Ontario Funds New Streetcars In Toronto
Ministry of Transportation
The Ontario government is committing $416.3 million to support the City of Toronto's purchase of 204 replacement streetcars.
Funding for the first two years of the project will come from the Province's Infrastructure Stimulus Fund - with future years' payments built into the Province's long-term capital plan.
New streetcars will be built at Bombardier Transportation Inc in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The new streetcars will:
- Enable TTC to acquire a single fleet of articulated low floor LRVs with common technology and operating characteristics and reduced operating costs
- Improve the efficiency and reliability of the TTC streetcar fleet, since existing streetcars are at, or nearing, the end of their 30-year life
- Improve accessibility - new streetcars will be 100 per cent low floor with no steps, onto or within the streetcar
- Increase capacity, as new streetcars are larger, more comfortable and can carry 200-270 transit riders - up from 132 passengers for non-articulated streetcars
- Improve energy efficiency as the new streetcars will use 10-20 per cent less power than the existing streetcars.
The first streetcars will be in service in 2012.