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EspañolTORONTO SUBWAY AND RT
(Redirected from Toronto Subway and RT)
The 'Toronto subway and RT' is the main rapid transit (RT) railway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). Since the original line following Yonge Street opened in 1954 with 12 stations, the network has expanded to become Canada's largest rapid transit rail network, encompassing four lines and 69 stations on 68.3 kilometres (42.7 miles) of track. The subway system is a very popular mode of public transport in Toronto and the largest in Canada in terms of passenger usage, with an average of 1,186,050 passenger trips each weekday (as of 2005-2006).[1]
The TTC sometimes uses the term "rapid transit" internally to describe all four lines, but in general public usage there is no collective term. They are called the three "subway" lines and "the (Scarborough) RT".
A current focus for the TTC's rapid transit expansion is an extension bringing the western branch of the Yonge-University-Spadina Line northward to York University, Steeles Avenue, and Vaughan Corporate Centre in York Region. The Government of Ontario announced on March 23, 2006 that it will provide $670 million for this extension, about one-third of the expected cost. If built, the extension would be approximately 8.6 kilometres long and would likely be built with six new stations: Sheppard West, Finch West, York University, Steeles West, Highway 407 Transitway, and Vaughan Corporate Centre. It is expected to cost approximately $2 billion. An environmental assessment has been completed to Steeles Avenue.
The first segment of the subway, which replaced a heavily-used streetcar route, ran under and next to Yonge Street from Eglinton Avenue to King Street. The route then turned west, to the southernmost station, at Front and Bay, underneath to the city's main railway terminus, Union Station. This line was completed in 1954. It was 6.5 kilometres long.
In 1963, an extension was added, north from Union Station, below University Avenue, to just south of Bloor Street, where it turned west to terminate at St George and Bloor.
The very existence of the Danforth line, opened in 1966, is thanks to a decision made more than forty years earlier. When the Prince Edward Viaduct was built in 1919, its designer insisted on building twin decks below the roadway to allow for future rail traffic. Thanks to that decision, the subway is able to cross the Don River ravine to Danforth Avenue on the east side.
The Yonge-University line was extended north 8 kilometres from Eglinton and Yonge to Finch Avenue and Yonge in 1973 and 1974.
A further 12 kilometres was added to the Yonge-University Line at St George and Bloor, running north-west to Eglinton and William R. Allen Road, where it turned north to run down the centre of the Allen Road, to Wilson Avenue and the Allen Road. This extension was originally proposed as part of the Spadina expressway, however when the expressway portion south of Eglinton Avenue was cancelled, the subway was still built following the original route through Cedarvale ravine. This is why it is called the Spadina subway despite the fact that less than 2 km of it runs under Spadina Rd.
In October 1976, a vandal-originated fire caused the destruction of four subway cars and damage to Christie station, resulting in the closure of the Bloor-Danforth line for three days, and the by-passing of Christie station for some time afterwards for repairs. Extensions were added at the west and east end of the Bloor-Danforth Line. These extensions each added a single station, and much needed bus bays to connect to surface routes, and, on the eastern end, room to connect to the Scarborough RT.
Spanning six stations over 6.4 kilometres (4.2 mi) of track, the Scarborough RT is an intermediate-capacity line built almost entirely above ground, which has no direct track connections to the other lines and uses a separate fleet of Bombardier Advanced Rapid Transit (ICTS) trains based on dramatically different technology (similar to those of the Vancouver SkyTrain). Nevertheless, its operating practices are the same as those of the other three lines. The route is fully isolated from road traffic and pedestrians, the stations are fully covered, and the trains are boarded through many doors from high platforms within a fare-paid zone set off by a barrier. The TTC therefore includes it with the other rapid transit lines for mapping and administrative purposes.
An additional kilometre was added to the north end of the Spadina arm of the Yonge-University-Spadina line, adding a station (Downsview Station) with bus-bays for connections to surface routes. At the time, a newly elected provincial Progressive Conservative government cancelled their share of funding that would have extended this route northward to York University and Steeles Avenue. This extension is currently in the planning stage, and funding has been committed by governments (''see Future expansion'').
In August 1995, the TTC suffered its worst subway accident in what it refers to as the Russell Hill accident on the Yonge-University-Spadina line south of St. Clair West station. Three women died and 100 people were injured, a few seriously. This led to a major reorganization at the TTC, since contributing to maintaining a "state of good repair" (i.e., an increased emphasis on safety and maintenance of existing TTC capital/services) and less so on expansion.
The subway's newest line, Sheppard, opened in 2002. It was the only one of three subway projects, started in the mid 1990s by the Rae government, to be completed. It runs 5.5 kilometres east, underneath Sheppard Avenue from Sheppard Station on the Yonge line (now renamed Sheppard-Yonge), near the north end of the Yonge-University-Spadina Line, to Don Mills Station, at Sheppard and Don Mills Road. Currently, the Sheppard line has fewer users compared than older subway lines like Yonge or the Bloor-Danforth line.
In its over 50 year history, the first baby to be born on a TTC subway station platform only occurred as recently as February 6, 2006.[2] This incident occurred at Wellesley station and caused delays on the subway system. It was front-page news for many days.[3]
An automated voice system was added to announce each station and replace the need for the train operator to announce each stop. The automated system is currently used on the Sheppard and the Yonge-University-Spadina lines. The entire subway and RT system will have this installed by the end of 2007. The system uses a pre-recorded female voice similar to the automated system used on Viva. Station announcements by the Operators originally commenced on January 8, 1995, under pressure from visually-impaired advocate groups. However, this policy was not enforced and announcements were sporadic until the TTC began to enforce the policy in around 2005, until automated announcements could be implemented under further pressure from the advocate groups.[4]
The Museum, Osgoode and St. Patrick subway stations will be renovated to provide transit riders with a visual experience linking them to the major cultural institutions in the area, such as the Royal Ontario Museum, Gardiner Museum, Textile Museum of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario College of Art and Design and the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Construction began at Museum Station in June 2007.
Although the TTC has placed a lower priority on rapid-transit expansion there are currently plans for three expansions to the existing subway and RT system. Under the Ontario's government's MoveOntario 2020 plan,[5]the Ontario government would cover two thirds of the construction cost of these three proposed expansions:
★ the Yonge-University-Spadina line from Downsview station through York University to Steeles Avenue and up to the proposed Vaughan Corporate Centre
★ the Yonge-University-Spadina line from Finch station north up Yonge Street to Highway 7 in Richmond Hill.
★ the Scarborough RT line from McCowan station north to Sheppard Avenue.
