511 Bathurst
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The 511 Bathurst is a Toronto streetcar route operated by the
Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operating the majority of the city's transit bus, bus and rail services. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers ...
in
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Canada.


Route

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 509 Harbourfront is a Toronto streetcar system, Toronto streetcar route in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission and connecting Union Station (Toronto), Union Station with Exhibition Loop. History 1990–2012 The 509 Harb ...
. 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 Steeles Avenue is an east–west street that stretches across the western and central Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. Running from Appleby Line in Milton in the west to the Scarborough-Pickering Townline in the east, where it continue ...
. Route 511 was once primarily operated with shorter CLRVs. However, during special events at
Exhibition Place Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments, ...
, such as the
Canadian National Exhibition The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual fair that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Labour Day (Canada), ...
(CNE), additional service was provided using larger ALRVs and, since 2015, Flexity Outlook streetcars.


History

Streetcar service on Bathurst Street started on July 27, 1885, when the Toronto Street Railway opened a
horsecar A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is a tram or streetcar pulled by a horse. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public transport, public rail transport, ...
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. 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. On December 21, 1921, the
Toronto Transportation Commission Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC) was the public transit operator in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, beginning in 1921. It operated buses, streetcars and the island ferries. The system was renamed the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in 1954. H ...
extended the line to St. Clair Avenue. 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. Just prior to the opening of
Line 2 Bloor–Danforth Line 2 Bloor–Danforth is a rapid transit line in the Toronto subway system, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It has 31 Metro station, stations and is in length. It opened on February 26, 1966, and extensions at both ends we ...
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. 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. 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. 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 Exhibition GO Station is a GO Transit railway station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The station is one of the Lakeshore West line stations between Toronto and Hamilton. It is located west of downtown Toronto at Exhibition Place, an area of conven ...
on June 16, 1996. On July 21, 2000, the
509 Harbourfront 509 Harbourfront is a Toronto streetcar system, Toronto streetcar route in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission and connecting Union Station (Toronto), Union Station with Exhibition Loop. History 1990–2012 The 509 Harb ...
route shared tracks with 511 Bathurst from Bathurst Street west to Exhibition Loop. 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. Starting in 2015, the TTC introduced summer service using Flexity Outlook streetcars to handle events such as the
2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...
at the "CIBC Pan Am / Parapan Am Park" and the
Canadian National Exhibition The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual fair that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Labour Day (Canada), ...
. Due to a streetcar shortage caused by late delivery of the Bombardier
Flexity Outlook The Bombardier Flexity Outlook is a series of low-floored trams of the Two-rooms-and-a-bath car, multi-articulated type, manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. Part of the larger Bombardier Flexity product line (many of which are not low-floo ...
streetcars, the route was operated using buses rather than streetcars since November 20, 2016. TTC streetcar service on 511 Bathurst returned from May 7, 2017, until September 4, 2017, 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, followed by another period of bus replacement that began on September 2, 2018. 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 until December 28, 2019, the last day for CLRVs on this route. The 511 Bathurst route was the last route in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
to run CLRVs seven days per week. 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. Regular streetcar service resumed on the 511 Bathurst route on January 4, 2021.


References


External links

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511 Bathurst
(Transit Toronto) {{TTC Streetcar routes in Toronto Toronto-gauge railways