504 King (304 King during overnight periods) is an east–west Toronto streetcar route in Ontario, Canada. It serves King Street in Downtown Toronto as well as Broadview Avenue on the east end and Roncesvalles Avenue on the west end of the line. The route consists of two overlapping branches: 504A between Line 2 Bloor–Danforth's Dundas West station and Distillery Loop, and 504B between Broadview station – also on Line 2 – and Dufferin Gate Loop. The two branches overlap on King Street between Dufferin and Sumach streets, both passing St. Andrew station and King station on subway Line 1 Yonge–University.

504 King
A streetcar on route 504A King to Distillery Loop
Overview
LocaleToronto, Ontario
Termini
Stations
WebsiteOfficial route page
Service
TypeStreetcar route
SystemToronto streetcar system
Route number504 (304 overnight)
Operator(s)Toronto Transit Commission
Depot(s)Leslie Barns, Russell Carhouse[1]
Rolling stockFlexity Outlook
Daily ridership51,512 (2022, weekdays)[2]
Technical
Line length504A: 10.4 km (6.46 mi)
504B: 9.6 km (5.97 mi)
304: 12.9 km (8.02 mi)[3]
Track gauge4 ft 10+78 in (1,495 mm)
Electrification600 V DC overhead
Route map

Transfer stop
Intermediate stop
Carhouse
Route:
Connection  00  Terminus  00 

504A
Dundas West station
 40   168   505 
Bloor Street
 505 
Dundas Street West
Roncesvalles Avenue
Boustead Avenue
 505 
Howard Park
 506 
Grenadier Road
↓ Geoffrey Street/Grenadier Road ↑
↓ High Park Boulevard/Fermanagh Avenue ↑
Garden Avenue
Galley Avenue
Marion Street
Grafton Avenue
Roncesvalles Carhouse
Queen Street West
Wilson Park Road
Dowling Avenue
Jameson Avenue
Dunn Avenue
Spencer Avenue
Dufferin Street
 29   929 
Fraser Avenue
Joe Shuster Way
Atlantic Avenue
Metrolinx
Galt Subdivision &
Weston Subdivision
Sudbury Street
Shaw Street
 63 
Strachan Avenue
 63 
Niagara Street
Tecumseth Street
Bathurst Street
 145   511 
Portland Street
Spadina Avenue
 510 
Blue Jays Way/Peter Street ↑
John Street
University Avenue
 142 
Bay Street
 6 
Yonge Street
 97 
Church Street
Jarvis Street
 141 
Sherbourne Street
 75 
Ontario Street
Parliament Street
 65 
Sackville Street
Sumach Street
Front Street East
 121 
Mill Street
Distillery Loop
Port Lands Extension
Port Lands Extension
Queens Quay
Keating Channel
Commissioners Street
Polson Street Loop
504B
Dufferin Gate Loop
 29 
Liberty Street
 63 
King & Dufferin
 29 
Fraser Avenue
Joe Shuster Way
Atlantic Avenue
Metrolinx
Galt Subdivision &
Weston Subdivision
Sudbury Street
Shaw Street
 63 
Strachan Avenue
 63 
Niagara Street
Tecumseth Street
Bathurst Street
 145   511 
Portland Street
Spadina Avenue
 510 
Blue Jays Way/Peter Street ↑
John Street
University Avenue
 142 
Bay Street
 6 
Yonge Street
 97 
Church Street
Jarvis Street
 141 
Sherbourne Street
 75 
Ontario Street
Parliament Street
 65 
Sackville Street
Sumach Street
501 & 502 to downtown
River Street
 501   502 
Metrolinx Bala Subdivision
Carroll Street
Dundas Street
 505 
Mt. Stephen Street
Gerrard Street
 506 
Langley Avenue
Withrow Avenue
Millbrook Crescent
Wolfrey Avenue
Erindale Avenue
Broadview station
 8   62   87   100   505 

In 2022, with almost 13.5 million annual boardings, 504 King was the busiest streetcar line in Toronto. (In 2019, prior to the drop in ridership due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were almost 29.7 million annual boardings.)[4]

Route

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The 504 King route operates as two overlapping branches:

  • 504A King streetcars operate from Dundas West station to Distillery Loop, travelling south on Dundas Street West and Roncesvalles Avenue, east on King Street West and East, and south on Cherry Street to Distillery Loop.
  • 504B King streetcars operate from Dufferin Gate Loop to Broadview station, travelling north on Dufferin Street, east on King Street West and East, east on Queen Street East, and north on Broadview Avenue to Broadview station.

