510-Spadina

The 510 route opened in two parts - the Harbourfront LRT from Union Station to Queens Quay and Spadina in 1990 and along Spadina Ave. from Bloor to Queens Quay in 1997. The Queen's Quay part was opened as part of the waterfront redevelopment. It is amazing that in a few years, Queen's Quay went from grimy rust belt industrial to trendy condo and antique mecca. The route was originally operated with rebuilt PCCs and operated from an underground loop at Union Station south under Bay Street in Toronto's only streetcar subway to an underground station at Queen's Quay and Bay. The streetcars then turned west and emerged from the portal to run along the centre of Queen's Quay in a private right of way. Six stops later, the line ended at Spadina in an off street loop. The noise the PCCs made in the loop irritated the condo dwellers who convinced the TTC to change to CLRVs in 1993. Most railfans wonder about this since the PCCs are no noisier and in fact weigh less than the CLRVs. There was a right of way to connect the Harbourfront LRT to the rest of the streetcar system along Spadina from Queen's Quay to King.

When the 510 line was opened along Spadina in 1997, the Harbourfront LRT (including the tracks between King and Queen's Quay) were incorporated into the route. The 510 cars start at an underground loop in Spadina Station and emerge on to a private right of way down Spadina Avenue to meet the aforementioned Harbourfront tracks. The main attraction on Spadina is Chinatown, which is centered at Spadina and Dundas. The other parts of Spadina also provide plenty of riders for the 510 car. Half the cars (at most times) run from Spadina Station to King where they loop via Adelaide, Charlotte and King streets. The other cars continue south along Queen's Quay. Service on the 510 between King and Spadina station is better than every four minutes during rush hours, middays, and even on Saturdays and Sundays. No other route can match that. Although there are a lot of traffic lights on Spadina the cars keep moving since the whole route is private right of way. When the route first opened, there were gaps in the green posts along the right of way to allow cars to turn at unsignalled intersections. Apparently the drivers could not see those huge red streetcars coming and there were a lot of accidents. A photo below shows three cars waiting for an accident to clear after a motorist has turned into the lead streetcar. Now only one unsignalled intersection remains and there are far fewer accidents.

The 510-Spadina is great for railfans due to the tight headways, the grand unions at Spadina/King and Spadina/Queen, Chinatown, the CN tower and Skydome and the underground loops. Usually CLRVs are used on 510, but ALRVs have been used on some occasions. On July 21, 2000, the 509 route opened, paralleling the 510 along Queen's Quay, but continues past Spadina to Bathurst, joining the 511 route along Fleet Street to the Exhibition. This route gives Yonge subway riders a direct connection to the exhibition grounds and helps the development along Fleet Street.

The rider is left with the impression that even with private right-of-way, this route is fairly slow. There are too many traffic lights and the ridership is so heavy that stops are long. In addition, the stops along Spadina are poorly placed; too many of them are after the respective intersections and not all that close to them either.