page_title: Toronto Railway Company
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Toronto Railway Company / History
caption_attribution_description: English: King Street looking east from Yonge Street. Toronto, Canada.
context_page_description: The Toronto Railway Company was the operator of the streetcar system in Toronto between 1891 and 1921. It electrified the horsecar system it inherited from the Toronto Street Railway, the previous operator of streetcar service in Toronto. The TRC was also a manufacturer of streetcars and rail work vehicles, a few of which were built for other streetcar and radial operators.
  On August 15, 1892, the TRC became the second operator of horseless streetcars in the Toronto area to convert to electric trams, the first being the Metropolitan Street Railway which electrified its horsecar line along Yonge Street within the Town of North Toronto on September 1, 1890.
context_section_description: In 1891, the 30 year franchise with the Toronto Street Railway (TSR) for horsecar service expired. At the end of the TSR franchise, the City ran the horsecar system for eight months, but ended up granting another 30-year franchise to a private operator, a group involving railway entrepreneur William Mackenzie. The franchise, which involved converting the horsecar system to electric operation, went into effect on September 21, 1891.
  The TRC made a one-time payment to  the City of $1,453,788 for the assets of the TSR, the same amount the City paid for TSR assets when it took over the horsecar system in 1891. Each year, the TRC was required to pay the City $800 per mile of track, plus a percentage of the gross earnings.
  Fares were: 5 cents cash for adults, 6 tickets for 25 cents; 3 cents cash for children with school tickets at 10 for 25 cents; 10 cents cash for night streetcars. The fare entitled the rider to a free transfer between routes.
  A key requirement of the franchise agreement was that the TRC had to electrify the first line within one year of the beginning of the franchise and the last within three years. The TRC met this requirement. The first electric car ran on Church Street starting August 15, 1892, and the last horse car ran on McCaul Street on August 31, 1894. The TRC learnt from the troubled experiences of the Metropolitan Street Railway in North Toronto which had done a horse to electric conversion; the TRC replaced all the horsecar track using heavier rail to support the faster, heavier electric streetcars.
  From 1893 to 1904, the TRC had suburban radial operations, often using vehicles resembling streetcars. In 1893, the TRC took control of the Toronto and Mimico Electric Railway and Light Company along Lake Shore Road, and in 1895, the Toronto and Scarboro' Electric Railway, Light and Power Company along Kingston Road. In 1904, both suburban operations were turned over to the Toronto and York Radial Railway, thus ending the TRC's suburban operations.
  On May 23, 1897, Sunday streetcar service started after city voters gave approval in a referendum earlier that month. This was controversial at the time; churches feared Sunday streetcar service would lead to other activities inappropriate for a Sunday such as sporting events and the sale of alcoholic beverages. The referendum, which had been preceded by two prior unsuccessful attempts, was won by a narrow margin of 0.7 per cent out of 32,000 votes cast.
  There came to be problems with interpretation of the franchise terms, for the city. A series of annexations, especially in 1908–12, significantly extended the city limits to include such areas as Dovercourt, Earlscourt, East Toronto, Midway (formerly between Toronto and East Toronto), North Toronto, and West Toronto. After many attempts to force the TRC to serve these areas, the city created its own street railway operation, the Toronto Civic Railways to do so, and built several routes. 
  The TRC system deteriorated towards the end of the franchise. By 1915, there were complaints of overcrowding due to a shortage of streetcars. In December 1916, a fire destroyed the TRC's King carhouse and 163 motor cars and trailers within it. Repeated court battles did force the TRC to build new cars, but far less than what the City was requesting, and the new cars were of an old design dating from 1906, or 1908 for the newest cars. Streetcars and track were not well maintained, and carhouses and shops were obsolete or deteriorating. The TRC franchise ended on August 31, 1921, and the next day, the Toronto Transportation Commission started operating a system that combined the TRC system with the city-operated Toronto Civic Railways lines. In 1924, the City paid $11,483,500 for the assets of the TRC. The TRC ceased to exist when it was legally dissolved in 1930.
caption: TRC streetcars on King Street in 1900
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