TTC unveils new low-floor streetcars

The Toronto Transit Commission officially unveiled its new streetcars on Thursday.

A total of 204 newlow-floor vehicles are set to enter service in 2014 after street testing which begins next year.

"These are much larger streetcars, so they can accommodate many more people," said TTC CEO Andy Byford.

"So what we're hoping is people will see the benefits of public transit, will get out of their cars and will actually use these beautiful new state-of-the-art streetcars."

The new streetcars feature:

• Capacity for 148 passengers (standing and sitting), that's 68 more passengers than the current streetcars.
• Compatibility with new Presto fare card system.
• Ability to loadpassengers at any door.
• Air conditioning.

They will slowly begin to replace the existing streetcars, which were built between 1977 and 1989 and are near the end of their service lives.

Below is a video produced by the TTC showing a test streetcar being moved to the system's Hillcrest complex.