<img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://display.blogto.com/articles/20250416-ttc-streetcars-boston.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;quality=70&amp;format=jpeg" width="100%" /><p><a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2016/08/how_toronto_saved_the_north_american_streetcar/">Toronto residents have had a rocky history</a> with its streetcars, but it's undeniable the city has had a massive impact on light rail transit across North America.</p><p>Our light-rail transit system has helped to structure similar-looking systems in cities like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Streetcar">Portland</a>, Salt Lake City (the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_Line_(UTA)">S Line</a>), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Streetcar">Seattle</a>, Washington (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Streetcar">DC Streetcar</a>) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KC_Streetcar">Kansas City</a>.</p><p>But, in the 1980s, the boom was almost much bigger than that, as the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) leased out our red rockets to Boston with the eventual hopes of adopting it in Beantown.</p><h5><b>History of Canadian Light Rail Vehicles</b></h5><p>Replacing its counterpart, the Presidents' Conference Committee (PCC), in the early 1950s, the TTC, in partnership with the Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC) embarked on commissioning what we now know as <a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2022/10/reasons-why-torontos-old-streetcars-cooler/">Canadian Light Rail Vehicles (CLRV)</a>.</p><p>Originally prototyped by a Swiss manufacturer, Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG), CLRVS were initially intended to function as the cars that operated the Scarborough RT.</p><p>But these European-styled cars found their way to the tracks along Longbranch on September 30, 1979, and sprawled across the city as more streetcars were delivered to the city from their manufacturing home in Thunder Bay.</p><h5><b>Partnership with Boston</b></h5><p>After the unfortunate demise of the UTDC's planned magnetic levitation train system in Toronto, the only viable product from them was the new CLRV.</p><p>Because of this, they shopped the design around to multiple cities, and Boston showed interest in these cars. <a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2014/08/the_story_of_the_last_new_streetcar_launch_in_toronto/">The goal for the city</a> was to find a vehicle that would work with both the old trolley system they had in the city and be able to expand into their future light rail lines.</p><p>So the TTC shipped down three streetcars to Riverside Yard, where they were regauged to fit on their existing tracks and expected to run on Boston's Green Line for their 60 to 90 day test.</p><p><img alt="ttc streetcars boston" id="content-image-116345" src="https://display.blogto.com/uploads/2025/04/16/1744837982-20250416-ttc-streetcars-boston-1.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;quality=70" /></p><p class="caption"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ironmike9/" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1744837680018_1967" rel="author" title="Go to ironmike9’s photostream">ironmike9</a>/Flickr|photographer unknown</p><h5><b>Problems with CLRVs</b></h5><p>CLRVs weren't without their issues. Because these streetcars weren't outfitted with left-side doors, the cars during their tests had to skip Kenmore Station while running on the C and D tracks, a key transit point in getting to Fenway Park.</p><p>They also had a host of design issues, like loud wheels, windows that didn't open, awkward seating arrangements, and issues dealing with the salty slush often pooling along Toronto streets.</p><h5><b>What happened?</b></h5><p>Ultimately, Boston decided to go in another direction, purchasing LRV models from Boeing that were manufactured from 1976 to 79. Though these streetcars had major problems &mdash; derailing on tight curves and being plagued with broken doors, electrical failures, and corrosion.</p><p>Though those models were phased out less than 10 years after Boston made the purchase, where the last CLRVs in Toronto ran in <a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2019/12/toronto-says-goodbye-last-old-ttc-streetcars/">December of 2019</a>.</p><p></p><p>The only major city to purchase CLRVs from the TTC was the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which purchased 50 modified versions of the streetcar which, as of 2015, have been used second-hand by Sacramento and Salt Lake City.</p>