Various organizations operated streetcars on Parliament street, in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. The

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and larges ...

(TTC) discontinued scheduled service on Parliament in 1966, when it opened the Bloor-Danforth subway.

History

In 1874, the Toronto Street Railway opened the

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

horsecar A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, w ...

route, which ran along Carlton Street, turning north a short distance on Parliament Street to Winchester Street. In 1881, this route was extended east on Winchester Street to Sumach Street. In 1881, the TSR opened a second horsecar route on Parliament Street, the Parliament route, running from downtown on Queen Street turning north on Parliament Street then east on Gerrard Street to River Street. After the

Toronto Railway Company The Toronto Railway Company (TRC) was the operator of the streetcar system in Toronto between 1891 and 1921. It electrified the horsecar system it inherited from the Toronto Street Railway, the previous operator of streetcar service in Toronto. ...

took over the streetcar system, it electrified both the Winchester and Parliament routes in 1893. The Parliament route name disappeared in 1918 with the tracks between Queen and Gerrard Streets operating as part of the Queen route. Under the TRC, the Winchester route ran with double track on Winchester Street, east to Sackville Street, then further east on a single track to Sumach Street where there was a wye. On September 1, 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 ...

(later the

), a City of Toronto agency, took over responsibility for all streetcar lines in Toronto. At that time the Winchester route ran from Sumach Street west on Winchester Street, south on Parliament Street, west on Queen Street to loop via Church, Richmond and Victoria streets. Ex-

Toronto Civic Railways Toronto Civic Railways (TCR) was a streetcar operator created and owned by the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to serve newly annexed areas of the city that the private operator Toronto Railway Company refused to serve. When the Toronto Railwa ...

Birney streetcars provided service. On July 1, 1923, the TTC renamed the route from Winchester to Parliament but did not modify the route. However, on September 2, a crossover was installed on Parliament Street just north of Queen Street, to become the new southern terminus of the Parliament route. On August 3, 1924, the Parliament route was extended north on Parliament Street from Winchester Street to the new Viaduct Loop on Bloor Street, enabling a transfer to the

Bloor streetcar line The Toronto Transit Commission operated the Bloor streetcar line along Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue, extending at its longest from Jane Street (Jane Loop) in the west end of the city to Luttrell Avenue (Luttrell Loop) in the east. Both Luttre ...

. The track on Winchester, from Parliament to Sumach, was then abandoned, and replaced by bus service. On January 2, 1925, one-man, ex-

streetcars replaced Birneys on Sundays and holidays with service extended to Victoria Street. On May 5, 1940, this also became daily service. On October 20, 1940, Peter Witt streetcars replaced ex-TRC streetcars on the Parliament route. On December 16, 1946, special work was installed at the intersection of Parliament and King streets as part of a track extension on Parliament Street from Queen Street. The main purpose of this junction was to allow some King cars to short-turn via Parliament and Dundas streets returning via Broadview Avenue. On January 5, 1947, Parliament streetcars started to use to use the new Parliament Loop at the south-west corner of King and Parliament streets instead of looping downtown via Victoria Street. On June 8, 1948, PCC streetcars replaced Witt cars in base service. During the 1960s, the TTC was slowly replacing streetcar routes with bus routes. When the TTC replaced most of the Bloor streetcar line with the Bloor-Danforth subway, it also replaced several north–south streetcar routes with buses. The Parliament route was one of those. Streetcar tracks remain in use from

Carlton Street Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

to King. The 506 Carlton streetcar route uses the block of Parliament between Carlton and Gerrard. Streetcars use the remaining track when they are shifted from one route to another, or when a traffic accident or routine maintenance requires a temporary diversion.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite news , url = http://transit.toronto.on.ca/streetcar/4120.shtml , title = The Parliament Streetcar (deceased)e , publisher = Transit Toronto , author = James Bow , date = 2015-06-25 , page = , location = , accessdate = 2017-04-07 , quote = {{cite book , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gAMkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1961&lpg=PA1961&dq=harbord+streetcar#q=harbord , title = Toronto Streetcars Serve the City , author = Kenneth Springirth , publisher = Fonthill Media , year = 2017 , pages = 1961, 1972 , location = , isbn = , accessdate = 2017-12-03 , quote = {{cite news , url = http://transit.toronto.on.ca/bus/routes/winchester-1881.shtml , title = Winchester (1881-1930) , publisher = Transit Toronto , author = Pete Coulman , date = 2016-06-18 , page = , location = , accessdate = 2017-04-07 , quote = {{cite book , title=Street Railways of Toronto: 1861–1921 , last=Pursley , first=Louis H. , year=1958 , publisher=Interurbans Press , location=Los Angeles {{cite book , title = The Toronto Trolley Car Story 1921–1961 , author = Louis H. Pursley , publisher = Interurbans: electric railway publications , pages = , year = 1961 , isbn = Streetcar routes in Toronto