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Canadian Light Rail Vehicle
The Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) and Articulated Light Rail Vehicle (ALRV) were types of streetcars used by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) from the late 1970s until they were scrapped in the late 2010s. They were built following the TTC's decision to retain streetcar services in the 1970s, replacing the existing PCC streetcar fleet.
Two variants were produced: the standard single-module CLRV (built between 1977 and 1981) and the longer articulated double-module ALRV (built between 1987 and 1989). The ALRVs were officially retired from regular TTC service on September 2, 2019, with the CLRVs officially retired on December 29, 2019. Both were replaced by the Flexity Outlook, a low-floor streetcar first introduced in 2014.
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.
The first six CLRV cars (4000–4005) were manufactured by SIG of Zürich, 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. 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.
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).
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, 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. 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.
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.
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Canadian Light Rail Vehicle
The Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) and Articulated Light Rail Vehicle (ALRV) were types of streetcars used by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) from the late 1970s until they were scrapped in the late 2010s. They were built following the TTC's decision to retain streetcar services in the 1970s, replacing the existing PCC streetcar fleet.
Two variants were produced: the standard single-module CLRV (built between 1977 and 1981) and the longer articulated double-module ALRV (built between 1987 and 1989). The ALRVs were officially retired from regular TTC service on September 2, 2019, with the CLRVs officially retired on December 29, 2019. Both were replaced by the Flexity Outlook, a low-floor streetcar first introduced in 2014.
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.
The first six CLRV cars (4000–4005) were manufactured by SIG of Zürich, 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. 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.
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).
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, 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. 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.
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.