streetcar named toronto

The colourful streetcar named Toronto is the city's favourite new commute

Between disastrous delays that seem regularly scheduled, the tease of discovering an approaching bus is actually out of service, and the bungled introduction of the new Bombardier-built fleet of streetcars, it's rare that Torontonians have anything nice to say about their transit system. 

But thanks to a group of artists, the city has actually had a reason to smile and wax nostalgic about the TTC lately.

A Streetcar Named Toronto, a neon-painted iteration of the city's iconic Canadian Light Rail Vehicle that has been nearly a year in the making, hit the tracks late last month and has been garnering a lot of well-deserved attention.

The group behind the masterpiece aims to pay homage to the city's old streetcars, which it calls "as much a symbol of the city as the CN Tower," before the CLRVs and ALRVS (the bendy versions) are completely phased out in favour of Bombardier's Flexity Outlook vehicles.

They also hope to enrich the city's landscape with a good serving of public art — and a bit of joy.

You can spot the rainbow streetcar on the 506 Carlton, 501 Queen and 511 Bathurst lines until the end of the year.

Lead photo by

Nicoli OZ Mathews


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