Edmonton Trolley Coaches in Toronto

Filmed in 1993 this video shows some former Edmonton trolley coaches (also known as electric trolley buses) in Toronto, Canada. Also seen are some streetcars (trams, strassenbahn), including a PCC streetcar.

[@johnwoa]

This is amazing! You did a wonderful thing making this video!! This brings back many happy memories of riding the TTC. The way you made this, it's as if you could travel back in time and stand on Bay Street in real time and just watch everything around you and experience 1993 once again! Sounds of T.O.! Everyday life downtown! One day, we will watch this video to also catch glimpses of the CLRVs and to hear their rumbling along the streetcar tracks for, one day, they will be gone too.

[@DwainRichardson]

I especially liked the message at 14:11. It’s a shame Toronto ditched its trolley network, as did Hamilton, Edmonton, and Montreal, plus a few other cities. When you think about it, trolleys don’t pollute at all! I really hope these cities and others will resurrect their trolleybus systems. The question is, will transit authorities have the appetite to do so? What would politicians think? Will they want to invest in reinstating overhead wires, switches, and all? Will they even want to put money into investing trolleys? Thanks for sharing this clip. It was nice of the Edmonton Transit System to lease some of its fleet to the Toronto Transit Commission. (-:

[@montblanc3133]

At the beginning of this video, you see trolley buses on Bay St. They used to run on Eglinton Ave, aswell. For some reason the TTC got rid of them all before 1999. Very nostalgic indeed. Thank you very much for uploading this video! Since, I live in Tor onto 🍁 Merci/Thank You 😊

[@sepruecom]

considering the variants of Rt 6 were amongst the most busy in Toronto one day... When I visited in 2013, it was only running every 15-30 mins (depending on time of the day). And later it got amalgamed into Rt 19 (albeit with a better schedule)...

[@spravodlivy]

Very nice , GM Fishbowl buses (also know from Speed or Bronx tale) are living legends.

[@WeatherxCalipha]

There's a GMC RTS behind the Trolley Bus at 6:41 if you look at the middle-left side of the screen,

[@collieultimo]

In Solingen, close to where I live, they use trolley busses since many decades. No smell and less noise. I do not understand, why they are so rare. Would solve a lot of problems for a lot of cities. Thank you for this good documentation.

[@DaveinNorthYork]

The trolley bus fleet was withdrawn back at the beginning of 1992 (although the borrowed Edmonton trolleys remained in service up until July 1993) due to cost issues. By 1992, the trolley buses had become more expensive to operate than the diesel buses, along with the infrastructure needing major repair work. Also faced with lower fare revenues due to the recession at the time, the TTC thought that the Orion CNG (compressed natural gas) buses would be a viable alternative (they were not).

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

@kurtkomit Pleased you liked this vid, footage of other transports in Toronto will come eventually, although there is not a lot of the Subway or RT. Other Canadian footage yet to come is from Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal. I expect this to be in 2012. Simon

[@yegventures]

13:16 wow, clearly an ETS bus with a TTC logo on it as well! Neat.

[@thebuffalodude]

Nice to see these coaches in service, sadly theres less then a handfull left out of service.

[@northerntraveller3180]

Love trolley coaches. I drove one in Edmonton route 3 run 14 for five and a half years then took my stupid pills and went back driving truck.

[@TechnicaProductions]

I'd be very interested in seeing what subway footage you have.

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

+TechnicaProductions Sorry but as yet I have not digitised my subway video. I also have video from Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver BC, Portland OR and San Francisco which has not yet been digitised.

[@TechnicaProductions]

Ah, ok. I hope you're able to do so soon, early 90s footage of the Toronto Subway is incredibly rare.

[@z60lasher25]

Im from Edmonton, and i dont know why our trolley buses are in Toronto and Vancouver. :P Apparently the ETS stopped using them because of power usage.

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

They are no longer in any Canadian city. Vancouver has its own fleet! The wanton destruction of the clean electric bus network in Edmonton was criminal. You now have diesel buses spewing out harmful pollution for everyone to breathe in to their lungs

[@northerntraveller3180]

those trolleys they show in Toronto are the ones I drove fast, quiet and eco friendly.

[@CitytransportInfoplus]

such a shame that both Toronto and Edmonton got rid of their electric buses. Both thought that there were better alternatives and then found out that this is not so. But the money was spent and the 'loss of face' too great to bring them back.

[@detroitdieselseries5071]

About like 10-14 years later, CNG buses would be scrapped the 1990 Orion V 93xx and the VI 92xx were all garbage, now with rising C02 emissions

[@haireepothead5001]

Edmonton borrowed a newer Vancouver trolley bus in similar manner before they ripped out all the Wires and discontinued the service.

[@dwiggett]

Higher cost to acquire & build the power infrastructure... operating & maintenance is WAY lower than diesel buses (or natural gas for that matter) - simple DC motor. In the 30 year scope, with adequate ridership/frequency, they cost less overall. (lifespan of the vehicle is also much longer due to lack of need to overhaul/rebuild engine, which doesn't exist)

[@jemdude22]

they are really slow.... far cry from the systems in cities such as Zurich and Salzburg... The key is K+M elastic overhead wiring system and good trolley poles for higher speeds and complete elimination of dewirements

[@jemdude22]

They are rare because of higher costs to operate. Not many cities are willing to invest in trolleybus infrastructure as running diesel buses would solve the transportation problem anyway. Trolleybuses are more expensive to purchase due to the smaller number of companies that still make them. To hold 1 km of overhead wiring would cost millions of dollars in today's context. Cities are more willing to invest in trams/light rail even though it costs more.