Route 510 - The Spadina Streetcar - Transit Toronto

510	S P A D I N A
	TO SPADINA STN
Northbound, 7 days a week, 18 hours a day
510A	S P A D I N A
	TO UNION STN
Southbound, 7 days a week, 18 hours a day
510B	S P A D I N A
	TO QUEEN'S QUAY
Southbound, Daily, daytime and early evening
510C	S P A D I N A
	TO KING
Southbound, short turns, and carhouse runs
310	S P A D I N A
	TO SPADINA STN
Northbound, 7 days a week, "owl" service
310	S P A D I N A
	TO UNION STN
Southbound, 7 days a week, "owl" service

By James Bow.

The Route

The Spadina Streetcar begins underground at the mezzanine level of Spadina Station on the Bloor-Danforth subway line. The route emerges onto Spadina Avenue at Sussex Street and travels south on private right-of-way past the University of Toronto, Kensington Market, Chinatown, the Fashion District and Skydome. At Queens Quay, the route turns east and continues along private right-of-way to Bay Street where, the line plunges underground again and, after stopping briefly at Queens Quay Station, continues to a loop at Union Station on the Yonge Subway.

The route has two branches. The main branch. operating between Spadina Station and the Queen's Quay/Spadina intersection, looping at the loop there. Cars will occasionally loop at King Street, looping via Adelaide, Charlotte and King on track built for that purpose. Effective September 6, 2015, night service was established over the route from Spadina station to Union station under the 317 SPADINA banner. Union, Queen's Quay and Spadina stations were thus kept open overnight, to allow access to the streetcar platforms. Effective September 3, 2017, the night route was officially renumbered 310 SPADINA.

The Early History of Spadina Avenue and its Streetcars

A SPADINA transfer, effective December 6, 1945.

Spadina Avenue was designed by Dr. William Baldwin, who commissioned construction starting in 1815. Born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1775, he immigrated to Upper Canada in 1799 where he joined the militia and became a justice of the peace. He and his son Robert became pivotal in reforming Upper Canada and establishing responsible government in the 1840s. Baldwin Street bears his name for this reason, but Spadina Avenue was named after the 200-acre estate William inherited from his father, Robert Senior. With his wealth, William built an estate on the land and laid out a grand avenue to link it to the city.

This avenue ran from today's Bloor Street to today's Queen Street, where it met Brock Street, which continued to the lake. Spadina Avenue and Brock Street don't appear on maps until 1834 and 1837, respectively. Other streets in the area named in honour of the Baldwin family include Phoebe Street named after William's wife, Willcocks Street, after her maiden name, and Robert Street and Sullivan Street after William's sons, but the extra-wide grand avenue was named Spadina after the estate and the current site of Spadina House (built in 1835). The name "Spadina" derives from the Ojibwa word ishpadinaa, meaning "high place" or "ridge". William also laid out the location of the circle of Spadina Crescent. Spadina Avenue took over the name of Brock Street in 1884, extending it down to Front Street and, eventually, across the railroad tracks to Lake Ontario.

The first streetcar to operate along Spadina was built by the Toronto Street Railway in 1878. The SPADINA line ran from the intersection of King and George via west on King, north on Brock (later Spadina) and north on Spadina to College Street. It shared these tracks with SEATON VILLAGE, which followed Spadina from King to College, before heading west on College and north on Bathurst to Bloor Street.

In 1883, after negotiations with the administration of the University of Toronto, the SPADINA car was extended north on new tracks past Spadina Crescent to Bloor Street. This service was sometimes called "BLOOR," as that was the line's new terminus. Then, on November 16, 1891, the newly-minted Toronto Railroad Company abolished SPADINA service in favour of the BELT LINE, running clockwise and counterclockwise in a circle bounded by King Street, Spadina Avenue, Bloor Street and Sherbourne Street. Up to this point, horse cars provided the service. The BELT LINE was electrified on December 15, 1892.

The BELT LINE continued past the launch of the Toronto Transportation Commission on September 1, 1921 until July 1, 1923, when improvements elsewhere in the system allowed the fledgling Toronto Transportation Commission to establish through streetcar operation on Bloor Street. It was at that time that the Spadina Streetcar entered the phase it is most remembered for.

