Trams are not Metros. Stop pretending they are!
You can't fool me, Metrolinx!
Trams are what anglophone North Americans would commonly call a streetcar. But you’ll never hear Metrolinx call one of their projects a Tram, a streetcar, or anything of the sort.
It may have to stop at intersection lights, running in mixed traffic or at best a median right-of-way like TTC streetcars. It may have “stations” no different than the tiny shade coverings on York Region’s VIVA BRT. It may, to any reasonable eye, appear to be a streetcar, that you are literally stepping aboard from the street.
Metrolinx, however, would never use such undignified terms like “streetcar”, or “tram”! Line 6 on Finch Ave West in Toronto, Waterloo’s Ion system, and Mississauga/Brampton’s under-construction Hazel McCallion Line? Trams, you say?
All of these, dear reader, are branded as LRTs: Light Rail Transit. This is the way they are sold, and this is the way that politicians and voters discuss them.
This is technically correct, by the barest of definitions. But it relies solely on Light Rail being an incredibly broad category of technology, one that can be used for Metros, Trams, and everything in-between.
As the title of this column should make clear, Trams are not Metros, but many people don’t understand the difference. So, what adds to the confusion?
Firstly, many people picture a Heavy Rail Metro when they use the word “subway”, and yet the famous London “Underground” is actually only 45% underground. Conversely, Vancouver’s SkyTrain is expected to be more than 20% underground after the 2025 Millennium Line expansion.
A Metro can use tunnels, and in some cases that expense is justified, but it can also be a white elephant; Chicago’s L train is a famous example of how elevated rail can enable much cheaper construction, building more Metro lines faster for less money.
Some would say that a Metro uses a third rail under the train for electrical pickup, meanwhile a Tram uses a trolley pole or a pantograph to pickup power from overhead lines. While aesthetic judgements may vary, the truth is that overhead lines are preferred for new rail transit due to their increased efficiency.
Even Japan’s famous Shinkansen high-speed rail, under far more intense speed and forces than any Metro, relies solely on 25 kilovolt AC overhead lines; a third rail simply can’t deliver as much power as overhead lines are capable of.
Is the question then, whether the vehicles have high-floor or low-floors? While Trams usually have low-floor vehicles, and Metros usually have high-floor vehicles, there are exceptions to this rule. Ottawa’s O-Train Line 1 uses the low-floor Alstom Citadis Spirit, but is categorically operated as a Metro.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles “Metro”, butchering the meaning of Metro to somehow include bus routes and taxi cabs, uses the high-floor Kinki Sharyo P3010 on it’s three Tram routes, the A, E, and K lines.
So, what’s the actual core difference between Metros and Trams? A Metro has a fully grade-separated right-of-way, while a Tram crosses intersections and has to stop at lights, sometimes in mixed traffic and sometimes in its own median. Metros can accomplish their full separation by tunneling below-grade, by building elevated rail above-grade, by building on the surface at-grade, or any combination of the three.
Los Angeles Metro Rail, as well as Ottawa’s Line 1 and Metrolinx’s upcoming GTA LRT projects, illustrate this fine distinction between the two modes. While the A, E, and K lines are Tram routes, the C line which uses the exact same P3010 Light Rail vehicle is a Metro route.
Toronto’s Line 6 Finch West and Peel Region’s Hazel McCallion Line both use the same Alstom Citadis Spirit Light Rail vehicle that Ottawa’s Line 1 does, yet those GTA services are Tram routes and Ottawa’s line is a Metro route.
As such, it’s evident that the term LRT can mean two wildly different things: a Tram, like Toronto’s streetcar system, or a Light Metro, like Vancouver’s SkyTrain and Scarborough’s now-closed Line 3. Toronto’s Lines 1, 2 and 4 are Heavy Metros, and Line 3 was a Light Metro, lower capacity vehicles but operating in the same style.
