[URBAN NOTE] "Welcome to Toronto! Streetcar 4431 arrives from Thunder Bay"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Ben Spurr reports, with only a little bit of justifiable snark, about the arrival of the latest new TTC streetcar from the Thunder Bay plants of Bombardier.

What costs $5 million, weighs 48,200 kilograms, and should have been here more than two years ago?

The TTC’s newest streetcar.

The transit commission’s fleet of new low-floor light rail vehicles grew by one on Thursday, with the arrival of car 4431 at the TTC’s Hillcrest Yard on Bathurst St. It will be the 31st vehicle to enter service, and is the first to be delivered this year.

It was something of a bittersweet occasion for the TTC. Under the original terms of its troubled deal with manufacturer Bombardier, the agency was to have more than 109 of the new cars by now.

“It’s always nice to have another new streetcar in service, for sure,” said TTC spokesperson Stuart Green. “Bombardier has committed to delivering 40 this year and we look forward to more arriving.”