510 Spadina - History

History

Spadina's streetcar service dates back to 1891, when a loop route called the Belt Line operated on Bloor Street, Spadina Avenue, Sherbourne Street, and King Street. In a 1923 reconfiguration of the streetcar network, this service was discontinued and Spadina became a separate streetcar route, which operated until 1948 when it was replaced by buses. The tracks on Spadina between Dundas Street and Harbord Street were still used by the Harbord streetcar route until its discontinuation in 1966.

The modern 510 Spadina route effectively began as the 604 Harbourfront LRT route along Queens Quay in 1990. The route was later renamed the 510 Harbourfront, but when a new dedicated right-of-way opened in 1997, extending the track north along Spadina Avenue from Queens Quay to Spadina station on the Bloor subway and replacing the 77 Spadina bus, it became the 510 Spadina.

The term "LRT" ("light-rail transit"), which had been adopted for political reasons to project an image of modernity, was dropped when it led to residents and newspaper reporters imagining elevated guideways like those of the Scarborough RT running through their streets. It was found that the project was much easier to sell to the public and politicians when it was pitched simply as an improvement to the speed and reliability of traditional streetcar service.

In 2000, when the Queens Quay streetcar tracks were extended west to Bathurst and Fleet Streets, the name Harbourfront reappeared for a 509 Harbourfront route between Union and Exhibition Loop. The 509 and 510 routes share the trackage originally operated by the 604.