In the west, route 504A King starts at Dundas West station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth. From there, the route goes a short distance south of Bloor Street along Dundas Street West to Roncesvalles Avenue, where it continues farther south on Roncesvalles Avenue, crossing Howard Park Avenue and route 506 Carlton. 504A King passes the Roncesvalles Carhouse as it approaches Queen Street West and the Queensway.[5]

South of Queen Street West and the Queensway, the route turns east along King Street. At Dufferin Street, 504B streetcars from Dufferin Gate Loop merge with 504A streetcars to provide a combined service along King Street to Sumach Street. Continuing further east to Bathurst Street, the 504 enters a transit mall where automobiles have restrictions so as not to impede streetcar service. Continuing eastward past Spadina Avenue, the 504 route passes St. Andrew station at University Avenue and King station at Yonge Street, both on Line 1 Yonge–University. At Jarvis Street, the transit mall ends and routes 504A and 504B continue to Sumach Street, where route 504A turns south on Cherry Street to proceed to Distillery Loop. Route 504B continues on King Street, as the street bends northeast to merge with Queen Street East, then crosses the Queen Street Viaduct and the Don River to arrive at Broadview Avenue.[5]

Route 504B turns north on Broadview Avenue. Continuing on Broadview Avenue, route 504B eventually crosses Danforth Avenue arriving at Broadview station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth.[5]

King Street Transit Priority Corridor

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Route 504 King passes through the King Street Transit Priority Corridor, a transit mall located between Bathurst Street and Jarvis Street. Within the mall, there are restrictions on road traffic to prevent the obstruction of transit vehicles. Trucks and cars may enter the traffic mall, but must leave at the next intersection by turning right – with a few exceptions; left turns within the transit mall are not allowed.[6][7]

Roncesvalles Avenue

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Bumpout on Roncesvalles Avenue serving as both a streetcar loading platform as well as a bicycle lane

Between 2009 and 2011,[8] Roncesvalles Avenue was rebuilt to a new design, which included the addition of bike lanes and a widened sidewalk "bumpout" at stops to allow riders to board streetcars directly from the curb. In these sections, the bike lane gently rises from the main road to run on top of the bumpout; when a streetcar is stopped at a bumpout, cyclists are required to stop and allow riders to board or alight from the vehicle.[9][10] However, the platform height at the bumpouts was incompatible with the wheelchair ramp on the low-floor Flexity Outlook streetcars that were introduced in 2018 on the 504 King route. Thus, no stops along Roncesvalles Avenue between Queen Street and Dundas Street West were accessible.[11][12][8]: 4, 6  As of October 29, 2023, the bumpout heights had still not been adjusted.[13]

History

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On July 1, 1923, as part of a reorganization of streetcar routes, the King streetcar route acquired its current U-shape. The west end of the line was at the Vincent Loop, located near the northeast corner of Dundas Street West and Bloor Street West, across the street from today's Dundas West station. The east end of the line was at the Erindale Loop, located at the northeast corner of Broadview Avenue and Erindale Avenue, on the north side of today's Broadview station.[14]

From July 1, 1923, to July 13, 1951, some King streetcars provided rush-hour service along Bloor Street West between Dundas Street West and Jane Loop. The TTC ended this service due to declining ridership. Starting July 16, 1951, all King service turned back at Vincent Loop.[15]: 52, 73–74 

On January 8, 1939, PCC streetcars were introduced on the King route on Sundays, displacing Peter Witt streetcars.[15]: 42  On September 24, 1940, PCCs replaced Peter Witt cars in base service.[15]: 43 

