Canadian Light Rail Vehicle

Starting at the end of the 1970s and into the 1980s, the TTC's fleet of PCC streetcars approached (or exceeded in some cases) the end of their useful lives. Many Toronto citizens, and especially a group known as "Streetcars for Toronto" led by transit advocate Steve Munro, had fought successfully against the TTC's plan to convert the remaining streetcar lines to buses, which necessitated a new streetcar model to replace the aging PCCs. The "Canadian Light Rail Vehicle" was an attempt at a new, standardized streetcar design to be used in Toronto and in other new streetcar developments throughout the country.

Hawker Siddeley Canada proposed their version of a streetcar in 1972 known as the Municipal Service Car, which had a bus-like chassis and a semi-low floor design with front and rear doors similar to that of the CLRV fleet. The project was abandoned the following year when the TTC selected the CLRV design. No Municipal Service Car prototypes were ever produced and only concept drawings remain of this vehicle.

A completed CLRV rolls off the production lines at SIG in Neuhausen.

The first six CLRV cars (4000–4005) were manufactured by SIG of Zurich, Switzerland, and used as prototypes for Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC) (now Bombardier) to manufacture subsequent CLRVs at the Thunder Bay works of Hawker Siddeley Canada (today also part of Bombardier). The original order was for 200 CLRVs, of which ten were to be built by SIG and 190 by Hawker Siddeley. However, the order was reduced by four vehicles to 196 in order to provide parts to construct a prototype Articulated Light Rail Vehicle (number 4900). The four CLRVs removed were from the SIG portion of the order; thus, there were no CLRVs numbered 4006–4009. The 190 Hawker Siddeley CLRVs were numbered 4010–4199.[9][2] CLRV car 4000 had a pantograph when being tested by SIG on the Orbe-Chavornay railway and was converted to trolley pole before being delivered to Toronto.[2]

On December 29, 1977, the first CLRV, SIG-built 4002, arrived at the Hillcrest Complex aboard a railway flatcar. On September 30, 1979, after a year of testing and modification, CLRVs started service on route 507 Long Branch (today the western portion of route 501 Queen).[9]

Twenty-two CLRVs were to run on an open-track Scarborough LRT line (to be later built as an ICTS line). Thus, for suburban operation, the UTDC originally specified an outside-frame bogie that later proved problematic in street operation,[9] and designed the vehicles for speeds up to 110 kilometres per hour (70 mph). The bogies would derail at switches in street trackage and have noise and vibration problems.[10] Replacing the original Bochum wheels with SAB wheels (similar to PCC wheels) corrected these problems. The Bochum wheels had a rubber layer between the hub and the steel tire (rim), which would flex rather than pulling the opposite wheel through a single-point switch.[11]

The CLRV electronics include 1970s-era solid state power controls. In later years, the propulsion control system became unreliable and difficult to maintain as obsolete electronic and electrical parts became difficult to source.[11]

The CLRVs originally had sealed windows and no air conditioning. Later, the windows were modified to allow passengers to open them.[11]

The CLRVs were delivered with couplers for multiple-unit operation. Between 1984 and 1988, the couplers were removed, and a safety shield was placed over the front coupler pocket.[2]

As with the CLRV prototypes, the ALRV prototype, numbered 4900, was tested with a pantograph on standard gauge tracks before delivery to the TTC. Built in 1982, prototype 4900 had features that were not implemented on either CLRVs or production ALRVs such as hand controls instead of foot controls, and electronic destination signs instead of linen rollsigns.[5] The prototype had couplers while subsequent production units did not.[12]

Prototype 4900 ran trials in Toronto from August 10, 1982, until February 25, 1983, with a break when it was displayed at the 1982 Canadian National Exhibition. After completion of the trial runs, car 4900 was stored at the St. Clair Carhouse until March 7, 1987, when it was shipped to the UTDC testing facility in Kingston, Ontario. On March 24, 1988, following a test run, it was rear-ended by another streetcar on the test track and suffered extensive damage. It was scrapped in 1997.[5]

The 52 production ALRV cars were built by UTDC using bogies and articulations supplied by MAN SE of Germany. Assembly of the first 11 cars took place in Thunder Bay, while that of the remaining 41 cars took place in Kingston. They are numbered 4200–4251.

