Closure-plagued Toronto streetcar line is finally back in full force

It’s been a tough go for commuters relying on the TTC’s 512 St. Clair streetcar, but things are finally back to normal after a long string of headaches on the transit line.

Locals along the 512 route have already had to endure a months-long closure that wrapped in 2024 to repair everything from outdated overhead power infrastructure to crumbling watermains below the tracks. 

But in typical TTC fashion, a sinkhole opened up along the route in October, just a few months after the line reopened, causing even more disruption for commuters.

On October 31, the TTC announced that it would shutter the entire 512 St Clair route for at least two weeks to undertake emergency repairs of this sinkhole in the area of St. Clair and Avenue Road. 

A City of Toronto representative tells blogTO that “the sewer repair and backfilling of the void were completed on October 31, with permanent restoration finished the next day, November 1.”

However, this emergency closure also provided the TTC with a perfect opportunity to complete a longer-term construction project at St. Clair West Station, which is now wrapped up a full two months ahead of schedule.

Work at the underground streetcar loop was initially anticipated to last until December, though the emergency repair period allowed construction to be expedited.

For anyone wondering why this last stage of construction wasn’t already carried out earlier this year during the previous streetcar closure, the TTC explains that this “would have prolonged the full removal of streetcar service.”

For a full two weeks to start off November, 512 riders were relegated to bus service. During this time, construction crews worked on overhead track and related structures, as well as rehabilitation work on the streetcar shelter at St. Clair West and Spadina. 

And after all the pain endured in the last year, the transit agency announced on Thursday that it finally had some “good news” for St Clair customers.

“512 St Clair streetcars are back and operating between St Clair Station and Gunns Loop, including stopping inside St Clair West Station,” explains a TTC notice, adding that the 33 Forest Hill, 126 Christie and 90 Vaughan buses will return to St Clair West Station on Sunday, November 17. 

The TTC went on to thank riders for their patience (however far it was tested) during the prolonged construction at St Clair West Station.

The underground loop officially reopened to streetcars on Nov. 14 at 5 a.m.