509 Harbourfront
Encyclopedia
509 Harbourfront is a streetcar route
in Toronto
, Ontario
, Canada
, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission
.
north to Union Station
and including one intermediate underground station, Queens Quay. At the time of its opening, the terminus was located at Spadina Loop at the foot of Spadina Avenue
; beyond this point non-revenue trackage ran on Spadina from Queen's Quay West to King, as otherwise the new line would have been disconnected from the rest of the network.
The 600-series numbers were used briefly to represent rapid transit, i.e., subways, Scarborough RT and Harbourfront LRT. This practice was dropped because it was found to be misleading, as the Harbourfront LRT is not grade-separated. Now, subways and RT are referred to internally as routes 1-4, but have no route numbers on official maps.
In 1997, the completion of a dedicated right of way on Spadina Avenue resulted in the Harbourfront route being relaunched as the 510 Spadina. No route carried the name "Harbourfront" until 2000, when the Queen's Quay streetcar tracks were extended west to Bathurst and Fleet Streets. At that point, a new route, the 509 Harbourfront, was added, running from Union along the original 604's route concurrently with the 510 as far as Spadina, and then carrying on west to Exhibition Place
. The Fleet Street portion of Route 509 has since been converted to a parallel private right-of-way, meaning the entire route operates entirely separate from vehicle traffic.
The TTC’s Waterfront West
project, which is currently undergoing an environmental assessment, would extend the Harbourfront line from its current western terminus at Exhibition Loop
to Queen Street and Roncesvalles Avenue, where it would join the existing right-of-way along the Queensway already used by 501 Queen and 508 Lake Shore
streetcars headed to Long Branch Loop.
Despite its political image as a ‘modern, rapid transit’ streetcar line, the 604 Harbourfront route was originally operated using rebuilt PCC streetcar
s, which were referred to as "Red Rockets" in a branding effort. These were soon replaced by Toronto's CLRV streetcars, which form the majority of the city's current fleet. There are calls for the TTC to operate ALRV (articulated, or double-length) streetcars on the line, but that is seen as being highly unlikely due to a shortage of such vehicles, as well as technical issues involving the tunnel along Bay Street in the event of a streetcar becoming disabled (space limitations inside the tunnel restrict the brakes from being manually released, and the grade exiting the tunnel makes moving a disabled ALRV very difficult, especially in poor weather conditions).
Because of the amount of shared track, the Toronto Transit Commission has grouped the 509 Harbourfront and 510 Spadina routes together for accounting and measurement purposes.
The TTC announced that between May and the Labour Day weekend in 2010 that they will operate one of their two remaining PCC-type streetcars (nos. 4500 and 4549) on Sundays when possible.
Most stops along the 509 route are surface stops with islands separating the regular traffic from the streetcar tracks. Streetcars begin underground at Union Station and pass through a dedicated underground streetcar station at Queens Quay before climbing to the surface.
Toronto streetcar system
The Toronto streetcar system comprises eleven streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission , and is the largest such system in the Americas in terms of ridership, number of cars, and track length. The network is concentrated primarily in downtown and in...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission
Toronto Transit Commission
-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...
.
History
The Harbourfront LRT, originally designated 604 Harbourfront, began service in 1990. It was the first new Toronto streetcar route in many years, and the first ever to employ a dedicated tunnel, running approximately 600 metres from Queen's QuayQueen's Quay (Toronto)
Queen's Quay is a prominent street in the Harbourfront neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street was originally commercial in nature due to the many working piers along the waterfront...
north to Union Station
Union (TTC)
Union Station is a station on the Yonge–University–Spadina line of the Toronto subway and RT. Opened in 1954 along with the first twelve subway stations of Toronto, it is located between the Yonge Street and University Avenue sections of the line at 55 Front Street West between Bay Street and York...
and including one intermediate underground station, Queens Quay. At the time of its opening, the terminus was located at Spadina Loop at the foot of Spadina Avenue
Spadina Avenue
Spadina Avenue is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods....
; beyond this point non-revenue trackage ran on Spadina from Queen's Quay West to King, as otherwise the new line would have been disconnected from the rest of the network.
The 600-series numbers were used briefly to represent rapid transit, i.e., subways, Scarborough RT and Harbourfront LRT. This practice was dropped because it was found to be misleading, as the Harbourfront LRT is not grade-separated. Now, subways and RT are referred to internally as routes 1-4, but have no route numbers on official maps.
In 1997, the completion of a dedicated right of way on Spadina Avenue resulted in the Harbourfront route being relaunched as the 510 Spadina. No route carried the name "Harbourfront" until 2000, when the Queen's Quay streetcar tracks were extended west to Bathurst and Fleet Streets. At that point, a new route, the 509 Harbourfront, was added, running from Union along the original 604's route concurrently with the 510 as far as Spadina, and then carrying on west to Exhibition Place
Exhibition Place
Exhibition Place is a mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The 197–acre area includes expo, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments, parkland, sports facilities, and a number of civic, provincial,...