The first production ALRV, number 4200, was shipped to Toronto on June 11, 1987. It underwent further testing and modifications after its arrival. Car 4204 was the first of the production ALRVs to go into revenue service, doing so on the 507 Long Branch route on January 19, 1988.[5]

The UTDC had only one other buyer for its light rail products, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority[13] (now known as the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority), in San Jose, California, which purchased 50 vehicles in 1987.[13] These cars were double-ended, articulated, and used pantograph collection, all of which were configurable options offered for the CLRV by the UTDC, as was high-platform boarding, which neither city used.[9]

In 1980, cars 4027, 4029 and 4031 were leased and tested by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), in Boston, to run on the Green Line.[14] During this time, the cars were occasionally operated as two- and three-car trains. Ultimately, the MBTA did not adopt the CLRV design for its light rail fleet.[2]

The US Standard Light Rail Vehicle program was largely unsuccessful, with the resulting cars proving unreliable and troublesome to both transit systems that had purchased them. While the CLRV gave relatively more reliable performance for the TTC and SCVTA, their large amount of components that became proprietary as a result would make the cars increasingly more difficult and costly to maintain as they aged.

In 2004, the Santa Clara VTA replaced their UTDC cars with low-floor LRVs and sold the former fleet to Sacramento and Salt Lake City.[2] The cars were retired from service in both Salt Lake City and Sacramento in 2018 and 2022, respectively.[15]

The CLRV/ALRV cars, like the PCCs, had high floors and steps at every doorway, and were therefore not wheelchair accessible, severely limiting their use by people with physical disabilities. Furthermore, the doors were separated by vertical stanchions in the centre of each doorway, making each opening too narrow to accommodate wheelchairs, making accessibility retrofits more difficult and costly. With the passage of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) mandating all public transport to be fully accessible by 2025, the TTC saw the need to replace them with accessible vehicles as early as 2005. TTC staff explored a number of possible means to make the old fleet wheelchair-accessible, including constructing level boarding platforms, lowering the track level, installing wheelchair lifts, and attaching wheelchair-accessible trailers, but concluded that none of these options were practical,[26][27] and replacing the cars was the best option.

In 2008, the TTC installed automatic stop announcements on all surface vehicles, including the CLRVs and ALRVs, to satisfy the requirements of the AODA. An LED device displays stop names in text, accompanied by a recorded voice announcing the stop names. This is to aid riders with hearing and vision problems.[27][28] In 2016, the TTC announced it would also install external announcement systems on all of its surface vehicle fleet, again including the CLRVs and ALRVs, to announce the route and destination of the vehicle to passengers waiting to board.[29]

A TTC report in 2015 proposed that it may have continued to use some high-floor inaccessible CLRV/ALRV vehicles to supplement the low-floor Flexity Outlook streetcars during peak hours on selected routes either until approximately 2024, when projections indicated it would have enough of the Flexity vehicles available to provide accessible service on all streetcar routes or if they become impractical to maintain.[29] By May 2019, however, the TTC planned to retire the remainder of the CLRV/ALRV fleet by the end of 2019.[6]

During the polar vortex winter seasons of 2013/2014, 2014/2015, 2017/2018 and 2018/2019, many of the CLRV and ALRV streetcars broke down operating in temperatures below −20 °C (−4 °F) due to their age. On one of the worst days in January 2014, 48 streetcars failed to run for the morning rush hour.[30] On December 28, 2017, when the temperature was again −20 °C, 45 older streetcars could not leave the carhouse.[31] During an extreme cold snap from January 20 to 22, 2019, the TTC withdrew all CLRV/ALRV cars from service due to the high risk of the cars breaking down in the cold weather. Instead, only Flexity Outlook streetcars along with buses were used.[32] The ALRVs remained out of service for the rest of that winter season.[33]

The older streetcars use pressurized air passing through tubes and valves to operate such things as suspension, braking, windshield wipers, doors and the rail sander (for traction under icy conditions). Condensation can freeze and block the air tubes causing a variety of malfunctions. Over time, salt erodes the air tanks and the tubing gets brittle and leaks leading to less efficient air flow which may cause the compressor beneath the tail of the car to overheat and break down.[30]

