TTC puts H4 train out of service

Josh Tapper Staff Reporter

As the H4 subway car followed its final curve into Kennedy station on Friday, a gaggle of teenagers pressed their iPhones and point-and-shoot cameras to the glass of the lead car.

For these TTC enthusiasts, chattering loudly over the car’s ominous rumble, this was a historic moment: the final ride of one of North America’s longest-running subway cars.

After 35 years plying the Bloor-Danforth line, from Kennedy to Kipling, the last H4 — (in)famous for its burnt-orange vinyl benches, faux wood interior and lack of air conditioning — was retired Friday, bound for the scrap heap at Greenwood Subway Yard.

As the train pulled up to the platform, Alex Rampaul, who over the course of the entire two-hour round-trip journey roamed the lead car informing unwitting commuters of the car’s significance, bellowed a boisterous eulogy.

PHOTOS: A subway named retire

“Out of service and decommissioned!” he exclaimed. “This is the end! It’s the end of an era! H4, we’re going to miss you so much.”

To Rampaul and his fellow trainiacs, the ride was steeped in nostalgia. And with a looming battle between TTC chair Karen Stintz and Mayor Rob Ford casting a pall over Toronto’s 58-year-old transit system, the Friday trip was an opportunity to celebrate.

TTC chief operating officer Andy Byford marvelled at the dozens of (mostly male) passengers who made it down to the Kennedy platform for the subway’s 7:45 a.m. departure.

“If an old train goes out of service, there’s such enthusiasm that comes out,” he said, noting everyone was well-behaved — no vicious part stripping like he’s seen on final subway rides in London and Sydney.

Andrew Crawford, a 20-year-old Ryerson student who waited on the platform 15 minutes before the H4 arrived, said the final run fed his fascination with underground rail.

“Remember when you’re a kid staring out of the subway window? I’ve never grown out of that,” he said.

Since late last year, the Bloor-Danforth H4s, which operate on a camshaft control system, have been phased out in favour of T-1 series models and the flashy new computerized “Toronto Rocket” cars, currently used on the Yonge-Spadina line. H-series subway cars, built by Thunder Bay-based Hawker Siddeley Canada, joined the TTC fleet in the mid-1960s.

In 2000, 44 H4s were retired, followed by 38 in 2011 and the final six this year.

The 1970s clunkers not torn apart and sold for scrap will turn into service cars.

Over the years, the H4s received a fair share of flak, not least from passengers suffering in stifling summer heat. But Robert King, a 30-year-old lifelong Torontonian, praised the cushioned benches, even if they are the colour of rotten cheddar.

“Now riding the train is going to be a literal pain in the ass,” he said, referring to the red fabric-on-metal seats in newer cars.

But not all were sad to hear of the H4’s junkyard destiny.

“I’m glad they’re discontinuing,” said Allister Thompson, who rides the line each morning from Coxwell to Yonge. “They’re out of date, they seem less roomy.”

While the ride was an opportunity for aficionados to meet, snap pictures, kibbitz about TTC service changes and its H4-less future, some wrapped themselves in melancholy.

The H4 was getting junked, and it wasn’t coming back.

“Yep, this is the final day,” Rampaul sighed.

Nearby, William Busuttil stared onto the tracks and responded:

“I kind of wish it wasn’t.”

TTC Ridership: Now and Then

1977

Ridership: 348,707,000

Stations: 54 (subway, streetcar)

Kilometres of track: 45

2010

Ridership: 477,357,000

Stations (subway, streetcar, Scarborough RT): 69

Kilometres of track: 68.3