. The Fleet Street portion of Route 509 has since been converted to a parallel private right-of-way, meaning the entire route operates entirely separate from vehicle traffic.
The TTC’s Waterfront West
Waterfront West LRT (TTC)
The Waterfront West LRT was a proposed light rail line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was part of the Transit City proposal announced on March 16, 2007, to be operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. As the shortest and least expensive Transit City line, it was expected to cost approximately...
project, which is currently undergoing an environmental assessment, would extend the Harbourfront line from its current western terminus at Exhibition Loop
Exhibition Loop (TTC)
Exhibition Loop is the terminus for the 511 Bathurst and 509 Harbourfront streetcar routes and serves:* CNE at the Exhibition Place* Ricoh Coliseum* Exhibition GO Station* BMO Field-History:...
to Queen Street and Roncesvalles Avenue, where it would join the existing right-of-way along the Queensway already used by 501 Queen and 508 Lake Shore
508 Lake Shore
The 508 Lake Shore is an east-west streetcar route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. The route serves the downtown financial district from the western limit of the city, and operates as a rush hour service only...
streetcars headed to Long Branch Loop.
Operation
PCC streetcar
The PCC streetcar design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world...
s, which were referred to as "Red Rockets" in a branding effort. These were soon replaced by Toronto's CLRV streetcars, which form the majority of the city's current fleet. There are calls for the TTC to operate ALRV (articulated, or double-length) streetcars on the line, but that is seen as being highly unlikely due to a shortage of such vehicles, as well as technical issues involving the tunnel along Bay Street in the event of a streetcar becoming disabled (space limitations inside the tunnel restrict the brakes from being manually released, and the grade exiting the tunnel makes moving a disabled ALRV very difficult, especially in poor weather conditions).
Because of the amount of shared track, the Toronto Transit Commission has grouped the 509 Harbourfront and 510 Spadina routes together for accounting and measurement purposes.
The TTC announced that between May and the Labour Day weekend in 2010 that they will operate one of their two remaining PCC-type streetcars (nos. 4500 and 4549) on Sundays when possible.
Route
Points of interest
| Location | Stops |
|---|---|
| Harbourfront Centre & Islands ferry docks | Queens Quay Station |
| Queen's Quay Terminal Queen's Quay Terminal Queen's Quay Terminal was a cold storage warehouse facility, the Toronto Terminal Warehouse, built in 1926 by Moores & Dunford and converted to a condo/mall complex in 1983... |
Queen's Quay Station, York Street |
| CN Tower CN Tower The CN Tower is a communications and observation tower in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Standing tall, it was completed in 1976, becoming the world's tallest free-standing structure and world's tallest tower at the time. It held both records for 34 years until the completion of the Burj... |
Lower Simcoe Street |
| Rogers Centre Rogers Centre Rogers Centre is a multi-purpose stadium, in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated next to the CN Tower, near the shores of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989, it is home to the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League... & Toronto Waterfront WaveDecks Toronto Waterfront WaveDecks As part of the revitalization of Toronto’s central waterfront, Waterfront Toronto committed to constructing a series of unique wooden wavedecks along the water's edge for the 3.5 km area running from Bathurst Street to Parliament Street.... |
Simcoe Street – Spadina Avenue |
| HTO Park HTO Park HTO is an urban beach in Toronto, Canada, that opened in 2007. It west of Harbourfront Centre, on Lake Ontario.-History:The park is built on quays that was once used by ships berthing in Toronto's Inner Harbour.The park consists of two sections:... |
Rees Street |
| Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport | Bathurst Street & Queen's Quay |
| Old Fort York Fort York Fort York is a historic site of military fortifications and related buildings on the west side of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The fort was built by the British Army and Canadian militia troops in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, to defend the settlement and the new capital of the... |
Bathurst & Fleet Streets, Fort York Boulevard |
| HMCS York HMCS York HMCS York is a Canadian Forces Naval Reserve Division located in Toronto, Ontario. Before the move to its current location on Lake Shore Boulevard West, it had been situated on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition... |
Bastion |
| Fort York Armoury Fort York Armoury Fort York Armoury is a Canadian Forces facility located near the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Fleet Street and Fort York Blvd, close to the historic Fort York site in the neighbourhood of Fort York... |
Fort York Boulevard |
| Exhibition Place Exhibition Place Exhibition Place is a mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The 197–acre area includes expo, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments, parkland, sports facilities, and a number of civic, provincial,... & Canadian National Exhibition Canadian National Exhibition Canadian National Exhibition , also known as The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the 18 days leading up to and including Labour Day Monday. With an attendance of approximately 1.3 million visitors each season, it is Canada’s largest... |
Strachan Avenue, Exhibition Loop |
| Ricoh Coliseum Ricoh Coliseum Ricoh Coliseum is an ice hockey and agricultural arena at Exhibition Place in Toronto. It serves as the home arena of the Toronto Marlies, the American Hockey League farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Toronto Triumph of the Lingerie Football League. It was formerly known as the CNE... & Exhibition GO Station |
Exhibition Loop |