TORONTO－As Canada's biggest city, Toronto is known for a few things: the iconic CN Tower, the ice Hockey Hall of Fame, great food from around the world and its historic streetcars.

But by the end of the year, the trolleys will be retired and replaced with sleek new trams－a decision that has been met with a mix of sentimental sadness and scorn.

"I like these streetcars because they have a history in Toronto," said 37-year-old Kenneth, riding at the back of one of the old trams on line 511, running along Bathurst Street.

Toronto's original 19th century trolley cars were pulled by horses, before the cars were powered by electricity in the 1920s.

The historic tall, narrow, red and white streetcars, formally known as Canadian Light Rail Vehicles, were commissioned in the late 1970s.

To board, riders must climb three big steps. To request a stop, one pulls down on a yellow cord pinned to windows running the length of the trolley car.

Toronto is one of the rare major cities in North America, along with San Francisco, to have maintained major tramway networks. Lines still exist in a handful of cities including Cleveland and New Orleans.

The Toronto system serves an average of 65 million riders a year.

City emblem

Streetcars were once the main form of public transit in the continent's cities, but after World War II, cars and buses took over, and hundreds of kilometers of tracks were ripped out.

After years of debate at city hall and under pressure from activists, Toronto decided in 1972 to maintain its network, which is now composed of 11 lines running through the heart of the downtown area.

The old-time streetcars are now celebrated and an emblem of the city, appearing on T-shirts and posters in souvenir shops and on toy shelves.

"Toronto can be a little bit plain sometimes, and streetcars are one thing that has made us kind of different," Mark Fiorillo, who has lived in the city his entire life, said with a hint of nostalgia.

"No other streetcar looked like that: like beasts or tanks," he said. "They were quite cool."

Fiorillo heads up a charity called CityFund, which focuses on getting Toronto residents to be more engaged in their city.

With the support of the city's transit commission, Fiorillo launched an art project called A Streetcar Named Toronto－a nod to the Tennessee Williams play.

One of the old hulking trolley cars was splashed in brightly colored paint and is one of a handful still in circulation. The final day of service will be Sunday.

Most of the rest of the streetcars have already been replaced by new trams built by Bombardier.

In 2009, the Montreal-based company won a contract from the city for more than C$1 billion ($750 million) to provide 204 streetcars.

After several delays, the company accelerated assembly work and promised to complete the order by the end of December. Nearly all of them have been delivered.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE