The 511 Bathurst is a Toronto streetcar route operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in Ontario, Canada.

511 Bathurst
Streetcar 4199 heading south on Bathurst Street
Overview
LocaleToronto, Ontario
Termini
WebsiteOfficial route page
Service
TypeStreetcar route
SystemToronto streetcar system
Route number511
Operator(s)Toronto Transit Commission
Depot(s)Leslie Barns, Russell Carhouse
Rolling stockFlexity Outlook
Daily ridership15,389 (2022, weekdays)[2]
Technical
Line length5.3 km (3.29 mi)[3]
Track gauge4 ft 10+78 in (1,495 mm)
Electrification600 V DC overhead
Route map

Route: Connection  00  Terminus  00 
Bloor–Danforth line
Bathurst Station
 7 
Lennox Street
Harbord Street
 94 
Ulster Street
College Street
 506 
Nassau Street
Dundas Street West
 505 
Robinson Street / Carr Street & Eden Place
Wolseley Loop
Queen Street West
 501 
King Street West
 504 
Wellington Street West
CN Oakville sub. & CP MacTier sub.
Fort York Boulevard
 121 
Fleet & Bathurst
Bathurst Street
Fleet Street
Bastion Street
Fleet Loop
Fort York Boulevard
Strachan Avenue
Fleet Street
Private Right-of-Way
Exhibition Loop
 29   509 
A map of the 511 Bathurst route along with connecting services.

Route

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The 511 Bathurst operates between Bathurst station and Exhibition Loop north–south along Bathurst Street in mixed traffic, and east–west along Fleet Street in a dedicated streetcar right-of-way shared with route 509 Harbourfront.[4]

Late at night, the 511 Bathurst is replaced by the 307 Bathurst Blue Night bus, which also includes the route of the 7 Bathurst bus route, operating from Exhibition Loop to the city limits at Steeles Avenue.

Route 511 was once primarily operated with shorter CLRVs. However, during special events at Exhibition Place, such as the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), additional service was provided using larger ALRVs and, since 2015, Flexity Outlook streetcars.[5][6]

History

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Streetcar service on Bathurst Street started on July 27, 1885, when the Toronto Street Railway opened a horsecar line between Bloor Street and College Street. The line was extended to King Street in December 1889, and to Front Street on September 5, 1892. The Toronto Railway Company electrified the line on April 19, 1894, and extended it north to Dupont Street on July 10, 1894.[7] The railway corridor south of Front Street remained a barrier until August 25, 1916, when a bridge was constructed at a southwest angle over the railway tracks. South of the rail corridor, streetcars ran along the edge of Fort York to provide seasonal service to Exhibition Place.[8]

On December 21, 1921, the Toronto Transportation Commission extended the line to St. Clair Avenue.[7] In 1931, the bridge over the railway corridor south of Front Street was realigned in a north–south alignment. On June 22, 1931, streetcar service started on Fleet Street, which became part of the "Fort" route.[8]

Just prior to the opening of Line 2 Bloor–Danforth on February 25, 1966, Bathurst Street was served by two streetcar routes, Fort and Bathurst. The Fort route ran from Vaughan Loop (an on-street loop utilizing Vaughan Road and St. Clair Avenue) to Exhibition Loop. The Bathurst route ran south from Vaughan Loop to Adelaide Street turning east on that street, then south on Church Street, west on King Street to return north on Bathurst Street.[9] However, before the city converted Adelaide Street to a one-way, eastbound street in 1960, Bathurst streetcars would loop downtown north from Adelaide Street on Church Street, west on Richmond Street, south on York Street to return westbound on Adelaide Street.[10][8]

With the Line 2 Bloor–Danforth opening, service north of Bloor Street to Vaughan Loop was discontinued, with cars terminating at the then-new Bathurst station. Service north of Bloor was replaced with the 7 Bathurst bus, although the tracks there remain today for non-revenue use to connect the St. Clair streetcar line and the Hillcrest Complex to the rest of the streetcar network. Bathurst streetcar service along Adelaide Street was also terminated, with the tracks being ultimately abandoned with the exception of one track between Victoria and Church streets. The Fort and Bathurst routes were merged, and the "Fort" name was discontinued.[11][8] With these changes, the Bathurst route resembled today's 511 Bathurst.

