510 Spadina

This article is about the Toronto streetcar route formerly known as Harbourfront LRT. For the current similarly named route, see 509 Harbourfront.

510 Spadina
CLRV 4074 travels south on Spadina, south of College Street
Overview
Type	Streetcar Route
Locale	Toronto, Ontario
Termini	Spadina Station (North) Union Station (South)
Stations	Spadina Union Queens Quay
Operation
Operator(s)	Toronto Transit Commission
Depot(s)	Leslie Barns, Roncesvalles, Russell
Rolling stock	CLRV, ALRV, Flexity Outlook
Technical
Line length	6.165 km (3.83 mi)
Track gauge	4 ft 10 7⁄8 in (1,495 mm) - TTC Gauge
Electrification	600 VDC Overhead

510 Spadina (317 Spadina during overnight periods) is a streetcar route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission.

History

File:Hotel Spadina in 1948.png

A Peter Witt streetcar on the original line, beside the Spadina Hotel on King St.

See also: Spadina streetcar line (1923-1948)

See also: 509 Harbourfront

Spadina's streetcar service began in 1891, when a loop route called the Belt Line operated on Bloor Street, Spadina Avenue, Sherbourne Street, and King Street. In a 1923 reconfiguration of the streetcar network, this service was discontinued and Spadina became a separate streetcar route, which was operated until 1948 when it was replaced by buses. The tracks on Spadina between Dundas Street and Harbord Street were still used by the Harbord streetcar route until its discontinuation in 1966.

The modern 510 Spadina route began as the 604 Harbourfront LRT route along Queens Quay in 1990. The route was later renamed the 510 Harbourfront. It became the 510 Spadina and replaced the 77 Spadina bus when a new dedicated right-of-way was opened in 1997, which extended the track north along Spadina Avenue from Queens Quay to Spadina station on the Bloor subway line.

The term "LRT" ("light-rail transit"), which had been adopted to project an image of modernity, was dropped when it led to residents and newspaper reporters imagining elevated guideways like those of the Scarborough RT running through their streets. It was found that the project was much easier to sell to the public and politicians when it was described as an improvement to the speed and reliability of traditional streetcar service.

In 2000, when the Queens Quay streetcar tracks were extended west to Bathurst and Fleet Streets, the name Harbourfront reappeared for a 509 Harbourfront route between Union and Exhibition Loop. The 509 and 510 routes share the trackage that had been used by the 604.

File:TorontoTram2.jpg

CLRV streetcar on a winter day on the 510 Spadina line

In 2005, The Globe and Mail newspaper published an article with criticisms that the switch to a dedicated right-of-way streetcar had been less beneficial than promised. Based on TTC documents, the author argued that service is about one minute slower (from Queens Quay to Bloor) during afternoon rush hour than in 1990. The author also cited TTC documents which show that the cost-to-revenue ratio of the route has fallen with the switch from buses to streetcars. Mitch Stambler, the TTC’s manager of service planning, responded by pointing out that streetcars offer a smoother and quieter ride, zero emissions, and economic development.

Ridership increased from 26,000 per day on the #77 bus route to 35,000 per day on the Spadina streetcar in 2004 and to over 45,000 per day in 2005-2006 Streetcars on the Spadina portion run every 2–3 minutes every day.

On December 15, 2008, the next vehicle arrival notification system was installed for the 510 streetcar in the Spadina and Union subway stations. The next vehicle arrival notification system includes a display screen that shows the location of the streetcars in "real" time with a delay of one minute.

Flexity streetcar southbound on Spadina Ave south of Queen St

On August 31, 2014, following major upgrades to the tracks to prepare for TTC's new Bombardier Transportation Flexity Outlook streetcars, streetcar service resumed on the line, after having being substituted by buses. This included a ceremony at 10:00 am where the first two accessible low-floor Flexity vehicles entered revenue service. Coinciding with the launch of the new vehicles, this route was switched over to a Proof-of-payment (POP) all-door boarding system, and became the first route to use the system full-time (as of December 2015, all TTC streetcar lines now operate on a POP system on a full-time basis).

On September 6, 2015, a new overnight service, 317 Spadina, was introduced on this route, as part of the expanded Blue Night Network services via a $95 million investment from Toronto City Council. During overnight periods, streetcars operate approximately every 30 minutes.

With the January 3, 2016 service changes, it was expected that the 510 Spadina streetcar line would normally operate exclusively with the TTC's newer Flexity streetcars, thus making 510 Spadina the first fully wheelchair-accessible streetcar route in the city. However older CLRV and/or ALRV streetcars maybe used on this line as backups in the event of insufficient availability of the Flexity streetcars.

Route

510 Spadina
Legend
Yonge–University line Bloor–Danforth line x20px Spadina Station  127  Sussex Avenue Harbord Street  94  Willcocks Street x20px Knox College College Street  506  Nassau Street Dundas Street West  505  Sullivan Street Queen Street West  501  Richmond Street West Adelaide Street West Charlotte Street King Street West  504  Front Street West CN Oakville sub. CP MacTier sub. Bremner Boulevard Gardiner Expressway Queens Quay Loop ↑ Spadina Av. ↓ Queens Quay 509 to Exhibition Lower Spadina Avenue  509  Rees Street Lower Simcoe Street York Street ↑ Queen's Quay ↓ Bay Street Queens Quay Station  Island ferry   6/6A   97B  x20px Union Station  6/6A   72A/72B   509  Yonge–University line GO, VIA & UPX

510 streetcars are operated in their own right-of-way (ROW), except for the one-way short turn loop at Spadina and King streets, via Adelaide Street West and Charlotte Street. There are no plans to institute a right-of-way here as it would not benefit operation significantly.

Most stops along the routes are surface stops with islands separating the regular traffic from the streetcar tracks, and have streetcar traffic signals, partial shelters, and railings to protect patrons from the traffic.

Streetcars enter underground subway stations at Union and Spadina TTC stations, and a dedicated underground streetcar station at Queens Quay. Except late at night, every other or two of three streetcars operate only between Spadina subway station and King Street, the busiest portion of the route.

Route branches

• 510 Spadina to Union Station/510 Spadina to Spadina Station: Spadina to Union via Queens Quay
• 510 Spadina to King: Southbound from Spadina to Spadina Ave and King St.
• 510 Spadina to Queens Quay and Spadina: Southbound from Spadina to Queens Quay and Spadina Loop

Points of interest

Location	Stops
University of Toronto	Sussex Avenue – College Street
Kensington Market	College Street – Dundas Street
George Brown College	Dundas Street
Chinatown	College Street – Queen Street
Fashion District	Queen Street – Bremner Boulevard
Rogers Centre	Lower Spadina Avenue – Simcoe Street
CN Tower	Lower Simcoe Street
Queen's Quay Terminal	York Street, Queen's Quay Station
Harbourfront Centre Islands ferry docks	Queens Quay Station

Stops

File:Spadinaharbord.JPG

510 Spadina southbound at Harbord St.

Stops along 510 consist of a raised concrete platform with a partially covered shelter and railings along the entire boarding area. Platforms are located on the far-side of most intersections, to make room for left-turn lanes on the near side. TTC streetcars are equipped with a Surface Vehicle Automatic Stop Announcement System (SVASAS) which calls out the stops through the public address system and on the LED board.

See also

• Toronto streetcar system

External links

• Trains and Streetcars
• Route 510 - Spadina Streetcar (Transit Toronto)
• Light Rail Now! Newslog