Five reasons to love the TTC’s new subway cars—even though they’re delayed
The Star reported yesterday that the TTC’s first batch of new subway cars has been delayed until August. It’s another setback for the Red Rocket, but since we’ve already gone giddy over all the new features (meant to keep riders comfortable while they’re stalled in the tunnels due to signal malfunctions), and because transit takers need a reason to rejoice these days, here’s a joyful deconstruction of the new design:
1. No doors between cars
It’s not that we don’t like field-tripping schoolchildren; it’s just that we don’t like to be trapped in a subway car with 60 of them at 9 a.m. The new cars aren’t divided with doors, so riders can freely walk from the first car to the last. This also means the middle cars won’t be packed during rush hour while the end cars sit empty.
2. Handles beside the doors
Riders trapped in the doorways during rush hour currently have to press their hand on the window, simultaneously keeping balanced while freaking out that the doors might randomly open. The new cars have a long handle right there—though they may also encourage door-blocking jerks.
3. No centre poles
Like some of the cars on the Sheppard line, the new cars don’t have poles down the centre, which means they can accommodate a lot more people and will be less of a pain for people with strollers or wheelchairs. Though, sadly, Facebook will have a sudden dearth of photos of impromptu drunken pole dances.
4. Flashing route maps
The new maps visually announce the next station and show which direction the train is moving. There will also be LED/LCD displays to announce service delays—a huge improvement from the current system of muffled intercom announcements that make us feel like Charlie Brown getting lectured by his teacher.
5. Room for 100 more passengers
The absence of poles and doors separating the cars means the train can carry about 100 more people than it does now. Downside: there will be 100 more people on each train than there are now.
They look nice! I don’t like the lack of centre poles though – I’m 5’3″ and so like many commuters can’t reach the centre ceiling railing in existing cars, and looking at these images probably can’t reach the new handgrabs either. We gravitate towards the poles, and probably would do so on these new subways too.
Here’s a reason not to like the new subways cars: there’s no window looking out the front anymore. For the kids who love to pile into the front car and watch as the subway speeds its way through the tunnels, these new trains offer nothing but the blank wall of the driver’s cab separating them from a fun ride. The TTC’s drivers could have allowed a window through the cab wall allowing people to see through to the tunnel… but they didn’t.
So they finally get cars that look exactly like those that MTR (Hong Kong) has been using for the past 20+ years?
Good.
You are pissed cause there is no window to look out at the DARK tunnel? Oh grow up! We Torontonians must bitch about something. They are fine, lets see what the streetcars will look like!
“Like some of the cars on the Sheppard line, the new cars don’t have poles down the centre”
I think you need to ride the subway more – these types of cars make up ALL Sheppard trains, and at least half of the service on both the Bloor-Danforth and Yonge-University-Spadina lines…
Not true! From time to time they have the old-school cars on the Sheppard line. I’ve ridden on more than one.
I love how there are no centre poles on the new cars, but in the video we fly past four of them. Way to go, TTC.
hey Rocket Rider….I think you were drunk when you were on the sheppard line cause there have never been old-school cars on the sheppard line. Only the new T-1 model trains which are the newest ones we have
why are there no handles from the roof of the trains on the oct 14 posted photos?