In June 1995, the old Exhibition Loop at the site of today's Trade Centre was closed, and a new loop was opened next to Exhibition GO station on June 16, 1996.[8]

On July 21, 2000, the 509 Harbourfront route shared tracks with 511 Bathurst from Bathurst Street west to Exhibition Loop.[8]

Between September 2007 and March 2008, the tracks along Fleet Street were rebuilt in a private right-of-way. Also, during this time, the overhead wire was rebuilt to allow for subsequent pantograph operation along Fleet Street, the first location to be so equipped.[12][13]

Starting in 2015, the TTC introduced summer service using Flexity Outlook streetcars to handle events such as the 2015 Pan American Games at the "CIBC Pan Am / Parapan Am Park" and the Canadian National Exhibition.[5][6]

Due to a streetcar shortage caused by late delivery of the Bombardier Flexity Outlook streetcars, the route was operated using buses rather than streetcars since November 20, 2016.[14] TTC streetcar service on 511 Bathurst returned from May 7, 2017,[15] until September 4, 2017,[16] when the 511 Bathurst route reverted to replacement bus service due to an ongoing streetcar shortage.

On February 18, 2018, streetcars returned to the route,[17] followed by another period of bus replacement that began on September 2, 2018.[18] On June 23, 2019, streetcars returned to 511 Bathurst, ending the temporary replacement bus service. It operated using a mixture of both CLRVs and Flexities[19] until December 28, 2019, the last day for CLRVs on this route. The 511 Bathurst route was the last route in Toronto to run CLRVs seven days per week.[20]

From April 20, 2020, until January 3, 2021, buses temporarily replaced streetcars on 511 Bathurst in order to accommodate several TTC and City of Toronto construction projects.[21][22] Regular streetcar service resumed on the 511 Bathurst route on January 4, 2021.

References

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  1. ^ "Seasonal service changes and improvements". www.ttc.ca. Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  2. ^ "Weekday boardings and service information for surface routes (bus and streetcar), 2022" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 11, 2024.
  3. ^ "TTC Service Summary November 21, 2021 to January 1, 2022" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 28, 2022. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  4. ^ "511 Bathurst". TTC. Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "TTC ready to welcome the world to the Pan Am Games". Toronto Transit Commission. July 9, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2016. The 511 Bathurst route will see two of the TTC's new low-floor streetcars deployed on the route from July 10–26.
  6. ^ a b Spurr, Ben (April 19, 2017). "St. Clair next in line for new TTC streetcars". Toronto Star. Retrieved April 20, 2017. [new rollout schedule] 511 Bathurst ... Summer 2017 temporary operation
  7. ^ a b Springirth, Kenneth C. (2014). Toronto Streetcars Serve The City. Foothill Media. p. 105. ISBN 978-1-62545-028-9.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Bow, James (June 25, 2015). "Route 511 - The Bathurst Streetcars". Transit Toronto. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  9. ^ "Ride Guide - 1965". Toronto Transit Commission. 1965. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  10. ^ "Ride Guide - May 1, 1959". Toronto Transit Commission. May 1, 1959. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  11. ^ "Ride Guide - February 1966". Toronto Transit Commission. February 1966. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  12. ^ Mackenzie, Robert (September 3, 2007). "Fleet Street Track Reconstruction Starts Tomorrow, September 4". Transit Toronto. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  13. ^ Mackenzie, Robert (September 29, 2008). "Streetcars Roll Along Fleet Street Tomorrow". Transit Toronto. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  14. ^ Munro, Steve (October 22, 2016). "TTC Service Changes Effective Sunday, November 20, 2016". Steve Munro. Retrieved January 27, 2018. The continued shortage of streetcars will trigger the following arrangement for service to Exhibition Loop: 511 Bathurst will be operated with buses, and these will run through to the Exhibition grounds.
  15. ^ "511 Bathurst - Route Description". Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2018. Effective May 7, 2017 until further notice: There is generally no accessible service on this route. New low-floor streetcars will begin to be introduced on this route in the summer of 2017. Until then, all service is provided by older non-accessible streetcars.
  16. ^ "Service Advisories for 511 Bathurst". Toronto Transit Commission. October 10, 2017. Archived from the original on January 29, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2018. Service Advisory - 511 Bathurst - Service operated by buses - Effective September 3, 2017
  17. ^ "Service Changes". Toronto Transit Commission. February 18, 2018. Archived from the original on February 5, 2018.
  18. ^ "TTC service improvements and changes". Toronto Transit Commission. September 2, 2018. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  19. ^ "June Board Period Service Changes". May 31, 2019. Archived from the original on June 4, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  20. ^ "TTC's legacy CLRV streetcars reach the end of the line on Dec 29". TTC. November 21, 2019. Archived from the original on November 22, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  21. ^ "505 Dundas and 511 Bathurst service changes". Toronto Transit Commission. April 20, 2020. Archived from the original on April 21, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  22. ^ "TTC service changes". Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
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