Friday, May 24, 2019

A streetcar in disguise?

TTC Flexity Outlook on King St.
Often on my way to work in the morning I'll see a new OC Transpo Alstom Citadis Spirit light rail vehicle out on a test run. Although they're billed in the media as light rail vehicles, they look very streetcar like to me, and I've been wondering how many passengers they can carry in comparison to the TTC's Flexity Outlook streetcar. 

According to Wikipedia the 48.4m long version of the Alstom bought by OC Transpo will handle 300 passengers, and the 30.2m TTC Flexity clocks in at 251*. Interestingly, Wikipedia also notes that 


The [Alstom] Citadis Spirit is designed for both city-centre and suburban operation. Its 100% low-floor design has no interior steps or ramps. The vehicle can be used for both street-running allowing boarding from street or curb, and high-speed travel up to 105 km/h (65 mph). 

So since it's a modular design, some shorter configuration would allow it to run as a streetcar - a streetcar in disguise? :-)

*For PCC fans, if 2 of the TTC's old PCCs were strung together, the train would have an approximate length of 30 metres, and the 'crush load' would be around 268 passengers. The operative word here being 'crush' :-)

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