To address these problems in December 2015, the TTC performed fixes taking 2–3 days per streetcar to implement. These included the installation of new air tanks and filters, the replacement of old tubing to the windshield wipers, repairs on the valves controlling air flow to the rail sanders, overhaul of the brake valves, and the correction of any suspension system deficiencies.[30]

As the TTC's CLRV/ALRV streetcar fleet has aged, many parts used by these older streetcars are no longer available from outside suppliers. If a CLRV or ALRV is damaged in a breakdown, collision or derailment, parts need to be replaced or be bent back into shape. For this purpose, the TTC employed a blacksmith to craft and repair parts. The blacksmith also supplied tools such as switch irons and towing drawbars for streetcars.[34]

The use of salt brine to de-ice city streets has corroded parts on the older streetcars so much that such parts must often be cut off the car. The TTC Harvey Shops must manufacture some of the replacements sections, such as the chevrons which attach the bogies to the car body. The upholstery department constructs the bellows used between the articulated sections of the ALRV. Each set of bellows takes 240 hours to construct from a vinyl-like material using electric sewing machines.[35]

In 2006, the TTC was planning to refurbish 100 CLRVs to extend their life and possibly to add air conditioning. This plan was shelved by December 2016, and the only visible outcome was that CLRV 4041, effectively a prototype for refurbishment, became the only CLRV with air conditioning, sporting a visually distinct air conditioning unit on its roof.[17][11]

In June 2015, the TTC started a program to rebuild and extend the life of 30 CLRVs and 30 ALRVs because of delays in delivery of the new Flexity streetcars. 56 employees were assigned to work on this program. Refurbishing each ALRV was expected to take about 55 days and cost $800,000. The cost for each CLRV was expected to be about $200,000. The total cost was budgeted at $33.1 million. The work was to be completed by 2017.[35][36]

The refurbishment of 30 ALRVs alone was budgeted at $24.5 million, with an option to refurbish another 10. The remaining 12 ALRVs were to be stripped of useful parts and scrapped. The refurbishments included repairing corrosion, repainting, installing new energy-efficient LED lights, upgrading the floors, refreshing the seats, and overhauling the pneumatic, brake and traction systems. This was expected to extend the life of the cars until 2024.[37][36] The first renovated ALRV (4217) entered service on October 15, 2015.[38] However, the TTC stopped the ALRV refurbishment program after completing 20 cars at a cost of $26 million. The TTC hoped to have 10 of the refurbished ALRVs in service on any given day, but found that only two or three were fit for service with the others awaiting repairs mainly due to electrical problems. Because of budget constraints, the refurbishing had excluded electrical work.[36]

Row of retired CLRVs and ALRVs at the Leslie Barns. Note that CLRV 4102 (retired 2017) is missing parts.[39]

The CLRV and ALRV cars began being retired from service as the Flexity low-floor streetcars arrived and began service. A TTC report in 2015 projected that the last of the older-model vehicles would be retired by 2024.[37] By January 2017, only 170 of the 200 CLRVs and ALRVs could be put into service because of the extra maintenance they required.[40]

In 2016, the TTC proposed using 30 to 40 ALRVs to supplement Flexity streetcars until 2024 to address increased ridership until 60 more low-floor streetcars could be ordered.[29] By September 2018, the CLRV fleet had so deteriorated that the TTC indicated they intended to use ALRVs to supplement some rush-hour services on the busier streetcar lines intended to be operated with CLRVs only.[41] The ALRV fleet was sidelined between February and April 2019. In May, the TTC ran the ALRV fleet for 926 km (575 mi), during which time one ALRV had a failure in its compressed air system. In mid-2019, the remaining ALRV fleet (about 6 or 7 vehicles) remained on standby as spare vehicles for supplemental service.[33][42][4]

By June 23, 2019, Flexity Outlook streetcars had fully replaced CLRVs on route 501 Queen between Neville Park Loop and Humber Loop. CLRVs continued to serve the route between Humber Loop and Long Branch Loop (operated as a separate branch of route 501) until Flexity streetcars had fully replaced them by September 1, 2019.[42][4]

The last day of operation for the ALRVs was September 2, 2019. On that date, ALRVs 4204 and 4207 made commemorative last runs during the afternoon along Queen Street between Russell Carhouse (Queen and Greenwood) and Wolseley Loop (Bathurst and Queen) with free rides to mark the occasion.[7][43]

