Lake Shore Boulevard), to Bloor Street, starting on July 1, 1923. The TTC needed to run double-ended Peter Witt Streetcars, as there were no loops to enable vehicles to turn around.

According to Toronto Sun columnist Mike Filey, the TTC agreed to abandon the Spadina line due to post-war electricity shortages.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Mike Filey (2003). "Toronto Sketches 7: The Way We Were". Dundurn Publishing. pp. 19–21. ISBN 9781550024487. Retrieved November 2012.
  2. ↑ Mike Filey (1997). The TTC Story: The First Seventy-five Years. Dundurn Publishing. p. 75. ISBN 9781770700796. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Mike Filey (2000). The Way We Were. Dundurn Publishing. p. 75. ISBN 9781550023398. Retrieved July 15, 2013. On October 10, 1948, all Spadina streetcars were removed to be replaced by buses in an attempt to conserve electricity, in short supply following the end of the Second World War.
  4. ↑ James Bow (January 3, 2013). "Route 510 - The Spadina Streetcar". Transit Toronto. Archived from the original on January 13, 2005. Retrieved July 15, 2013. The first Spadina streetcar line operated between a crossover at Bloor Street to a crossover at Front Street. On May 23, 1927, with the new Spadina bridge over the railway tracks open, the route was extended to a new crossover on the north side of Fleet Street (now Lake Shore Boulevard). With no loops at either end of the route, double-ended streetcars had to be used.
  5. ↑ Pete Coulman, James Bow (April 27, 2013). "A History of the TTC's Belt Line Streetcars". Transit Toronto. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved July 15, 2013. June 30, 1923 -- Last day of operation. Service is discontinued in favour of crosstown service on the BLOOR streetcar and separate SPADINA and SHERBOURNE streetcar routes.
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