On February 25, 1966, the Bloor–Danforth subway (today Line 2 Bloor–Danforth) opened, and Dundas West station replaced the Vincent Loop, and Broadview station replaced the Erindale Loop. Both new subway stations had, and still have, a streetcar loop within the fare-paid zone. Otherwise, the King streetcar route had changed little since 1923.[14]

In 2006, the TTC briefly considered adding couplers to streetcars to enable operation of streetcars in two or three units, a common practice until the opening of the Bloor–Danforth subway; the expectation was that this would keep them from bunching and becoming stuck in traffic. This plan was rejected[16] in favour of ordering brand-new, longer Flexity Outlook vehicles.

Starting June 19, 2016, a new route – 514 Cherry – was created to supplement 504 King service on King Street between Dufferin and Sumach streets. The 514 route increased capacity along the King Street corridor to address the growing downtown ridership. It also addressed accessibility concerns through its use of the low-floor Flexity Outlook streetcars.[17]

From December 2, 2017, the TTC assigned a minimum of two low-floor accessible Flexity Outlook streetcars on 504 King to handle weekday overcrowding, as the King Street Pilot Project improved service performance and made the service more popular.[18]

On January 2, 2018, Flexity Outlook streetcars were introduced on the 504 King route.[11]

On October 7, 2018, 504 King was divided into two overlapping branches with two new termini (Dufferin Gate Loop and Distillery Loop) replacing the 514 Cherry route, which was permanently cancelled on the same date. The 304 King Blue Night service remained unchanged.[19]

By January 6, 2019, the 504 King route was fully served by Flexity Outlook streetcars. Thus, the TTC designated the route as accessible except along Roncesvalles Avenue where the platform height still needed to be adjusted to allow deployment of the Flexity ramp.[20]

On May 9, 2021, the intersection of King Street, Queen Street, The Queensway and Roncesvalles Avenue (KQQR) closed due to various construction projects in the area such as track replacement, reconfiguration of the KQQR intersection, adjusting the height of streetcar loading platforms along Roncesvalles Avenue and upgrades to water, sewer and electrical infrastructure. Initially, 504A King service was diverted to Dufferin Gate Loop instead of Dundas West station.[21][22] On October 1, 2022, both branches of the 504 streetcar were diverted to Exhibition Loop to accommodate the replacement of the streetcar junction at King and Shaw Streets.[23] With the completion of work at King and Shaw, 504A streetcars diverted again to Dufferin Gate Loop on December 9, 2022, but with 504B streetcars diverting to Wolseley Loop.[24]

 
504 King streetcars at a halt due to a rally in Toronto

On February 12, 2023, 504 service was cut back to Bathurst Street in order to convert the overhead wire west of Bathurst for pantograph operation; 504A cars were diverted to Exhibition Loop and 504B to Wolseley Loop.[25] On March 26, 2023, the 504 King route diverted to Queen Street between Shaw Street and the Don River to convert the remaining overhead wire on King Street.[26][27] On May 1, 2023, streetcars returned to King Street, operating between Dufferin Gate loop and Broadview station, after TTC crews worked the previous night to finish the conversion of the overhead for pantograph operation.[28] On May 7, 2023, streetcar service resumed on Roncesvalles Avenue, ending two years of bus replacement on the west end of the 504 King route.[29]

Blue Night service

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From 1987 to 1992, the Blue Night Network included the 304 King route, which provided overnight service along the length of the 504 King daytime route. The 304 route was eliminated in February 1992, with the Broadview and Roncesvalles segments replaced by portions of other Blue Night bus routes; however, King Street remained unserviced directly until September 6, 2015, when the 304 King was restored as part of a $95-million investment from Toronto City Council. Currently, overnight service operate every 30 minutes between Broadview and Dundas West stations via Broadview Avenue, King Street, and Roncesvalles Avenue.[30]

Sites along the line (from east to west)