Yonge-University-Spadina line extension to Vaughan
The extension of the Spadina branch of the Yonge-University-Spadina line north to the City of Vaughan in the Regional Municipality of York, was announced by the Government of Ontario in its 2006 budget. The six proposed stations are provisionally named Sheppard West, Finch West, York University, Steeles West, Highway 407 Transitway, and Vaughan Corporate Centre. The TTC estimates this expansion could open by 2013/2014.
The current provincial Liberal government will provide $670 million to a trust fund earmarked for the Spadina subway extension and the federal government has also committed an equal sum. The remaining amount of this $2 billion project should be funded under the MoveOntario 2020 plan. The Ontario Realty Corporation and Hydro One, agencies of the Government of Ontario, have attempted to charge the City of Toronto approximately $3.85 million for a 10-year lease for the use of hydro corridor lands for a bus-only transitway to York University[6].
There is some controversy surrounding this plan, as many people wonder why a subway has been chosen as the mode of transit to reach Vaughan. The TTC also plans to build a busway to York University in the short term. Because of the nearby hydro corridor, the travel time on the proposed busway would be quite fast, leading people to question why a subway is being built there. It is likely that the demand in Vaughan will not require a subway for decades to come, as shown by the fact that York Region Transit recently cut the level of service on the corresponding bus rapid transit routes. A major area of concern is that the TTC will have to absorb the deficit created by a subway line not in their service area.
The MoveOntario 2020 plan proposes to extend the Yonge branch of the Y-U-S line north to Richmond Hill. Although Ontario has proposed funding two-thirds of this proposed expansion, the environmental assessment and design process are not that advanced, and the subway would not be constructed for some time. The major issue surrounding this extension is the lack of capacity on the Yonge line. There would be no extra capacity to handle the increased ridership south of Lawrence. It is for this reason that even though this extension is much more financially viable than the York University/Vaughan Corporate Centre extension, it will not be completed until the Transit City network of LRTs, particularly the Don Mills line, are in place to make some room on the Yonge line.
The TTC is currently considering options for revitalizing the Scarborough RT line, since its fleet of trains are approaching the end of their lifespan and the line is already overcrowded. Replacing the trains is complicated by the fact that the original ICTS vehicles used by the line are no longer produced, and their newer counterparts are longer and so would require expensive upgrades to the existing track. As a result, the TTC had also considering other options including an extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway along a different alignment, converting the Scarborough RT to a dedicated right-of-way for streetcars (as was originally planned), and replacing it with a bus rapid transit line. The Government of Ontario has provided $1 million for an environmental assessment relating to the future of "the Scarborough subway".
Like most subways, the Toronto subway/RT trains collect their electric power from a third rail mounted alongside the tracks. 'Shoes' mounted on the bogeys are located on both sides of each coach for the required contact. Power is supplied at 600 V DC.
Scarborough RT trains cannot switch directions except at the ends of the line as there are no turnback switches between the two termini. In contrast, the subway system was built in multiple segments, thereby providing multiple x-pattern crossovers. Current service patterns do not provide regular short turn service aside from the procedure at St. Clair West in the AM rush hour, however the flexible crossovers have come in handy during track repairs in which service is suspended in certain areas. Some currently unused crossovers include those near Islington, Keele, St. George (University line), Union, Woodbine, Warden, Eglinton, and Wilson. Another x-pattern crossover is present at the now abandoned Lower Bay Station.
Subway trains maintain their normal schedule, serving every station on a particular line, except during the morning and evening rush hours. Northbound trains short-turn at the St. Clair West station. Electric-mechanical signs, left over from the 1966 integrated subway lines experiment, were used to indicate if a train was going to short turn or not. This service was discontinued 2004, even though the signs remain disused in various stations.
Safety procedures have progressed over time, usually in response to a mishap. One such incident was in March 1963, when there was an electrical short in a subway car's motor. The driver decided to continue operating the train, despite visible smoke in the affected car, until the train reached Union station. This decision resulted in the destruction of six subway cars and extensive damage to the tunnel and signal lines west of Union station. Following this incident safety procedures, involving electrical malfunctions and/or fire in subway trains, were revised to improve safety and reduce the likelihood of a similar incident occurring.
GO Transit commuter trains stop at or near the Kipling, Dundas West (GO's Bloor station), Main Street (GO's Danforth station), Leslie (GO's Oriole station), and Kennedy subway stations. The TTC's Union subway station connects with Union Station, Toronto's main railway station, which serves not only GO trains, but also VIA, Amtrak, and Ontario Northland. GO buses connect with the TTC at a number of stations, and some other GO stations, while not connected to the subway, are served by buses or streetcars.
Suicides in the subway system have occurred in Toronto, but it is not a publicized problem. It has been suggested by members of Toronto city council that the installation of barrier doors, to prevent suicides and others from accidentally falling onto the tracks, be installed system-wide. To date this does not appear to be a top concern.
A train guard is responsible for opening and closing the subway car doors, and making sure no one is trapped in a door as the train leaves a station. The train guard signals the driver when it is all clear. The car carrying the guard can be identified by the white or the orange light outside the subway car. For safety reasons, since 1954, a transit-worker notified patrons that the subway car doors were closing with two short blasts from a whistle. In 1991, due to lawsuits, electronic chimes, using three notes (G-E-C) and a flashing pair of orange lights above the doorway, added for the hearing impaired, were tested and gradually introduced system-wide during the 1990s. [2].
Over time, Toronto's transit system has become a hidden art gallery, home to more than two dozen pieces scattered along the subway and streetcar routes.
One of the most memorable art pieces in the subway system is Charles Pachter’s "Hockey Knights in Canada", added to College station in 1985. The two-part installation, just steps from Maple Leaf Gardens, depicts the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs squaring off from opposite sides of the subway tracks.
The Spadina Line features many art installations. Spadina station on that line features a tilework mural with approximately 10,000 circular tiles and another mural called ''Barren Ground Caribou'' by Joyce Wieland. St. Clair West Station features an enamel mural called ''Tempo'' by Gordon Rayner. Unusually, Eglinton West station features an artwork called ''Summertime Streetcar'' by Gerald Zeldinwith, which consists of two enamel murals depicting PCC streetcars facing each other, although these streetcars had never served this station. Dupont station features ''A Spadina Summer Under All Seasons'', an installation from the 1970s. Using thousands of pieces of glass, artist James Sutherland built colourful mosaics of flowers directly into the station’s tiling. Two giant flowers face each other across the tracks, reaching upward into a mezzanine level lined with smaller flower mosaics.
The artwork at Dupont station was the most extensive in the Toronto transit system until the Sheppard line opened in 2002. The Sheppard-Yonge station features ''Immersion Land'', a mosaic composed of 1.5 million one-inch tiles, created by Toronto artist Stacey Spiegel. The installation was developed from a digitized and pixilated blend of 150 photographs depicting lush landscapes, country homes, and rural scenes from Yonge Street as it stretches towards North Bay.