In September 2019, 44 CLRVs were in service.[44] In that month, only routes 506 Carlton and 511 Bathurst were using them.[4]

CLRV 4178 (the Streetcar Named Toronto) on the last day of CLRV service

In September 2019, an artist group repainted CLRV 4178 at the Hillcrest Complex in bright colours, replacing its regular red and white colour scheme. The repainting project was dubbed "A Streetcar Named Toronto" and is intended to make 4178 a moving artwork. Leaves in red and white were painted on the streetcar's floor and the ceiling was painted with a floral pattern. The artist group changed the colour of some seat covers and added photographs in the interior. The repainted streetcar ran until the end of the year on regular routes as well as for special events such as Nuit Blanche. The streetcar was expected to be scrapped after its retirement,[45] but was ultimately preserved by the Halton County Radial Railway.[46]

By October 2019, only 18 CLRVs were still in service.[47] By late November 2019, CLRV service seven days per week was planned only for 511 Bathurst.[48] The TTC announced that it would continue to run CLRVs on that route until December 28, but it would also use some CLRVs as extra vehicles on 501 Queen between Bathurst Street and Greenwood Avenue on weekends from November 24 to December 28.[8]

The last day of service for the CLRVs was December 29, 2019. On that day, the TTC offered free service on the CLRVs along Queen Street between 10am and 2pm to commemorate the occasion.[8] At 3 pm, three CLRVs made a last commemorative run carrying invited guests from the Wolseley Loop to the Russell Carhouse.[49][50] Of the six CLRVs running that day, CLRV 4001 was the last to return to Russell Carhouse.[51]

The TTC has retained two CLRVs and an ALRV for special occasions and charters. Other CLRVs will be sold to various transit museums across North America or will be sold as scrap.[37][8] In July 2020, the TTC indicated it will convert CLRVs 4081 and 4124 into work cars.[52]

The TTC sold CLRV 4187 at auction to a private individual[lower-alpha 2] for static display at Glista Family Farms in Priceville, Ontario. As a condition of sale, the TTC stripped the car of its TTC logo. The buyer paid $3,400 for the car, the minimum allowed bid, but shipping increases that cost to an estimated $8,000. The new owner plans to preserve the streetcar's interior, and has constructed a short strip of track to mount the vehicle.[52]

Some noteworthy retired vehicles that were scrapped include:

• CLRV 4063 was the first to be retired. In 2006, it was intended to be the first prototype for the TTC's CLRV overhaul program, which was to include a complete reconstruction of the body as well as new propulsion and control systems. However, after the car was stripped, the overhaul program was cancelled. Because of a diminishing supply of spare parts for the active fleet, it was decided that the unit would be scrapped and all usable parts be salvaged for repairs to the existing fleet. The shell was sold for scrap in March 2009 to Future Enterprises of Hamilton, Ontario.[39]
• ALRV 4231 was retired in mid-2014 and was used to supply parts until its scrapping in May 2015. It was the first ALRV to be retired and scrapped.[55]
• CLRV 4062 was the second CLRV retired after it suffered a serious collision with TTC bus 7807 on December 27, 2014.[56] Previously, the TTC repaired CLRVs damaged in collisions, even those heavily damaged. Instead, CLRV 4062 was retired in January 2015.[39]
• CLRV 4162, retired in March 2015, was the third CLRV to be retired but the first to be so because of age, wear and tear.[39]
• CLRV 4005 was retired in May 2015 and scrapped in July 2015. It was the first of the six SIG-built CLRVs to be retired.[39]
• CLRV 4000, the first CLRV by number and one of the six CLRVs built by SIG, was shipped to a Hamilton scrap yard from the Leslie Barns on December 9, 2017.[57]

• US Standard Light Rail Vehicle, a similar, though unsuccessful, attempt to build a standardized PCC successor in the US.
• Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company Type K LRV for SEPTA to replace PCC streetcars and similar to the CLRV
• Santa Clara VTA Light-rail, which used a somewhat similar car design also produced by UTDC.

• Chris Bateman (August 19, 2014). "The story of the last new streetcar launch in Toronto". BlogTO. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2014.