The TTC's first SPADINA streetcar line operated between a crossover at Bloor Street and 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 Lakeshore Boulevard). With no loops at either end of the route, the TTC had to use double-ended streetcars. The TTC turned to its former Toronto Civic Railway fleet, and those double-trucked, steel-bodied double-enders provided the route's service until 1948. The line featured private right-of-way, which was tree-lined until the mid 1920s.

In 1948, the TTC's aging double-ended streetcars needed replacing. Rather than incur the cost of installing turning loops to enable single-ended streetcars, the TTC may have decided that switching service to buses was more cost-effective. The TTC blamed area brownouts from an overburdened electrical grid as its main reason for "temporarily" converting its NORTH YONGE (a streetcar line to Richmond Hill) and SPADINA Streetcars to bus operation, but within six months that temporary replacement was deemed permanent. The change did lead to the new SPADINA Bus extending to Dupont Street on September 7, 1956, which could not have easily happened had streetcars still been in operation, but this was almost eight years after the SPADINA streetcar's bustitution, and not a reason for the conversion.

Streetcars continued to operate on Spadina Avenue, however. The HARBORD Streetcar, operating from Pape and Danforth to Old Weston Road and St. Clair, traversed Spadina Avenue between Dundas and Harbord for almost the next eighteen years. This operation continued until February 25, 1966, when the HARBORD route was abandoned concurrent with the opening of the BLOOR-DANFORTH subway. Tracks south of King Street were disconnected from the system in the summer of 1954, with the abandonment of streetcar tracks on Front, but the tracks north of College, including the crossover at Bloor, remained in place until the spring of 1966, when they were removed or covered over. The tracks on Spadina Avenue between King and College remained open for diversions, short turns and other equipment moves.

Opening Day!
Photos by Aaron Adel
See also the Opening Day Ceremonies Gallery

On opening day, a CLRV emerges from the tunnel into Spadina Station. To celebrate the occasion, the City of Toronto organized street festivals up and down Spadina. Thousands of people turned out.

(Above) The underground terminal at Spadina Station saw heavy use during opening day, as thousands of people took advantage of free rides.

(Below) Car 327, on loan from the Halton County Railway Museum, helps celebrate Toronto's streetcar heritage. Other vintage streetcars were on hand to ring in the new line, including a Peter Witt and a PCC.

The Streetcars' Slow Return to Spadina

Although Spadina was one of the last streets in Toronto to lose its streetcars thanks to the TTC's streetcar abandonment policy, it was also one of the first the TTC considered for streetcar reinstatement. In 1973, a year after the TTC bowed to public pressure to abandon its streetcar abandonment policy, the City of Toronto and the TTC agreed that Spadina should have a streetcar route. Twenty-four years later, the dream became a reality. What took so long?

The initial, modest proposal called for a streetcar to use established track from College to King, plus new sections extending the line to Spadina Station and Clarence Square (a loop at King Street using Adelaide and Charlotte was also considered; this was eventually built in March 1999). However, residents of Clarence Square objected, fearing disruptive streetcar noise, and the TTC stepped back to look for a better southern terminus.

While they were looking, the City of Toronto decided to redevelop its deindustrializing Harbourfront and railway lands. To serve this new development, the City considered using the SPADINA Streetcar as a high-speed transit corridor. Plans came and went, and finally, in the mid 1980s, the proposal for a combined HARBOURFRONT/SPADINA LRT on private right-of-way was put forward. It immediately ran into controversy.

Local merchants and residents feared the City was turning Spadina into a road and transit corridor designed solely to move people through the area as quickly as possible. They were concerned about the loss of parking and the proposal to widen Spadina Avenue to accommodate the private right-of-way and six lanes of traffic. They feared that the private right-of-way -- originally rail-and-ballast technology as seen on the Queensway, and then a six-inch raised segment -- would act as a 'Berlin Wall' down the middle of the street.

In this author's view, the politicians made a mistake by departing from the streetcar's image as a community transportation service. As shown by their decision to name the line 'the SPADINA LRT', the politicians failed to consider local concerns when designing the route. The situation worsened when the local media, looking for video footage to illustrate a story on the proposal, keyed in on the 'RT' in 'LRT' and showed pictures of a SCARBOROUGH RT vehicle operating on an elevated portion of its line. A protest flyer appeared soon after, featuring a composite picture of a SCARBOROUGH RT ICTS vehicle on elevated right-of-way running down the middle of Spadina Avenue. In 1986, Metro Council agreed to build the Harbourfront portion of the SPADINA LRT, but sent the rest of the SPADINA LRT back to the drawing board.