Each Sheppard line station has an artistic feature. The most notable of these is Leslie, a station that approaches the expanse of Dupont and Sheppard-Yonge’s installations. Five years before the station opened, artist Micah Lexier began collecting writing samples from the public of the words “Sheppard” and “Leslie”. Over 3,000 of these samples were used in the installation, and the words were silk-screened onto tiles. In total, 17,000 of these tiles are on the walls of the station, each featuring the handwritten contribution of a community member. The installation was dubbed ''Ampersand'' in recognition of the “&” symbol – the only consistent element of each tile.
At Bayview, shadows of common objects such as apples and ladders silk screened to the linoleum and walls framed by patches of coloured tile gives it a kind of surreal look called trompe l'oeil.
At Bessarion, images of the backs of peoples' heads have been silk screened onto wall tiles that highlight the platform walls.
At Don Mills, metallic inlays of shells in the floor of the platform make it appear underwater, while in the concourse, tile patterns representing geological strata make it appear underground (which it is).
''USA Today'' said of Toronto's Sheppard Subway: "Despite the remarkable engineering feats of this metro, known as Sheppard Subway, it's the art covering walls, ceilings and platforms of all five stations that stands out. Each station is 'a total art experience where artists have created imaginative environments, uniquely expressing themes of community, location and heritage' through panoramic landscapes and ceramic wall murals." [7]
Panya Clark Espinal is the artist who designed the art in the Bayview Station.[8][9]
''For complete lists and details of stations, lines, and their locations in the Toronto subway/RT system, see List of Toronto subway and RT stations.''
Most stations are named for the nearest major road crossed by the line in question. A few are named for major landmarks, such as shopping centres or transportation hubs, served by the station. The University Avenue section of the Yonge-University-Spadina line, in particular, is named entirely for landmarks (public institutions and major churches).
All trains stop at every station along their route and run the entire length of their line from terminus to terminus.
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The TTC has one closed subway station platform: the lower level of Bay subway station. This subway station was briefly used for interlining between two of Toronto's lines in 1966, producing an effect similar to the "branching" lines of metro systems in some other cities. Interlining worked in that one would not have to switch trains to go from one line to another.
The experiment, which lasted six months, proved to be impractical. A problem could hold up much of the system. The interlining trial worked by having one group of trains travelling south from Eglinton. After leaving Museum, they would turn east into Lower Bay, continuing east to Woodbine. They then travelled west to Keele via upper Bay and lower St. George, afterwards returning east to upper St. George, where they would switch south onto the University line, and return to Eglinton, producing a wye pattern. The other group of trains would also start at Eglinton, but at the Bloor junction, they would turn west to Keele via upper St. George, reversing east to Woodbine via lower St. George and upper Bay, and returning to the University line via lower Bay.
At Bay, the problem was caused because trains going to Woodbine from Eglinton would arrive in Lower Bay, and trains from Keele would arrive in Upper Bay. Since trains alternated, passengers entering the station did not know where to find their train. The same problem was encountered at St. George, where trains to Keele from Eglinton would arrive in Upper St. George, and trains from Woodbine arrived in Lower St. George (opposite to that of Bay). The problem was ''not'' encountered for trains headed for Eglinton, as they would always arrive at Lower Bay and Upper St. George-due to track layout, and Museum did not have the same problems, because it had a single level. Track layout was the cause for the issues at St. George and Bay because both levels had sets of tracks headed for their corresponding terminal (At St. George, west-bound tracks on both levels went to Keele. Bay & Woodbine had the same issue, but with east-bound tracks.) It was impossible to make both trains headed for the same terminal arrive on the same level (as in Queensborough Plaza Station, New York City), because at the University line junction on both sides (West and East) both tracks on the same level went in the same direction.
Chaos ensued as passengers at St. George did not know which platform their next train might end up on, causing people to wait on the stairs. Switching trains also did not significantly lengthen a commute, since at the point of departure one would have to wait anyhow for an interlined train heading to the desired destination.
Today, Lower Bay is best known for its use in movie shoots and special events. The station has been modified several times to make it look like a "common" American subway station, and the TTC owns a pre-built set to disguise it as a New York City Subway station. While open, the setup of staircases between Upper and Lower Bay resembled that of St. George. The stairs to Lower Bay have been walled up, but are still fairly obvious in that they were walled up using green tiles, in contrast to the white tiles of the rest of the station.
The tracks through Lower Bay still exist and are used from time to time to move equipment between lines. The junctions are just north of Museum station northbound and just west of Bloor-Yonge station. A second double-track connection links junctions just east of Spadina (Bloor-Danforth line) and just north (physically west) of St. George on the Yonge-University-Spadina Line.
A lesser known station is Lower Queen. In the plan that produced the original section of the Yonge subway, the TTC planned to build a second subway under Queen Street that would have been used not by dedicated rapid-transit trains but instead by regular streetcars in order to speed up their east-west passage through the downtown section. When the federal government refused to provide funding for the subway project, the TTC deferred the Queen subway, and by the time it came to revisit the east-west question, changing traffic patterns made the route under Bloor Street more sensible. The original Yonge subway's Queen station, however, had been built with a roughed-in streetcar station on a lower level, ready for the second line if it should ever be built. Many people unknowingly pass through this second station every day, as the tunnel that goes under the station so that riders can move between northbound and southbound platforms is a portion of this underground station, with most of the excess infrastructure walled off. The access to the lower space is from the passageway between the platforms.
The TTC also planned a similar platform under Osgoode station for the Queen line, but all that was done was the relocation of utility lines to allow for future construction.
In the 1990s, the TTC began digging a platform under the existing Eglinton West for the Eglinton subway project, but it was filled in again when the Government of Ontario cancelled the line in 1995.
That year provincial resources were immediately pulled out of the environment ministry, cutting its budget by nearly half and shifting focus away from urban planning. In addition to cancelling the planned subway line along Eglinton West, extension of the Spadina line to York University was also halted.[10] By 1998, the province completely eliminated subsidies for the Toronto Transit Commission that had amounted to $104 million in 1995.[11]
Along the lines, storage tracks, a third set of rails longer than the length of a train, that can be used for resting or turning around. They are formally known in the TTC as centre tracks.
These exist at the following locations:
★ East of Islington Station
★ East of Ossington Station
★ West of Chester Station
★ South of Lawrence West Station
★ North of St. Clair West Station
★ West of Union Station
★ South of York Mills Station
Pocket tracks are also a variation of centre tracks, but can only be accessed from one end. The other end ends in a blocker. They can be found at:
★ South of Osgoode Station (accessible from north end only)
★ North of Eglinton Station (accessible from north end only)
★ North of Finch Station (tail tracks)
Double crossovers, allowing for the switching of tracks exist at the following locations:
There is also a single crossover north of Union Station on the Yonge line that allows trains to come into Union from the north, enter what is now the platform designated "Northbound - University line", and turn around, heading back north towards Finch on the proper track. This would have been used when Union was the Yonge terminus until the University line was opened in the 1960s.
