The Toronto Rocket

The Toronto Rocket are the new Bombardier AC propulsion subway cars purchased by the Toronto Transit Commission to replace the H-Series Hawker Siddeley cars manufactured between 1965 and 1990. The name Toronto Rocket came from the TTC Name the New Subway Train Contest conducted in 2006. The production name of the Rocket is T35A08 and it is based on the current T1 and the vastly successful Movia sets used by many transit authorities in Europe and Asia.

Example of a Movia set, the London Underground S Stock

Toronto Rocket at the TTC Wilson subway yard

Unlike anything Toronto has seen before, the Toronto Rocket are articulated trainsets that have full passenger access through the entire train (in fact, the Toronto Rockets brings many new features and offers TTC riders a taste of what some of the best subway systems in the world are like). This allows even passenger distribution in the trains and no longer will Torontonians have to squeeze into a single car when being rushed onto the subway. A computer generated animation run-through of the train can be found here.

The TR carriages are articulated and permanently coupled

The TTC purchased a total of 70 (39 initially and 31 later in 2010) sets and Toronto Rocket was scheduled to enter service in late 2009. This date was delayed to early 2011 due to the bankruptcy of Curtis Doors, the door component manufacture for Bombardier. The first train arrived at the TTC on 1 October 2010 and was unveiled publicly on 14 October at Downsview Station. The Toronto Rockets are expected to enter revenue service on the Yonge-University-Spadina Line in early 2011.

Comments

Frank Liu said…
O this is good news!
Take more photos of the new train for us!

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