“Wait… It Just Stops?”

 

Well folks… Bob finally noticed something.

After 15 years of watching construction cones, fences, detours, and buses replacing buses replacing buses, Bob stepped onto the brand-new Crosstown train and felt something very familiar.

It looks like a Toronto streetcar.

Same bright interior.

Same yellow poles.

Same blue patterned seats.

Same clean, modern vibe.

But here’s the difference…

You don’t have to press the stop request at every station.

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“Wait… It Just Stops?”

Bob was sitting there, Sony NEX-3 in hand (yes, the same one he bought in 2011 when this whole thing started), staring at the digital sign overhead.

No frantic reaching for the yellow strip.

No tapping the red button.

No wondering if the driver heard the chime.

The Crosstown cars stop at every station automatically.

It’s like a subway wearing a streetcar costume.

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Same Feel, Different System

When you sit inside, it feels exactly like a modern TTC streetcar:

• Wide aisles

• Articulated sections

• Big windows

• Bright lighting

• Yellow grab rails everywhere

But the operation is different.

On regular Toronto streetcars, you press the button unless you want to take a scenic tour past your stop.

On the Crosstown? Every station is a scheduled stop. It behaves more like a subway line.

Bob actually laughed the first time.

He caught himself looking for the button.

Old habits die hard.

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The Quiet Ride

What Bob also noticed:

• It’s smooth.

• It’s quieter than the old CLRVs.

• The platforms feel organized.

• The stations feel like real transit hubs, not curbside stops.

And when it pulls into a station in the snow, with the tracks running clean and straight down Eglinton, it doesn’t feel like a streetcar line anymore.

It feels permanent.

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Fifteen Years Later

Bob bought that NEX-3 in 2011.

Back when they were digging the first holes.

He probably didn’t think he’d still own that camera when the line finally opened.

But here he is.

Same camera.

Same city.

Different transit line.

And now instead of photographing construction fences, he’s photographing working trains that stop automatically — no button required.

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The Little Things Matter

Sometimes progress isn’t flashy.

Sometimes it’s just:

• Not needing to press stop

• Watching the train glide into every station

• Seeing empty seats and clean lines

• Realizing Eglinton finally works

And for a street photographer like Bob?

That’s a whole new moving studio.

No more bus shuffle.

No more guessing if the driver saw you.

Just station to station to station.

Press nothing.

Shoot everything.