Other track "anomalies":
★ The tracks used for interlining in the late 1960s:
★
★ North of Museum Station the tracks split, one heading for Upper-St. George St, the other for the now abandoned Lower-Bay.
★
★
★ The track headed to Lower-Bay joins up with the Bloor-Danforth line just before Yonge Station.
★
★
★ The track headed to Upper-St. George is what is now used for the University line.
★
★ The tracks approaching St. George Station from Spadina split, one heading for Upper, the other for Lower-St. George.
★ Single cross-overs act as entrances to the Vincent Yards, the Wilson Yards, and the Davisville Yards.
★ Between Donlands and Greenwood Stations the track splits in both directions, allowing trains to enter or exit the Greenwood Yards in either direction.
★ A maintenance track, accessible from the eastbound Bloor-Danforth line, just west of Warden Station. Trains must back into this track and leave head-first.
★ Short tail tracks at Don Mills Station. It is the only terminal station not to have train length tail tracks.
★ The tracks used to transfer between the Sheppard and Yonge lines are as follows:
★
★ From Northbound Yonge to Eastbound Sheppard: Simple track split on the Yonge line
★
★
★ This track meets the Sheppard Line East of Sheppard-Yonge Station, so trains must then back into the station.
★
★ From the Westbound Sheppard track to Southbound Yonge: Trains go west, beyond the Sheppard-Yonge Station, the track then splits, one track onto the Eastbound Sheppard, the other to Southbound Yonge.
★ There used to be more crossovers on the Yonge line, but three were removed when the University line was constructed
★
★ The locations of the removed crossovers were: north of King Station, south of College Station (Gerrard Crossover), and south of St. Clair Station.
★
★
★ The cuts in the tunnels for the King and Gerrard Crossovers still exist to this day.
The tracks of Toronto's streetcars and subways (apart from the Scarborough RT) are built to the unique gauge of 1495 mm (4 feet 10⅞ inches), 60 mm (2⅜ inches) wider than the usual standard of 1435 mm (4 feet 8½ inches). One popular anachronistic belief is that "the City of Toronto feared that the Toronto Railway Company, which held the franchise to run streetcars before the TTC was created, would allow Canadian Pacific Railway to operate steam locomotives through city streets". (In fact, this gauge was established in 1861, ten years before Canada's adoption of standard gauge and long before the TRC or TTC or CPR existed.) The more practical reason is that early tracks were used to pull wagons smoothly in the days before paved roads, and that they fit a different gauge. Due to the cost of converting all the tracks and vehicles (and the lack of any real benefit in doing so), the unique gauge has remained to this day.
The practical consequence of the gauge was to make it difficult to ever operate standard gauge equipment on city streets.
Some proposals for the city's subway system involved using streetcars in the tunnels and possibly having some routes run partially in tunnels and partially on city streets, so the same gauge was used. The use of standard-gauge tracks on the Scarborough RT makes it impossible for there to be any track connection between it and the other lines, and so when its ICTS vehicles need anything more than basic service (which can be carried out in the RT's own McCowan Yard), they are carried by truck to the Greenwood subway yards.
Here is a list of subway and RT yards and facilities:
★ Davisville Subway Yard - services the Yonge-University-Spadina and Sheppard lines
★ Greenwood Subway Yard - services the Bloor-Danforth line
★ Wilson Subway Yard - services the Yonge-University-Spadina line
★ McCowan RT Yard - services the Scarborough RT line
★ Keele (Vincent) Yard - inactive
As well there are:
★ 66 elevators and 294 escalators in use in 2005
★ 28 parking lots with capacity for 14,136 cars in 2005
''Source: TTC subway-related properties''
★ Eglinton West subway
★ Queen Street subway
★ Downtown Relief Line
★ Transportation in Toronto
★ List of rapid transit systems
★ Toronto Transit Commission
★ Transit City
★ Toronto buses and trolley buses
★ Toronto streetcar system
★ Lower Queen
★ Signals on the TTC
★ Scarborough RT (TTC)
★ MoveOntario 2020
1. Toronto Transit Commission Subway ridership, 2005-2006
2. Baby born on subway platform Amy Brown-Bowers
3. Baby, what a ride! Child born on subway platform Kevin Connor
4. Our lady of the stations: Meet the calm-voiced woman behind the TTC's automated subway announcements Christina Ku
5. A ,5B transit promise Tess Kalinoswski
6. North York Mirror, 20 July 2007, p.1
7. 10 great places to stop for subway art Shawn Sell
8. Art on the TTC
9. Subway Art by Serafin
10. Moloney, 2002
11. Theobald, 2003
★ Transit Toronto Subway Pages
★ Toronto's Lost Subway Stations
★ Thirty Years down the line
★ ''Welcome Aboard - Tomorrow's Transit Today - UTDC 1985''
★ Rapid Transit Expansion Study (RTES)
★ Rapid Transit Expansion Study (RTES) – Follow-Up Report
★ Spadina Subway Extension
★ Official TTC site
★ Official TTC LRT expansion proposals
★ News, history and discussion
★ Rider efficiency guide
★ Miroslav Glavić's TTC Subway Map guide
★ CBC Digital Archives: Going Underground: Toronto's Subway and Montreal's Metro
★ The TTC on Freewebs
★ The TTC's Official Subway Travel Time Chart
★ The New "T35A08" Train
★ The TTC ride guide as searchable Google Map
The 'Toronto subway and RT' is the main rapid transit (RT) railway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). Since the original line following Yonge Street opened in 1954 with 12 stations, the network has expanded to become Canada's largest rapid transit rail network, encompassing four lines and 69 stations on 68.3 kilometres (42.7 miles) of track. The subway system is a very popular mode of public transport in Toronto and the largest in Canada in terms of passenger usage, with an average of 1,186,050 passenger trips each weekday (as of 2005-2006).[1]
The TTC sometimes uses the term "rapid transit" internally to describe all four lines, but in general public usage there is no collective term. They are called the three "subway" lines and "the (Scarborough) RT".
A current focus for the TTC's rapid transit expansion is an extension bringing the western branch of the Yonge-University-Spadina Line northward to York University, Steeles Avenue, and Vaughan Corporate Centre in York Region. The Government of Ontario announced on March 23, 2006 that it will provide $670 million for this extension, about one-third of the expected cost. If built, the extension would be approximately 8.6 kilometres long and would likely be built with six new stations: Sheppard West, Finch West, York University, Steeles West, Highway 407 Transitway, and Vaughan Corporate Centre. It is expected to cost approximately $2 billion. An environmental assessment has been completed to Steeles Avenue.
