Last Toronto Rocket cars arrive at Wilson Yard

Delivery of 82 fully accessible Toronto Rocket (TR) train sets (480 cars), from Bombardier Transportation in Thunder Bay, was completed yesterday (April 4) when the final two cars (6195 and 6196) of the last four-car train was delivered and offloaded at Wilson Yard.

After final testing and commissioning, the last train is scheduled to enter service on Line 4 Sheppard in May.

The first TR car was delivered to Wilson Yard on Oct. 1, 2010. The first train was officially launched into revenue service on July 21, 2011.

TR trains, and the re-signalling of Line 1 Yonge-University, will ultimately allow the TTC to improve subway train headways (time between trains) up to 115 seconds, as well as allow for additional train capacity of up to 25 per cent.

The Automatic Train Control signal system will first come online between Dupont and Wilson stations this fall, and then all the way up to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station when the Line 1 extension opens in December. Testing and commissioning activities on the extension continued yesterday with a first test run using a full-length TR train.

The TRs replaced the TTC’s oldest subway cars, most of which dated from the 1970s, and will allow the TTC to meet future ridership demands once the subway reaches into York Region.

TR trains are a four- and six-car-fixed configuration with open gangways, and enable riders to move freely from one end of the train to the other.