Take a TTC trip back in time

Starting this Sun., May 21, and every Sunday until Labour Day weekend, TTC customers can step back in time by riding the vintage PCC streetcar on the 509 Harbourfront Route. The classic burgundy-and-cream-coloured streetcar can be boarded from about noon to 5 p.m., on Sundays only. PCC rides are free of charge.

The PCC car will travel from Union Station to the Fleet Loop, providing a scenic view along Queens Quay West. It makes stops at many tourist destinations on Toronto’s waterfront, including the Ferry Docks, Toronto Music Garden, HTO Park, York Quay Centre, Stage in the Round, The Power Plant and numerous other attractions.

PCC FAST FACTS

• The TTC’s PCC streetcar returned to Sunday summer service on Harbourfront in 2012.
• PCC stands for Presidents’ Conference Committee, a North American transit industry committee that developed specifications for new-era streetcars in 1930.
• The PCC streetcar era began in 1938 when the first PCC rolled into service on the St. Clair streetcar route.
• The original 140-car order of PCC streetcars (the largest order in North America in 1938) cost the TTC $3 million. By 1951, more than 550 “streamliners” were running on most routes in Toronto.
• By 1957, after acquiring more than 200 second-hand PCCs from various U.S. cities, the TTC owned 745 PCC cars, which was the most in the world. With the opening of the Bloor-Danforth Subway in 1966, and the arrival of CLRV and ALRV streetcars (the majority of cars in service today) in the 1980s, PCC streetcars were gradually retired from service.
• The TTC carried out a major rebuild of 188 PCC cars in the early 1970s, prolonging the useful life of 25-year-old cars until the CLRV fleet was delivered. The last 19 PCC streetcars were retired from service in 1995.
• Today, the TTC has two PCC cars it uses for special occasions and charters.
• Length: 14.2 metres. Height: 3.1 metres. Weight: 16,964.4 kilograms. Seats: 46.