The TTC started construction on the HARBOURFRONT LRT, the and the City of Toronto set about addressing local community concerns and, along the way, the SPADINA LRT became the SPADINA Streetcar again. The private right-of-way was reduced from a six-inch raised island to a cobblestone-like surface raised barely two inches from the surrounding pavement. Left turns were not prohibited outright and two lanes of car traffic each way were maintained without widening the road. The City of Toronto showed its commitment to protecting the parking lanes by building planters at major intersections that jutted into the road. The TTC added extra stops, put the Spadina Station loop underground to address noise concerns from Annex residents, and planted trees along the private right-of-way, attempting to recall the original tree-lined streetcar boulevard that ran up the centre of the street into the 1920s. In May 1992, the revamped SPADINA Streetcar proposal received final approval, and construction began. The line was completed five years later, under budget, but well above the cost estimated when the line was first proposed in 1973.

The HARBOURFRONT LRT, which had launched with the rapid-transit route number of 604, was quietly changed to the 510 HARBOURFRONT streetcar on February 18, 1996. The route itself was merged with the new 510 SPADINA when the streetcar line opened on July 27, 1997.

The New Spadina Streetcar Opens

To start operations on the line on its set date, the TTC left certain intersections (Dundas and Adelaide) unfinished, wiring up the main routes and leaving the switches undone. Work completing these intersections finished in March 1999 with the opening of Charlotte Loop. Charlotte Loop was designed into the Spadina streetcar line after the line opened, to allow the TTC to route its streetcars more efficiently. Until Charlotte Loop opened, allowing streetcars to be short-turned via Adelaide, Charlotte and King, roughly every second streetcar turned back at Queen's Quay to provide extra service on Spadina Avenue. The new loop has helped save the TTC $300000 per year in improved operational efficiencies. At a cost of $200,000 to build, the loop paid for itself within its first year of operation. Years later, however, development south of King increased ridership demand, so short turn service was extended with Queen's Quay. Charlotte Loop remains for occasional short turns by the 510 SPADINA and 504 KING routes, and proved useful for many months around 2019 for diverting 503 KINGSTON ROAD cars.

In the months following the Spadina streetcar's opening, the TTC had to contend with cars turning in front of streetcars and causing collisions. In the first six months of operation, accidents on the Spadina line exceeded those of the rest of the system combined. The problem began to settle as drivers got used to the new route, but to further improve safety, the TTC installed additional barriers so streetcars could operate without cars getting in the way. On July 23, 2000, the City of Toronto replaced the temporary barriers alongside the line from College to Front with curbs and landscaping, producing the tree-lined boulevard seen today.

Spadina's Rising Prominence

Despite initial teething pains, the TTC is happy with the operation of the new Spadina Streetcar. Within four years, ridership had increased 7-15% since before the streetcars started rolling, and the 77 SPADINA bus was already one of the busiest routes in the system. Since the opening of the Spadina line, work was completed on a new streetcar line along Queen's Quay between Spadina and Bathurst. This route, numbered 509 HARBOURFRONT, allowed for direct service between Union Station and the Canadian National Exhibition.

Ridership continued to increase as the area around Spadina Avenue and Harbourfront redeveloped, requiring the TTC to increase service. On September 6, 2015, the TTC restored night service, which had vanished with the cancellation of the 317 SPADINA NIGHT bus on February 16, 1992. Instead of buses, however, streetcars would ply the route, operating as 317 SPADINA NIGHT from Spadina station to Union station, and keeping these stations, with their underground streetcar loop facilities, open twenty-four hours a day. The route was renumbered 310 SPADINA NIGHT on September 3, 2017.

The 510 SPADINA route has become a showcase for Toronto's streetcar network. It was the precedent upon which the conversion of the 512 ST. CLAIR streetcar to private right-of-way operation was based. On August 31, 2014, as the new wheelchair accessible Flexity streetcars were introduced into service, 510 SPADINA was the first to receive these new vehicles. In early December 2015, the TTC announced that 510 SPADINA and 317 SPADINA NIGHT would, effective January 3, 2016, become the first fully accessible streetcar route on the network, operating exclusively with Flexities. At the same time, the SPADINA streetcar became the second streetcar line to officially display lettered branches on its destination signs (the first time was the 512L ST. CLAIR short turn service at Lansdowne Avenue), bringing things in line with the branch designations of the TTC's bus network. This was made possible by Flexity streetcars' use of computerized destination signs.

