Former Scarborough RT car to become station for new Toronto Zoo train ride

One of the 28 cars that was once part of the decommissioned Scarborough rapid transit line will soon have a new life as a station for the Toronto Zoo’s new train ride. (TTC/photo)

One of the 28 cars that was once part of the decommissioned Scarborough rapid transit (RT) line will soon have a new life as a station for the Toronto Zoo’s new train ride.

The station with the former RT vehicle will be located within the zoo’s Tundra Trek area, which has polar bears and arctic wolves, a zoo spokesperson said.

“This will for sure be the coolest station on site,” Katie Gray said in an email to CP24 on Thursday.

Toronto Transit Commission spokesperson Stuart Green said when the six-station, 6.4-kilometre Line 3 was decommissioned following the derailment of a southbound train near Ellesmere Station on July 24, 2023, the TTC considered options for its 28 cars, ranging from “selling to scrapping them.”

“Selling for parts or scrap or donation is how we dispose of all our old/decommissioned vehicles,” he said.

• Here’s everything we know about the Scarborough RT derailment

In the end, 24 of the vehicles were sold to the City of Detroit, which Green said “expressed a need for parts and made the best proposal.”

Two cars were donated to the Halton Region Museum, while the other one was donated to the Toronto Zoo.

The one train that was severely damaged in the derailment was scrapped, Green noted.

Gray, of the zoo, said the blue RT vehicle won’t likely be installed and open there for about a month.

Its exact final spot is also still being determined, she said.

The car destined for the Toronto Zoo departed from a TTC yard earlier today, the TTC said.

“The last UTDC/Bombardier/Alstom Scarborough RT car (#3008) left the premises this morning and arrived at its new home...a place where many rare and exotic beasts dwell: the Toronto Zoo,” a post on X read.