Toronto's subway network
A map of the Toronto Subway/RT network.
Between 'Finch' and 'Downsview' via 'Union' | Between 'Kipling' and 'Kennedy' |
Between 'Kennedy' and 'McCowan' | Between 'Sheppard-Yonge' and 'Don Mills' |
History
Subway excavations on Front Street in 1950
The first segment of the subway, which replaced a heavily-used streetcar route, ran under and next to Yonge Street from Eglinton Avenue to King Street. The route then turned west, to the southernmost station, at Front and Bay, underneath to the city's main railway terminus, Union Station. This line was completed in 1954. It was 6.5 kilometres long.
In 1963, an extension was added, north from Union Station, below University Avenue, to just south of Bloor Street, where it turned west to terminate at St George and Bloor.
The very existence of the Danforth line, opened in 1966, is thanks to a decision made more than forty years earlier. When the Prince Edward Viaduct was built in 1919, its designer insisted on building twin decks below the roadway to allow for future rail traffic. Thanks to that decision, the subway is able to cross the Don River ravine to Danforth Avenue on the east side.
The Yonge-University line was extended north 8 kilometres from Eglinton and Yonge to Finch Avenue and Yonge in 1973 and 1974.
A further 12 kilometres was added to the Yonge-University Line at St George and Bloor, running north-west to Eglinton and William R. Allen Road, where it turned north to run down the centre of the Allen Road, to Wilson Avenue and the Allen Road. This extension was originally proposed as part of the Spadina expressway, however when the expressway portion south of Eglinton Avenue was cancelled, the subway was still built following the original route through Cedarvale ravine. This is why it is called the Spadina subway despite the fact that less than 2 km of it runs under Spadina Rd.
In October 1976, a vandal-originated fire caused the destruction of four subway cars and damage to Christie station, resulting in the closure of the Bloor-Danforth line for three days, and the by-passing of Christie station for some time afterwards for repairs. Extensions were added at the west and east end of the Bloor-Danforth Line. These extensions each added a single station, and much needed bus bays to connect to surface routes, and, on the eastern end, room to connect to the Scarborough RT.
Spanning six stations over 6.4 kilometres (4.2 mi) of track, the Scarborough RT is an intermediate-capacity line built almost entirely above ground, which has no direct track connections to the other lines and uses a separate fleet of Bombardier Advanced Rapid Transit (ICTS) trains based on dramatically different technology (similar to those of the Vancouver SkyTrain). Nevertheless, its operating practices are the same as those of the other three lines. The route is fully isolated from road traffic and pedestrians, the stations are fully covered, and the trains are boarded through many doors from high platforms within a fare-paid zone set off by a barrier. The TTC therefore includes it with the other rapid transit lines for mapping and administrative purposes.
An additional kilometre was added to the north end of the Spadina arm of the Yonge-University-Spadina line, adding a station (Downsview Station) with bus-bays for connections to surface routes. At the time, a newly elected provincial Progressive Conservative government cancelled their share of funding that would have extended this route northward to York University and Steeles Avenue. This extension is currently in the planning stage, and funding has been committed by governments (''see Future expansion'').
In August 1995, the TTC suffered its worst subway accident in what it refers to as the Russell Hill accident on the Yonge-University-Spadina line south of St. Clair West station. Three women died and 100 people were injured, a few seriously. This led to a major reorganization at the TTC, since contributing to maintaining a "state of good repair" (i.e., an increased emphasis on safety and maintenance of existing TTC capital/services) and less so on expansion.
The subway's newest line, Sheppard, opened in 2002. It was the only one of three subway projects, started in the mid 1990s by the Rae government, to be completed. It runs 5.5 kilometres east, underneath Sheppard Avenue from Sheppard Station on the Yonge line (now renamed Sheppard-Yonge), near the north end of the Yonge-University-Spadina Line, to Don Mills Station, at Sheppard and Don Mills Road. Currently, the Sheppard line has fewer users compared than older subway lines like Yonge or the Bloor-Danforth line.
In its over 50 year history, the first baby to be born on a TTC subway station platform only occurred as recently as February 6, 2006.[2] This incident occurred at Wellesley station and caused delays on the subway system. It was front-page news for many days.[3]
An automated voice system was added to announce each station and replace the need for the train operator to announce each stop. The automated system is currently used on the Sheppard and the Yonge-University-Spadina lines. The entire subway and RT system will have this installed by the end of 2007. The system uses a pre-recorded female voice similar to the automated system used on Viva. Station announcements by the Operators originally commenced on January 8, 1995, under pressure from visually-impaired advocate groups. However, this policy was not enforced and announcements were sporadic until the TTC began to enforce the policy in around 2005, until automated announcements could be implemented under further pressure from the advocate groups.[4]
The Museum, Osgoode and St. Patrick subway stations will be renovated to provide transit riders with a visual experience linking them to the major cultural institutions in the area, such as the Royal Ontario Museum, Gardiner Museum, Textile Museum of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario College of Art and Design and the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Construction began at Museum Station in June 2007.
Future expansion
Although the TTC has placed a lower priority on rapid-transit expansion there are currently plans for three expansions to the existing subway and RT system. Under the Ontario's government's MoveOntario 2020 plan,[5]the Ontario government would cover two thirds of the construction cost of these three proposed expansions:
★ the Yonge-University-Spadina line from Downsview station through York University to Steeles Avenue and up to the proposed Vaughan Corporate Centre
★ the Yonge-University-Spadina line from Finch station north up Yonge Street to Highway 7 in Richmond Hill.
★ the Scarborough RT line from McCowan station north to Sheppard Avenue.
Yonge-University-Spadina line extension to Vaughan
The extension of the Spadina branch of the Yonge-University-Spadina line north to the City of Vaughan in the Regional Municipality of York, was announced by the Government of Ontario in its 2006 budget. The six proposed stations are provisionally named Sheppard West, Finch West, York University, Steeles West, Highway 407 Transitway, and Vaughan Corporate Centre. The TTC estimates this expansion could open by 2013/2014.
The current provincial Liberal government will provide $670 million to a trust fund earmarked for the Spadina subway extension and the federal government has also committed an equal sum. The remaining amount of this $2 billion project should be funded under the MoveOntario 2020 plan. The Ontario Realty Corporation and Hydro One, agencies of the Government of Ontario, have attempted to charge the City of Toronto approximately $3.85 million for a 10-year lease for the use of hydro corridor lands for a bus-only transitway to York University[6].
There is some controversy surrounding this plan, as many people wonder why a subway has been chosen as the mode of transit to reach Vaughan. The TTC also plans to build a busway to York University in the short term. Because of the nearby hydro corridor, the travel time on the proposed busway would be quite fast, leading people to question why a subway is being built there. It is likely that the demand in Vaughan will not require a subway for decades to come, as shown by the fact that York Region Transit recently cut the level of service on the corresponding bus rapid transit routes. A major area of concern is that the TTC will have to absorb the deficit created by a subway line not in their service area.
Yonge-University-Spadina line extension to Richmond Hill
The MoveOntario 2020 plan proposes to extend the Yonge branch of the Y-U-S line north to Richmond Hill. Although Ontario has proposed funding two-thirds of this proposed expansion, the environmental assessment and design process are not that advanced, and the subway would not be constructed for some time. The major issue surrounding this extension is the lack of capacity on the Yonge line. There would be no extra capacity to handle the increased ridership south of Lawrence. It is for this reason that even though this extension is much more financially viable than the York University/Vaughan Corporate Centre extension, it will not be completed until the Transit City network of LRTs, particularly the Don Mills line, are in place to make some room on the Yonge line.
Scarborough RT revitalization and expansion
The TTC is currently considering options for revitalizing the Scarborough RT line, since its fleet of trains are approaching the end of their lifespan and the line is already overcrowded. Replacing the trains is complicated by the fact that the original ICTS vehicles used by the line are no longer produced, and their newer counterparts are longer and so would require expensive upgrades to the existing track. As a result, the TTC had also considering other options including an extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway along a different alignment, converting the Scarborough RT to a dedicated right-of-way for streetcars (as was originally planned), and replacing it with a bus rapid transit line. The Government of Ontario has provided $1 million for an environmental assessment relating to the future of "the Scarborough subway".
Operations and procedures
Inside of an H6 subway car.
Like most subways, the Toronto subway/RT trains collect their electric power from a third rail mounted alongside the tracks. 'Shoes' mounted on the bogeys are located on both sides of each coach for the required contact. Power is supplied at 600 V DC.
Scarborough RT trains cannot switch directions except at the ends of the line as there are no turnback switches between the two termini. In contrast, the subway system was built in multiple segments, thereby providing multiple x-pattern crossovers. Current service patterns do not provide regular short turn service aside from the procedure at St. Clair West in the AM rush hour, however the flexible crossovers have come in handy during track repairs in which service is suspended in certain areas. Some currently unused crossovers include those near Islington, Keele, St. George (University line), Union, Woodbine, Warden, Eglinton, and Wilson. Another x-pattern crossover is present at the now abandoned Lower Bay Station.
Subway trains maintain their normal schedule, serving every station on a particular line, except during the morning and evening rush hours. Northbound trains short-turn at the St. Clair West station. Electric-mechanical signs, left over from the 1966 integrated subway lines experiment, were used to indicate if a train was going to short turn or not. This service was discontinued 2004, even though the signs remain disused in various stations.
Safety procedures have progressed over time, usually in response to a mishap. One such incident was in March 1963, when there was an electrical short in a subway car's motor. The driver decided to continue operating the train, despite visible smoke in the affected car, until the train reached Union station. This decision resulted in the destruction of six subway cars and extensive damage to the tunnel and signal lines west of Union station. Following this incident safety procedures, involving electrical malfunctions and/or fire in subway trains, were revised to improve safety and reduce the likelihood of a similar incident occurring.
GO Transit commuter trains stop at or near the Kipling, Dundas West (GO's Bloor station), Main Street (GO's Danforth station), Leslie (GO's Oriole station), and Kennedy subway stations. The TTC's Union subway station connects with Union Station, Toronto's main railway station, which serves not only GO trains, but also VIA, Amtrak, and Ontario Northland. GO buses connect with the TTC at a number of stations, and some other GO stations, while not connected to the subway, are served by buses or streetcars.
Suicides in the subway system have occurred in Toronto, but it is not a publicized problem. It has been suggested by members of Toronto city council that the installation of barrier doors, to prevent suicides and others from accidentally falling onto the tracks, be installed system-wide. To date this does not appear to be a top concern.
A train guard is responsible for opening and closing the subway car doors, and making sure no one is trapped in a door as the train leaves a station. The train guard signals the driver when it is all clear. The car carrying the guard can be identified by the white or the orange light outside the subway car. For safety reasons, since 1954, a transit-worker notified patrons that the subway car doors were closing with two short blasts from a whistle. In 1991, due to lawsuits, electronic chimes, using three notes (G-E-C) and a flashing pair of orange lights above the doorway, added for the hearing impaired, were tested and gradually introduced system-wide during the 1990s. [2].
Subway art
A "clock" near escalators at mezzanine level at Bayview station
Over time, Toronto's transit system has become a hidden art gallery, home to more than two dozen pieces scattered along the subway and streetcar routes.
One of the most memorable art pieces in the subway system is Charles Pachter’s "Hockey Knights in Canada", added to College station in 1985. The two-part installation, just steps from Maple Leaf Gardens, depicts the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs squaring off from opposite sides of the subway tracks.
The Spadina Line features many art installations. Spadina station on that line features a tilework mural with approximately 10,000 circular tiles and another mural called ''Barren Ground Caribou'' by Joyce Wieland. St. Clair West Station features an enamel mural called ''Tempo'' by Gordon Rayner. Unusually, Eglinton West station features an artwork called ''Summertime Streetcar'' by Gerald Zeldinwith, which consists of two enamel murals depicting PCC streetcars facing each other, although these streetcars had never served this station. Dupont station features ''A Spadina Summer Under All Seasons'', an installation from the 1970s. Using thousands of pieces of glass, artist James Sutherland built colourful mosaics of flowers directly into the station’s tiling. Two giant flowers face each other across the tracks, reaching upward into a mezzanine level lined with smaller flower mosaics.
The artwork at Dupont station was the most extensive in the Toronto transit system until the Sheppard line opened in 2002. The Sheppard-Yonge station features ''Immersion Land'', a mosaic composed of 1.5 million one-inch tiles, created by Toronto artist Stacey Spiegel. The installation was developed from a digitized and pixilated blend of 150 photographs depicting lush landscapes, country homes, and rural scenes from Yonge Street as it stretches towards North Bay.
Each Sheppard line station has an artistic feature. The most notable of these is Leslie, a station that approaches the expanse of Dupont and Sheppard-Yonge’s installations. Five years before the station opened, artist Micah Lexier began collecting writing samples from the public of the words “Sheppard” and “Leslie”. Over 3,000 of these samples were used in the installation, and the words were silk-screened onto tiles. In total, 17,000 of these tiles are on the walls of the station, each featuring the handwritten contribution of a community member. The installation was dubbed ''Ampersand'' in recognition of the “&” symbol – the only consistent element of each tile.
At Bayview, shadows of common objects such as apples and ladders silk screened to the linoleum and walls framed by patches of coloured tile gives it a kind of surreal look called trompe l'oeil.
At Bessarion, images of the backs of peoples' heads have been silk screened onto wall tiles that highlight the platform walls.
At Don Mills, metallic inlays of shells in the floor of the platform make it appear underwater, while in the concourse, tile patterns representing geological strata make it appear underground (which it is).
''USA Today'' said of Toronto's Sheppard Subway: "Despite the remarkable engineering feats of this metro, known as Sheppard Subway, it's the art covering walls, ceilings and platforms of all five stations that stands out. Each station is 'a total art experience where artists have created imaginative environments, uniquely expressing themes of community, location and heritage' through panoramic landscapes and ceramic wall murals." [7]
Panya Clark Espinal is the artist who designed the art in the Bayview Station.[8][9]
Stations
''For complete lists and details of stations, lines, and their locations in the Toronto subway/RT system, see List of Toronto subway and RT stations.''
Current stations
Most stations are named for the nearest major road crossed by the line in question. A few are named for major landmarks, such as shopping centres or transportation hubs, served by the station. The University Avenue section of the Yonge-University-Spadina line, in particular, is named entirely for landmarks (public institutions and major churches).
All trains stop at every station along their route and run the entire length of their line from terminus to terminus.
Closed stations
TTC Interlining Trial
Lower Bay
Toronto Transit Commission's Bay Lower Station, during the 2007 Doors Open Toronto festival. The station has been closed to the public since 1966. This view is looking westward from the Bay St. entrance.Notice the big 'Y' floor tile for Yorkville Station/Y junction.
The TTC has one closed subway station platform: the lower level of Bay subway station. This subway station was briefly used for interlining between two of Toronto's lines in 1966, producing an effect similar to the "branching" lines of metro systems in some other cities. Interlining worked in that one would not have to switch trains to go from one line to another.
The experiment, which lasted six months, proved to be impractical. A problem could hold up much of the system. The interlining trial worked by having one group of trains travelling south from Eglinton. After leaving Museum, they would turn east into Lower Bay, continuing east to Woodbine. They then travelled west to Keele via upper Bay and lower St. George, afterwards returning east to upper St. George, where they would switch south onto the University line, and return to Eglinton, producing a wye pattern. The other group of trains would also start at Eglinton, but at the Bloor junction, they would turn west to Keele via upper St. George, reversing east to Woodbine via lower St. George and upper Bay, and returning to the University line via lower Bay.
At Bay, the problem was caused because trains going to Woodbine from Eglinton would arrive in Lower Bay, and trains from Keele would arrive in Upper Bay. Since trains alternated, passengers entering the station did not know where to find their train. The same problem was encountered at St. George, where trains to Keele from Eglinton would arrive in Upper St. George, and trains from Woodbine arrived in Lower St. George (opposite to that of Bay). The problem was ''not'' encountered for trains headed for Eglinton, as they would always arrive at Lower Bay and Upper St. George-due to track layout, and Museum did not have the same problems, because it had a single level. Track layout was the cause for the issues at St. George and Bay because both levels had sets of tracks headed for their corresponding terminal (At St. George, west-bound tracks on both levels went to Keele. Bay & Woodbine had the same issue, but with east-bound tracks.) It was impossible to make both trains headed for the same terminal arrive on the same level (as in Queensborough Plaza Station, New York City), because at the University line junction on both sides (West and East) both tracks on the same level went in the same direction.
Chaos ensued as passengers at St. George did not know which platform their next train might end up on, causing people to wait on the stairs. Switching trains also did not significantly lengthen a commute, since at the point of departure one would have to wait anyhow for an interlined train heading to the desired destination.
Today, Lower Bay is best known for its use in movie shoots and special events. The station has been modified several times to make it look like a "common" American subway station, and the TTC owns a pre-built set to disguise it as a New York City Subway station. While open, the setup of staircases between Upper and Lower Bay resembled that of St. George. The stairs to Lower Bay have been walled up, but are still fairly obvious in that they were walled up using green tiles, in contrast to the white tiles of the rest of the station.
The tracks through Lower Bay still exist and are used from time to time to move equipment between lines. The junctions are just north of Museum station northbound and just west of Bloor-Yonge station. A second double-track connection links junctions just east of Spadina (Bloor-Danforth line) and just north (physically west) of St. George on the Yonge-University-Spadina Line.
Other stations
A lesser known station is Lower Queen. In the plan that produced the original section of the Yonge subway, the TTC planned to build a second subway under Queen Street that would have been used not by dedicated rapid-transit trains but instead by regular streetcars in order to speed up their east-west passage through the downtown section. When the federal government refused to provide funding for the subway project, the TTC deferred the Queen subway, and by the time it came to revisit the east-west question, changing traffic patterns made the route under Bloor Street more sensible. The original Yonge subway's Queen station, however, had been built with a roughed-in streetcar station on a lower level, ready for the second line if it should ever be built. Many people unknowingly pass through this second station every day, as the tunnel that goes under the station so that riders can move between northbound and southbound platforms is a portion of this underground station, with most of the excess infrastructure walled off. The access to the lower space is from the passageway between the platforms.
The TTC also planned a similar platform under Osgoode station for the Queen line, but all that was done was the relocation of utility lines to allow for future construction.
In the 1990s, the TTC began digging a platform under the existing Eglinton West for the Eglinton subway project, but it was filled in again when the Government of Ontario cancelled the line in 1995.
That year provincial resources were immediately pulled out of the environment ministry, cutting its budget by nearly half and shifting focus away from urban planning. In addition to cancelling the planned subway line along Eglinton West, extension of the Spadina line to York University was also halted.[10] By 1998, the province completely eliminated subsidies for the Toronto Transit Commission that had amounted to $104 million in 1995.[11]
Track information
Along the lines, storage tracks, a third set of rails longer than the length of a train, that can be used for resting or turning around. They are formally known in the TTC as centre tracks.
