Canadian Urbanism Uncovered
Read more articles by Shawn Micallef
As more and more (and more and more and more) cities return to and install light rail and streetcars, this film from Glasgow captures that time in the postwar era when trams were thought to be outdated. It turns out the past is the future. Toronto nearly had the same fate, but it’s Streetcar Abandonment Policy (scroll down) was itself abandoned.
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4 comments
Timely 1960s video on Glasgow. As the potential impact of Rob Ford’s plan to replace above ground rail transportation sinks in, surely there’s a petition/protest in the works to save our streetcar/LRT transit system?
@Don,
The Toronto Environmental Alliance is coordinating several campaigns to preserve the Transit City plan as well as Toronto’s new streetcars. For more info, visit their website at:
http://www.torontoenvironment.org
Great YouTube find. Fortunately/unfortunately, I’ve got “Telstar” stuck in my mind. But it really synched well with the footage of the tram operation.
@Don and @Transity Cyclist
Just to clarify, the light rail vehicles TEA is advocating for are not like your average street cars. Here’s a quote from one of the notes in the report called
“Clearing the Air on the TTC,” available here: http://www.torontoenvironment.org/campaigns/transit/clearingtheair
“It is important to note that we are talking about LRT systems made up of Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs), not streetcars. Many people confuse the two and think the 2007 Transit City Plan will build streetcar tracks equivalent to what is found in downtown Toronto. This is incorrect. LRVs will be on dedicated tracks on much wider suburban roads with fewer stops and longer trains.”