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References

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  1. ^ Toronto Transit Commission. "TTC Service Summary - November 21, 2021 to January 1, 2022" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 28, 2022. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  2. ^ "Weekday boardings and service information for surface routes (bus and streetcar), 2022" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 11, 2024.
  3. ^ "Service Summary - March 29, 2020 to May 9, 2020" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 21, 2020. 2020 summary shows streetcar route lengths prior to the diversions of 2021–2023.
  4. ^ "Transit Planning – Annual streetcar boardings by route". Toronto Transit Commission. 2022. Archived from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "504 King – Map". Toronto Transit Commission. November 8, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  6. ^ "Toronto's King streetcar pilot project is now permanent". Toronto Star. April 16, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  7. ^ "Council approves King St. pilot to prioritize streetcars, but bows to taxi industry". Toronto Star. July 6, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Improvements at The Queensway, Queen Street West, King Street West and Roncesvalles Avenue Intersection to Improve Safety, Operations, and Extend Bicycle Lanes" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. June 24, 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 18, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  9. ^ "Lanes, tracks and bikes". Roncesvalles Village BIA. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  10. ^ Munro, Steve (December 19, 2010). "Parliament and Roncesvalles 2010 Track Work". Steve Munro. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  11. ^ a b "Accessible streetcar service updates". Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  12. ^ "504 King". Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on November 23, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  13. ^ "King Queen Queensway Roncesvalles (KQQR) Construction???". Toronto Transit Commission. October 29, 2023. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023.
  14. ^ a b Bow, James (September 16, 2017). "Route 504 – The King Streetcar". Transit Toronto. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  15. ^ a b c Pursley, Louis H. (1961). The Toronto Trolley Car Story 1921–1961. Interurbans: electric railway publications.
  16. ^ McGran, Kevin (April 15, 2006). "All aboard for the King St. choo-choo". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  17. ^ "Improved_Transit_Service_in_EastCentral_Downtown_514_Cherry_.pdf" (PDF). TTC. March 23, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 3, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  18. ^ Harris, Tamar; Spurr, Ben (December 4, 2017). "King St. pilot project has slashed streetcar travel times, statistics show". Toronto Star. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  19. ^ "The current section is Service Advisories 504 King and 514 Cherry route changes". Toronto Transit Commission. October 7, 2018. Archived from the original on September 25, 2018. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  20. ^ "TTC service improvements and changes". Toronto Transit Commission. January 6, 2018. Archived from the original on December 31, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  21. ^ "2021 Streetcar Infrastructure Upgrades". ttc.ca. TTC. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  22. ^ "King-Queen-Queensway-Roncesvalles (KQQR) Construction". Toronto Transit Commission. September 9, 2020. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  23. ^ "504/304 Temporary route change Replacement buses due to track work". Toronto Transit Commission. October 1, 2022. Archived from the original on October 20, 2022.
  24. ^ "504/304 King–Temporary route change due to track work completion". Toronto Transit Commission. December 9, 2022. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022.
  25. ^ "TTC service adjustments". Toronto Transit Commission. February 12, 2023. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023.
  26. ^ "504,304 Temporary route change due to infrastructure work". Toronto Transit Commission. April 28, 2023. Archived from the original on April 29, 2023.
  27. ^ Munro, Steve (March 20, 2023). "TTC Service Changes Effective March 26, 2023". Steve Munro. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Streetcar service will be removed from King Street between Shaw and the Don River while overhead east from Bathurst is adjusted for pantograph-only operation.
  28. ^ "TTC streetcars resume regular routing along King Street". Toronto Transit Commission. May 1, 2023. Archived from the original on May 1, 2023.
  29. ^ "Streetcars to roll again at King and Roncesvalles". Toronto Transit Commission. May 5, 2023. Archived from the original on May 5, 2023.
  30. ^ Munro, Steve (August 8, 2015). "Blue Night Service Expansion: Fall 2015". Retrieved March 28, 2016. All (night) services will operate on 30 minute headways...304 King (will provide) all night service on the 504 King route.
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