These exist at the following locations:
★ East of Islington Station
★ East of Ossington Station
★ West of Chester Station
★ South of Lawrence West Station
★ North of St. Clair West Station
★ West of Union Station
★ South of York Mills Station
Pocket tracks are also a variation of centre tracks, but can only be accessed from one end. The other end ends in a blocker. They can be found at:
★ South of Osgoode Station (accessible from north end only)
★ North of Eglinton Station (accessible from north end only)
★ North of Finch Station (tail tracks)
Double crossovers, allowing for the switching of tracks exist at the following locations:
★ East of Kipling Station ★ East of Islington Station ★ East of Jane Station ★ East of Keele Station ★ East of St. George Station (both lines) ★ West of Woodbine Station ★ East of Victoria Park Station ★ West of Warden Station (geographically south of the station) ★ West of Kennedy Station (on the Bloor-Danforth line) ★ South of Downsview Station ★ South of Wilson Station ★ North of Spadina Station (on the Yonge-University-Spadina line) ★ Sound end of Wilson yard ★ SINGLE CROSSOVER ★ ★ North end of Wilson yard ★ SINGLE CROSSOVER ★ ★ East of Union ★ SINGLE CROSSOVER ★ | ★ North of Bloor Station ★ South of Davisville ★ SINGLE CROSSOVER ★ ★ North of Davisville ★ SINGLE CROSSOVER ★ ★ South of Eglinton Station ★ South of Lawrence Station ★ South of Sheppard Station ★ South of Finch Station ★ West of Yonge Station (on the Sheppard line) ★ SINGLE CROSSOVER ★ ★ East of Yonge Station (on the Sheppard line) ★ West of Bayview Station ★ West of Don Mills Station ★ West of McCowan Station ★ East of McCowan Station (in McCowan yard) ★ North of Driver platform (in Wilson yard) ★ South of Driver platform (in Greenwood yard) |
There is also a single crossover north of Union Station on the Yonge line that allows trains to come into Union from the north, enter what is now the platform designated "Northbound - University line", and turn around, heading back north towards Finch on the proper track. This would have been used when Union was the Yonge terminus until the University line was opened in the 1960s.
Other track "anomalies":
★ The tracks used for interlining in the late 1960s:
★
★ North of Museum Station the tracks split, one heading for Upper-St. George St, the other for the now abandoned Lower-Bay.
★
★
★ The track headed to Lower-Bay joins up with the Bloor-Danforth line just before Yonge Station.
★
★
★ The track headed to Upper-St. George is what is now used for the University line.
★
★ The tracks approaching St. George Station from Spadina split, one heading for Upper, the other for Lower-St. George.
★ Single cross-overs act as entrances to the Vincent Yards, the Wilson Yards, and the Davisville Yards.
★ Between Donlands and Greenwood Stations the track splits in both directions, allowing trains to enter or exit the Greenwood Yards in either direction.
★ A maintenance track, accessible from the eastbound Bloor-Danforth line, just west of Warden Station. Trains must back into this track and leave head-first.
★ Short tail tracks at Don Mills Station. It is the only terminal station not to have train length tail tracks.
★ The tracks used to transfer between the Sheppard and Yonge lines are as follows:
★
★ From Northbound Yonge to Eastbound Sheppard: Simple track split on the Yonge line
★
★
★ This track meets the Sheppard Line East of Sheppard-Yonge Station, so trains must then back into the station.
★
★ From the Westbound Sheppard track to Southbound Yonge: Trains go west, beyond the Sheppard-Yonge Station, the track then splits, one track onto the Eastbound Sheppard, the other to Southbound Yonge.
★ There used to be more crossovers on the Yonge line, but three were removed when the University line was constructed
★
★ The locations of the removed crossovers were: north of King Station, south of College Station (Gerrard Crossover), and south of St. Clair Station.
★
★
★ The cuts in the tunnels for the King and Gerrard Crossovers still exist to this day.
Track gauge
The tracks of Toronto's streetcars and subways (apart from the Scarborough RT) are built to the unique gauge of 1495 mm (4 feet 10⅞ inches), 60 mm (2⅜ inches) wider than the usual standard of 1435 mm (4 feet 8½ inches). One popular anachronistic belief is that "the City of Toronto feared that the Toronto Railway Company, which held the franchise to run streetcars before the TTC was created, would allow Canadian Pacific Railway to operate steam locomotives through city streets". (In fact, this gauge was established in 1861, ten years before Canada's adoption of standard gauge and long before the TRC or TTC or CPR existed.) The more practical reason is that early tracks were used to pull wagons smoothly in the days before paved roads, and that they fit a different gauge. Due to the cost of converting all the tracks and vehicles (and the lack of any real benefit in doing so), the unique gauge has remained to this day.
The practical consequence of the gauge was to make it difficult to ever operate standard gauge equipment on city streets.
Some proposals for the city's subway system involved using streetcars in the tunnels and possibly having some routes run partially in tunnels and partially on city streets, so the same gauge was used. The use of standard-gauge tracks on the Scarborough RT makes it impossible for there to be any track connection between it and the other lines, and so when its ICTS vehicles need anything more than basic service (which can be carried out in the RT's own McCowan Yard), they are carried by truck to the Greenwood subway yards.
Rolling stock
Facilities
Here is a list of subway and RT yards and facilities:
★ Davisville Subway Yard - services the Yonge-University-Spadina and Sheppard lines
★ Greenwood Subway Yard - services the Bloor-Danforth line
★ Wilson Subway Yard - services the Yonge-University-Spadina line
★ McCowan RT Yard - services the Scarborough RT line
★ Keele (Vincent) Yard - inactive
As well there are:
★ 66 elevators and 294 escalators in use in 2005
★ 28 parking lots with capacity for 14,136 cars in 2005
''Source: TTC subway-related properties''
Formerly planned lines
★ Eglinton West subway
★ Queen Street subway
★ Downtown Relief Line
See also
★ Transportation in Toronto
★ List of rapid transit systems
★ Toronto Transit Commission
★ Transit City
★ Toronto buses and trolley buses
★ Toronto streetcar system
★ Lower Queen
★ Signals on the TTC
★ Scarborough RT (TTC)
★ MoveOntario 2020
References
1. Toronto Transit Commission Subway ridership, 2005-2006
2. Baby born on subway platform Amy Brown-Bowers
3. Baby, what a ride! Child born on subway platform Kevin Connor
4. Our lady of the stations: Meet the calm-voiced woman behind the TTC's automated subway announcements Christina Ku
5. A ,5B transit promise Tess Kalinoswski
6. North York Mirror, 20 July 2007, p.1
7. 10 great places to stop for subway art Shawn Sell
8. Art on the TTC
9. Subway Art by Serafin
10. Moloney, 2002
11. Theobald, 2003
★ Transit Toronto Subway Pages
★ Toronto's Lost Subway Stations
★ Thirty Years down the line
★ ''Welcome Aboard - Tomorrow's Transit Today - UTDC 1985''
★ Rapid Transit Expansion Study (RTES)
★ Rapid Transit Expansion Study (RTES) – Follow-Up Report
★ Spadina Subway Extension
External links
★ Official TTC site
★ Official TTC LRT expansion proposals
★ News, history and discussion
★ Rider efficiency guide
★ Miroslav Glavić's TTC Subway Map guide
★ CBC Digital Archives: Going Underground: Toronto's Subway and Montreal's Metro
★ The TTC on Freewebs
★ The TTC's Official Subway Travel Time Chart
★ The New "T35A08" Train
★ The TTC ride guide as searchable Google Map
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