TTC rush hour streetcar service affected by extreme cold

The Toronto Transit Commission is advising that due to extreme cold weather, streetcar service will be affected during rush hour this afternoon and tomorrow morning.

The 511 Bathurst, 502 Downtowner and 503 Kingston Rd routes will be replaced by buses. Twenty-eight streetcars are unable to go into service this afternoon due to extreme cold.

Additional buses will also be used to supplement streetcar routes where necessary. The TTC normally operates about 200 streetcars during peak service.

Even with supplemental bus service, the afternoon commute today and the morning commute tomorrow may take longer than usual on the affected routes. To avoid long waits in the cold, customers should check nextbus.com or Transit App on their mobile device to see when the next streetcar or bus is due to arrive at their stop.

The aging streetcar fleet and related equipment (over 30 years old in some cases) do not respond well to extreme cold. Pneumatic air lines that provide braking, door and windshield wiper operation may have moisture build up, which can freeze, causing a streetcar to be taken out of service.