As the Spadina streetcar line nears its 30th anniversary, it has proven itself as an integral part of the TTC's transportation network and shown what streetcars can do for Toronto, as much as 501 QUEEN and 504 KING. It will continue to move Torontonians along this vibrant avenue for years to come.

510 Spadina Image Archive

	Following Streetcars for Toronto Committee's success in convincing the TTC to abandon its streetcar abandonment policy, the grassroots organization encouraged the TTC to restore streetcar service on Spadina Avenue. One question that had to be tackled was: where would the cars loop? One option called for a single track to be laid down Charlotte Street from Adelaide to King, as shown by this plan drawn for the TTC in August 1973. Charlotte Loop would open in March 1999, almost two years after the launch of the 510 SPADINA route. Image courtesy Steve Munro.
	Another potential location for a southern loop to the Spadina streetcar route was Front Street, with a property to the east of Spadina eyed as a potential site. Expansion further south would have to wait until the bridge was rebuilt, as eventually happened in the 1980s. Image courtesy Steve Munro.
	Steve Munro, from the Streetcars for Toronto Committee, helped the TTC by drawing out a potential route arrangement for Spadina Streetcars in this July 1973 document.
	Steve Munro also drew potential designs for an at-grade loop for the Spadina streetcar at Spadina subway station.
	This design for a Spadina station streetcar and bus terminal, dated August 1973, takes its cues from Bathurst station. Image courtesy Steve Munro.
	In addition to a Charlotte loop, another southern looping option for Spadina streetcars would have been at Clarence Square south of King Street, as seen in this design dated from August 1973. Image courtesy Steve Munro.
	By January 1974, TTC and Toronto planning documents had identified a property for the Spadina station terminal, which would open four years later. Image courtesy Steve Munro.
	Plans were also needed at the north end for looping streetcars in the event of the restoration of streetcar service. Streetcars had never looped here before, and there was no bus terminal at Spadina station until 1978. This Toronto Planning drawing from August 1975 shows a potential new terminal with separate roadways for streetcar (on the surface) and bus services. Image courtesy Steve Munro.
	The Toronto Planning Board had several potential designs and locations for the Spadina streetcar's southern terminus, as seen in this document dated August 1975. Image courtesy Steve Munro.
	This TTC drawing from 1987 shows a preliminary plan for the underground loop at Spadina subway station. A loop-the-loop track is not included. Image courtesy Steve Munro.
	TTC Peter Witt streetcar #2766 was among the many attendees of the opening ceremonies for the 510 SPADINA streetcar route. Photo by Brian M. Wolk
	TTC ALRV #4223 enters the Spadina Station tunnel as part of a special ALRV charter in 1998. The one tunnel is set back from the other so that the up slope for streetcars isn't as steep as the down slope. Streetcars find going down easier than going up. Photo by James Bow.
	At the foot of Spadina Avenue, southbound CLRV #4044 nears Queen's Quay and its turn towards Union Station. The Gardiner Expressway provides the backdrop. Photo by James Bow.
	TTC ALRV #4223 poses at Spadina Station in 1998, making what was then a rare appearance here whilst on a charter. Although ALRVs can handle the Spadina line, the TTC had decided to keep them off, since the ALRVs already have their hands full on Queen and Bathurst. During construction on Queen Street, however, a few ALRVs were run along Spadina experimentally. James Bow took this photograph.
	TTC rebuilt A-15 class PCC 4500 sits in the loop-the-loop tunnel near Spadina Station. This track can store a streetcar and route it back into Spadina Station when it's needed. Due to problems during construction, this loop started accepting streetcars a few months after the opening of the 510 SPADIN line. Photo by Steve Booth.
	Roger Dupuis took this night shot of a CLRV in service on the Spadina route in the late 1990s, northbound at King Street.
	W.N.Carr caught this picture of CLRV #4087, pausing at Spadina Avenue and King Street West. The photo was taken between 1997 and 2002.