When Metrolinx chooses to brand every project using Light Rail rolling stock as an LRT, regardless of whether it will be operating in the mode of a Tram or a Metro, it aggressively misleads the voting public as to what they are buying, why costs can vary so much between projects, and why different vehicles may be a better or worse choice.
Line 6 Finch West is effectively a surface Tram route that operates with similar vehicles, stations, and median right-of-ways to the 509 Harbourfront, 510 Spadina, and 512 St. Clair streetcars, even including terminal stations that dip underground.
The use of LRT in Toronto as a euphemism for “souped-up streetcar” is literally older than I am, as the following image from the TTC’s Harbourfront streetcar opening in June of 1990 proves:
Line 5 Eglinton, meanwhile, will have a massive Metro section extensively tunneled west of Laird, yet at the same time a street-running Tram section east of Laird; this setup, similar to Calgary’s CTrain and Germany’s Stadtbahns, occupies it’s own middle-ground territory as a Semi-Metro.
Calling both Line 5 and Line 6 in Toronto “LRTs” without acknowledging the vast differences in the operating modes is irresponsible management of public expectations. It has also led to blunders in Metrolinx procurement, where a single style of vehicle is ordered for all LRT projects regardless of the operating style.
The Citadis Spirit is well-suited to Toronto’s Line 6 and Peel Region’s Hazel McCallion Line Trams, but it’s low-floors make it a poor choice for a Light Metro like Ottawa’s Line 1. Similarly, the low-floor Alstom Flexity Freedom that works well for Waterloo’s Ion Tram is already anticipated to cause capacity issues on Toronto’s Line 5.
If the Eglinton line were to use a high-floor Light Rail vehicle, like the P3010 that Los Angeles uses on both Metro and Tram routes while being fully wheelchair accessible, it would likely last an additional decade before vehicles hit ridership capacity.
Digging kilometres of tunnels is extremely expensive, and it doesn’t make sense to incur such a high cost and then use a style of train that limits the total number of passengers the system can move.
Trams, Light Metros, Heavy Metros, and Commuter Rail all have their proper time and place in Ontario’s passenger rail network. But Metrolinx has an obligation to be honest with the public about exactly what’s being built with tax dollars, and not use nebulous terms like LRT that obscure accountability.
Line 5 is a Semi-Metro, and even if it would have been better as a full Metro, it’s reasonable to number it along the Toronto’s existing Metro Lines 1, 2 and 4, and the future Ontario Line as Toronto’s upcoming Line 3.
Line 6, however, is virtually identical to the 509, 510 and 512 streetcar Trams, and misleading the public will give the impression of putting lipstick on a pig. In reality, Trams are cost-effective, useful for the right level of passenger demand, and have their place in-between Metros and BRTs.
Ultimately, the public likes Trams when they actually expect a Tram. They don’t like Trams when they’ve been tricked into thinking it’ll be something more than it is.
My simple proposal to the TTC: renumber the 509, 510 and 512 as T1 through T3, and brand Line 6 as the future T4. A similar numbering scheme can be used for the future RapidTO BRT routes, as Vancouver does with their RapidBus lines R1 through R6.
Keep the existing mixed traffic streetcar routes branded as-is, but take these four high-standard median right-of-way Tram routes, give them special numbers starting with the letter T, and put them on the TTC’s Line map. Make them a flagship part of the system, distinct but nonetheless an important part of Toronto’s backbone.
It’s not just honesty for the sake of honesty; clearly communicating with passengers helps them make easier, better informed choices when taking trips on public transit. You don’t just prevent a bad relationship between transit agency and transit rider, you foster a positive relationship instead.
Metrolinx, thank you for building the Line 6 Finch West Tram, and the Hazel McCallion Line Tram, both of which will be great additions to the public transit backbones of their respective cities. But please, do be honest with us when you talk about them. Call a spade a spade.
Because we all know the truth Metrolinx, and we know you know it too. That’s a Tram, not a Metro!