The Toronto and York Radial Railway was a transit operator providing services to the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was a subsidiary of the Toronto Railway Company.[1] The company was created by merging four Toronto-area interurban operations. The company was part of the empire of railway entrepreneurs Sir William Mackenzie and Donald Mann which included the Canadian Northern Railway and the parent Toronto Railway Company. The line was abandoned by the TTC in 1948.
Lines
The table lists the 4 lines composing the T&YRR. Each line became a separate division of the T&YRR except for the Schomberg and Aurora which was a branch of the Metropolitan Division. Click on the predecessor company name for further details about each line. In 1904, the four predecessor companies were merged to form the Toronto and York Radial Railway.
On August 1, 1904, the T&YRR merged four rail operations, converting them into three T&YRR divisions, with the Metropolitan Division having a branch line:[3]
In 1904, regular passenger service started on the Schomberg and Aurora Branch of the T&YRR's Metropolitan Division. At this time, the line operated with steam trains.[3]
On December 24, 1905, the Mimico line was extended from Long Branch to Port Credit.[2]
On June 1, 1907, the T&YRR opened a 40 km (25 mi) extension of the Metropolitan line from Newmarket to Jackson's Point.[3]
On June 25, 1915, a City of Toronto work team ripped up the tracks of the Metropolitan Line along Yonge Street from the CPR crosstown line north to Farnham Avenue. This was a result of a dispute between the city led by Mayor Tommy Church and the T&YRR. Mayor Church complained about the "inadequate services provided by the Mackenzie-Mann traction companies" which included the Toronto Railway Company as well as the T&YRR. This was the first contraction of the T&YRR, albeit only 400 metres (1,300 ft) long.[4]
In 1916, electrification of the Schomberg and Aurora Branch was completed.[3]
On September 1, 1921, the TTC took over operation of all streetcar operations in the city, and shortly after took control those portions of the Scarboro and Mimico radial within the city limits.[5]
By fall, 1921, the TTC took over the portion of the Metropolitan line on Yonge Street south of Glen Echo Road (at the city limit).[5]
At the end of 1923, the T&YRR under Hydro management had a deficit. The City blamed Hydro mismanagement. Hydro blamed the TTC's acquisition of the profitable portions of the radial lines within the city limits.[6]
By 1925, Toronto City Council felt that integrating the radials within TTC operations would produce efficiency by avoiding duplication of carhouses and shops, by allowing the transfer of vehicles between radial and city lines to meet passenger demand, and by having firmer control over expenditures.[6]
TTC era (1927–1948)
Events when the TTC operated the T&YRR lines
On January 12, 1927, the Toronto Transportation Commission started operating the T&YRR lines under contract with operations being the responsibility of the TTC's new Radial Department.[7] Along with 3 radial lines, the TTC acquired 54 double-ended radial cars.[8] The TTC now operated the second largest electric railway in North America with 585 kilometres (364 mi) of lines.[6]
On July 17, 1930, the TTC reopened a portion of the defunct Lake Shore line between Richmond Hill and Toronto as the North Yonge Railways. This line was owned by area municipalities and operated under contract by the TTC.[2]
On June 25, 1936, the Scarborough radial service ended.[2]
On October 9, 1948, service was terminated on the North Yonge Railways, the last surviving Toronto radial.[2]
Track gauge
Both Toronto gauge and standard gauge were used. The T&Y radial lines did not use a common gauge until the TTC took over the operation of the surviving lines in 1927 in order to connect the radial lines to the Toronto streetcar system.
The Metropolitan radial line started off with Toronto gauge in 1885, but switched to standard gauge after the Metropolitan Street Railway Company received provincial permission in 1895 to use any gauge it pleased. Standard gauge allowed the Metropolitan to exchange freight cars with steam railways.[9] When the TTC took over the line in 1927, it converted the line to Toronto gauge but built a short section of four-rail, dual-gauge track in Aurora to deliver freight cars to a factory there.[7]
The Mimico radial line used Toronto gauge until 1922 when the Hydro-Electric Railways converted the line to standard gauge. When the TTC took over the line in 1927, it converted the line back to Toronto gauge.[6]
The Scarboro radial line used only Toronto gauge throughout its years of operations.
The Schomberg and Aurora line used only standard gauge throughout its years of operations.
Electrical system
The system initially used 550 volts DC[10] and later 600v DC, allowing the system to run into Toronto (the Toronto network runs at 600v DC).[11]
^"The Metropolitan Electric Railway". Canadian Electrical News and Steam Engineering Journal. Vol. 13, no. 6. Toronto. June 1903. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
^"Toronto and York Radial Railway Group". Toronto and York Radial Railway Group on facebook. Retrieved March 11, 2019. Yes, all the Toronto lines ran at 500 to 600V DC with one exception. The Toronto Suburban line to Guelph ran on 1500V DC from Keele and St Clair until it hit the streets of Gur...streets of Guelph on its way to the GT/CN station. For that short distance, it ran on the city system voltage of 500 to 600 Volts. It was not considered good practice to have 1500V over city streets in case the overhead came down but there were some exceptions.
Preceded by
None
Public Transit in Toronto - interurban street car 1904-1927