	Black into black. TTC CLRV #4027 enters the tunnel to Union Station on August 13, 2009. The streetcar is wrapped in an advertisement for Toronto Film Festival. Photo by Roman Fomin.
	TTC CLRV 4107 crosses College Street, southbound in service on 510 SPADINA in this summer 2010 shot by Randy Meredith.
	TTC CLRVs 4016 (southbound) and 4098 (northbound) pass each other in service on 510 SPADINA, just north of College Street in this summer 2010 shot. Photo by Randy Meredith.
	While the project to upgrade Queens Quay West is still in progress, streetcars on 510 SPADINA operate short-turn to King Street, lining up at College and Spadina. This photograph was taken by Roman Fomin on June 20, 2013.
	CLRV 4019 makes its way around Spadina Crescent in service on 510 Spadina on a snowy evening run to Union Station. Photo by Eliot Rossi.
	TTC LRV #4400 pulls into the southbound platform at Queen's Quay station in service on 510 SPADINA on the morning of Wednesday, October 15, 2014, days after service was restored on Queen's Quay. Photo by James Bow.
	TTC LRV #4400 pauses at the northbound Queen stop, in service on 510 SPADINA on the morning of Saturday, October 18, 2014. Photo by James Bow.
	TTC LRV 4400 in service on 510 SPADINA awaits green light on a rebuilt right-of-way at Queens Quay, heading west towards Spadina Station. The construction of pedestrian promenade as well as some roadworks at the time the photo was taken is still undergoing. Photo by Roman Fomin on December 7, 2014.
	...the rear view of LRV 4400 as it stops just before Lower Simcoe Street.
	Southbound TTC Bombardier Flexity 4400 arrives at King Street along the 510 SPADINA route on May 16, 2015. Photo: Lex Reid.
	CLRV 4021 having just crossed Queen Street West is heading north towards Spadina station. Photo by Roman Fomin on May 26, 2105.
	CLRV 4189 in service on 510 SPADINA route meets her counterpart CLRV 4134, about to enter Spadina Crescent. Photo by Roman Fomin on May 26, 2015.
	TTC Flexity LRV #4409 heads northbound on Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West in the Chinatown neighbourhood on the 510 SPADINA. This photo was taken on November 13, 2015 by Jelo Gutierrez Cantos
	A passenger hurries to catch ALRV 4203 as it crosses College southbound in 510 SPADINA service. At the beginning of 2016, most runs were operated by Flexity vehicles, with ALRV streetcars called in to fill in any gaps. This photo was taken on January 14, 2016 by James Bow.
	TTC Flexity LRV #4420 along with another takes up a lot of track space at Queen's Quay loop at the south end of the 510 SPADINA route. Photo by Patrick Yutiga.
	TTC Flexity LRV #4414 wearing a KFC wrap, turns northbound onto Spadina from Queen's Quay in 510 SPADINA service on September 20, 2017. Photo by James Bow.
	Waiting passengers look on as TTC Flexity LRV #4431 opens its doors at Harbourfront Centre, heading to Spadina station in 510 SPADINA service on a late afternoon on November 14, 2018. Photo by James Bow.
	An official map of the TTC's 317 SPADINA NIGHT streetcar operations, effective September 6, 2015.
	An official map of the TTC's 510 SPADINA streetcar, along with its 317 SPADINA NIGHT variant, effective September 6, 2015.

References

Byers, Jim. "Cut size, cost of Spadina LRT, committee urges." The Toronto Star 10 Jul. 1990: A7.
Filey, Mike, Not a One-Horse Town: 125 Years of Toronto and its Streetcars, Gagne Printing, Louiseville (Quebec), 1986.
Harvey, Ian. "So lets get Spadina LRT rolling." The Toronto Sun 27 Jan. 1992: 20.
Hood, J. William, Street Railways, Toronto: 1861 to 1930, Toronto: Maps Project, 1999.
Pursley, Louis H., Street Railways of Toronto, 1861-1921, Electric Railway Productions, Los Angeles (California), 1958.
Sarick, Lila. "The perils of reworking a landmark." The Globe and Mail 6 Apr. 1992: A9.
Smith, Michael. "Alternatives to Spadina rapid transit line to be studied." The Toronto Star 5 Feb. 1987: A7.
Smith, Michael. "Spadina line wins support as solution to congestion." The Toronto Star 9 Jun. 1988: A7.
Wickson, Ted and Pat Scrimgeour, 'Toronto's new Spadina streetcar line' Rail and Transit, January 1995, p8-9, The Upper Canada Railway Society, Toronto (Ontario), 1995.

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