Toronto’s first horse-drawn street railway opened in 1861. The first electric cars ran in August 1892, and the Toronto Transportation Commission replaced the old wooden cars with Peter Witt cars from 1921. In 1972 the commission chose to keep most of the system rather than replace it with buses. After 2014 the low-floor Flexity Outlook cars replaced the older fleet, and the fleet reached 264 cars in November 2025.
Horse cars on King Street, 1861
Toronto’s first street railway opened in 1861, when Alexander Easton’s Toronto Street Railway began running horse-drawn cars. Wikipedia gives the opening date as September 11, 1861, and the first line ran between Yorkville Town Hall and the St. Lawrence Market area. The market is described in our article on St. Lawrence Market.
Easton held a thirty-year franchise. When it ended in 1891 the city did not renew it. The franchise passed to William Mackenzie’s Toronto Railway Company, also for thirty years, and it required electric cars within a few years. The wider railway context is in Toronto’s 19th-century railways.
Electric cars from 1892
The company ran its first electric car in August 1892, and scheduled electric service began on Church Street on August 15, 1892. Sources give slightly different days for the earliest trial run. The franchise required the first line to be electrified within one year and the last within three. The last horse car ran on McCaul Street on August 31, 1894.
Fares in the company period were five cents cash, or six tickets for 25 cents, with a free transfer. Sunday service was long debated, and the first Sunday streetcars ran on May 16, 1897, after a second referendum narrowly overturned the ban.
The commission and the Peter Witt car, 1921
When the company’s franchise ended on August 31, 1921, the Toronto Transportation Commission began running the system the next day. The commission’s own story is in TTC history: the 1921 takeover and the subway era. It bought steel-bodied Peter Witt streetcars and trailers, 575 vehicles in all, to replace the worn wooden cars. The first entered service on October 2, 1921, on the Broadview route.
By 1927 the commission also ran the former suburban lines, so all streetcars in the area were one system.
PCC cars, 1930s to 1995
In the later 1930s the commission began buying PCC cars. The Toronto Public Library says it bought 745 PCCs in all from 1938, while one rolling-stock summary gives 1936 for the first purchase, so treat the start year as uncertain. In 1952 a commission board report was still recommending the purchase of 75 second-hand PCCs from Cleveland, because the commission expected to phase out streetcars by 1980. Used cars also came from other American cities.
The subways changed the picture. The Yonge subway opened in 1954 and ended streetcar service on Yonge Street on opening day, as covered in the Yonge subway article. When the Bloor-Danforth line opened in February 1966, many streetcars were pulled from service (see the 1966 subway article).
The decision to keep streetcars, 1971 and 1972
For a time the commission planned to remove nearly all of them. A board report dated November 16, 1971, proposed discontinuing most routes. Only King, Queen (including Kingston Road) and Bathurst were to stay, and even that depended on a Queen Street subway opening around 1980, which never happened. A further board report on August 1, 1972, raised the removal of the St. Clair line and started the public debate.
A citizens’ group formed in response. The Streetcars for Toronto Committee argued that keeping the cars was cheaper and better for the city. In late 1972 the commission board voted, at the urging of Toronto council, to keep the streetcar system, except for the Mt. Pleasant and Rogers Road lines. Accounts give differing sequences of votes at Toronto council, the commission and Metro council, so the exact order should be checked in the city’s records. Planning was entering a new political mood across the city, shown also in the cancellation of the Spadina Expressway in 1971.
CLRVs and ALRVs, 1977 to 2019
Streetcars had a future, but they needed new cars. The first Canadian Light Rail Vehicle reached the commission’s property on December 29, 1977, and entered service on September 30, 1979, on the 507 Long Branch route. In all, 196 CLRVs were bought, with the last delivered in 1982. Articulated versions arrived in 1988: 52 ALRVs, nearly twice as long as a CLRV.
The 1990s and 2000s added new lines and a separate right-of-way. The St. Clair route’s dedicated lane was completed on June 30, 2010, according to Wikipedia. The ALRVs were retired on September 2, 2019, and the last CLRVs on December 29, 2019, exactly 42 years after the first one arrived.
The Flexity Outlook fleet today
The first low-floor Flexity Outlook car entered service on August 31, 2014. The original order was for 204 cars. A further 60 cars from the same family were ordered later. The last of those reached the commission’s Hillcrest facility on November 18, 2025, bringing the fleet to 264 cars, according to transit analyst Steve Munro. One long-term out-of-service car remains off site for repairs.
The peak requirement is about 165 cars, so the commission has more streetcars than it can run at present. With spares it would have roughly 50 surplus. Wikipedia lists 11 daytime streetcar routes as of July 2024, plus overnight routes. Route and fare details change often, so check the Toronto Transit Commission before you travel.
The sequence of dates is worth keeping in view. The decision to keep the system came in 1972. New car types followed in 1979, 1988 and 2014, and the last of the older fleets left service in 2019. The network of routes has changed less than the vehicles running on it.
Frequently asked questions
When did Toronto get its first streetcars?
Horse-drawn street railway service began in 1861 under Alexander Easton’s Toronto Street Railway. Electric cars started running in August 1892.
Did Toronto almost get rid of its streetcars?
Yes. A 1971 commission report proposed keeping only a few routes. After public pressure, the board voted in November 1972 to retain the system except for two lines.
What are the current Toronto streetcars?
The Flexity Outlook low-floor cars, which entered service on August 31, 2014. The fleet reached 264 cars with the final delivery in November 2025.
What happened to the CLRV and ALRV streetcars?
The ALRVs were retired on September 2, 2019, and the CLRVs on December 29, 2019. The CLRVs had run since September 30, 1979.
What was a PCC streetcar?
A PCC was a standard North American streetcar design. Toronto bought a large number from 1938 onward, including used cars from other cities, and the type ran in Toronto until 1995.
Sources
- Steve Munro, “TTC Contemplates the Future of Streetcars: 1952, 1971, 1972” (November 22, 2021)
- Steve Munro, “Farewell to the CLRVs” (November 21, 2019)
- Steve Munro, “4663 arrives” (November 19, 2025)
- City of Toronto, online exhibit “The TTC: 100 Years of Moving Toronto,” “Consolidation: The TTC in the Twenties” (accessed October 2026)
- Toronto Public Library, “Remembering the Toronto Transportation Commission: September 1: Snapshots in History” (2017)
- Toronto Transit Commission, “TTC marks its 90th anniversary, Sept. 1” (2011)
- Wikipedia, “Toronto streetcar system” (accessed October 2026; used for early dates and route details, hedged in the text)
- Wikipedia, “Toronto Railway Company” (accessed October 2026)
Related reading
- TTC history: 1921 and the subway era
- Yonge subway opening, 1954
- Bloor-Danforth subway, 1966
- Toronto’s 19th-century railways
- The Spadina Expressway cancellation
- Yonge Street history
Last verified: November 2026
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, November 1). Toronto Streetcar History: From Horse Cars to Flexity Outlooks. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-streetcar-history
MLA: “Toronto Streetcar History: From Horse Cars to Flexity Outlooks.” History of Toronto, 1 Nov 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-streetcar-history. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Toronto Streetcar History: From Horse Cars to Flexity Outlooks.” Last modified November 1, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-streetcar-history.
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