504 King and 508 Lake Shore (TTC)

The 504 King and 508 Lake Shore are streetcar routes operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The two are grouped together for accounting purposes because they share a significant portion of their route; the 508 Lake Shore also shares much of its track with the 501 Queen. In 2005-2006, these routes carried 47,900 passengers on an average weekday (of which the vast majority were carried by 504 King), making 504 King the busiest TTC streetcar route in terms of number of passengers. [http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/pdf/ridership_cost_stats_bus_streetcar_05_06.pdf]

Both lines interchange mid-route with the Yonge-University-Spadina line at St. Andrew and King stations. The 504 King interchanges with the Bloor-Danforth line at its termini, Dundas West and Broadview stations along with 505 Dundas . At its western terminus near Long Branch GO Station, the 508 Lake Shore interchanges with GO Transit’s Lakeshore West railway line and with Mississauga Transit. 508 Lake Shore operates only 3 eastbound trips during the AM rush hour and 4 westbound trips during the PM rush hour from Monday-Friday; all other service on Lake Shore Boulevard is provided by 501 Queen. [http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/pdf/service_summary_2007-05-13.pdf]

The lines are usually operated with Toronto’s single-length CLRV streetcars. The TTC is now considering adding couplers to its streetcars in order to run the King route with trains of two or three units, as was common on busy routes until the opening of the Bloor-Danforth subway; the hope is that this would keep them from bunching and becoming stuck in traffic.

The TTC tested the prototype version of the Articulated Light Rail Vehicle (ALRV) along the 508 route in the 1990s.

During the rush hour periods 504 King uses the ALRVs.

Proposed right-of-way

On March 22, 2007, the Toronto Transit Commission proposed a pilot project for right-of-way dedicated lanes along the 504 King Streetcar route similar to the 510 Spadina and 512 St. Clair routes. The TTC proposed that the pilot project take place in the summer of 2007. If it goes forward there would only be a single lane available to cabs, cars and deliveries in that designated area in each direction. Unlike Spadina and St. Clair, the street would be closed entirely to through traffic and streetcars would run at ground level, not in a raised median. The TTC is trying to implement a trial transit mall on King from Yonge to University, with hopes of eventually closing King to cars from Dufferin to Parliament. It is also hoped that traffic on King will be partially alleviated by the proposed Waterfront West LRT and the planned network of streetcar routes for the Port Lands.

ites along the line (from east to west)

*George Brown College
*St. Lawrence Hall
*Commerce Court
*Scotia Plaza
*Toronto-Dominion Centre
*First Canadian Place
*Royal Alexandra Theatre
*Roy Thomson Hall
*Princess of Wales Theatre

Cherry Street Extension

The first element of the Port Lands streetcar right-of-way network will be a short stretch of track in a new median of Cherry Street from King Street south to the railroad corridor. This initial segment would only add three stops to the TTC network, but will later be expanded. Once constructed, every third or fourth eastbound 504 King streetcar will be turned down Cherry Street instead of going to Broadview Station.

ee also

*501 Queen (TTC)
*502 Downtowner (TTC)
*Toronto streetcar system
*Toronto Transit Commission

External links

* [http://www.ttc.ca/ Toronto Transit Commission]
* [http://www.transit.toronto.on.ca/streetcar/4103.shtml 504 King] (Transit Toronto)
* [http://www.transit.toronto.on.ca/streetcar/4106.shtml 508 Lake Shore] (Transit Toronto)
* [http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/schedules/504map.gif504 King map] (Toronto Transit Commission)
* [http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/schedules/508map.gif508 Lake Shore map] (Toronto Transit Commission)