Yonge-University-Spadina Line

This article is part of the Toronto Subway and RT Lines series.
	Yonge-University-Spadina Line
	Bloor-Danforth Line
	Sheppard Line
	Scarborough RT

The Yonge-University-Spadina Line is the oldest subway line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. It has 32 stations, and is about 32 km long. It opened in 1954, and had extensions completed in 1963, 1973, 1974, 1978, and 1996. One station (North York Centre) opened on an existing section of line in 1987.

The line's name has changed as it was extended. It was simply the Yonge subway until 1963, then the Yonge-University Line until 1978. The "Spadina" name is somewhat misleading; only two stations are actually on Spadina Road. But a larger portion of the line is in the median of W.R. Allen Road, which was originally going to be known as the Spadina Expressway. A "Spadina subway" had been in the planning stages before the expressway's planned name was changed, and the line name was never adjusted.

Table of contents

1 History
2 Stations

2.1 Downsview
2.2 Wilson
2.3 Yorkdale
2.4 Lawrence West
2.5 Glencairn
2.6 Eglinton West
2.7 St. Clair West
2.8 Dupont
2.9 Spadina
2.10 St. George
2.11 Museum
2.12 Queen's Park
2.13 St. Patrick
2.14 Osgoode
2.15 St. Andrew
2.16 Union
2.17 King
2.18 Queen
2.19 Dundas
2.20 College
2.21 Wellesley
2.22 Bloor-Yonge
2.23 Rosedale
2.24 Summerhill
2.25 St. Clair
2.26 Davisville
2.27 Eglinton
2.28 Lawrence
2.29 York Mills
2.30 Sheppard-Yonge
2.31 North York Centre
2.32 Finch

3 Notes
4 Exterior Links

History

On March 30, 1954, after five years of work, the first subway in Canada opened to the public. The original Yonge St. subway line went from Union Station north to Eglinton Station. Premier of Ontario Leslie Frost and Mayor of Toronto Allan Lamport, among other important persons, rode the first ride that morning, going north from the yards at Davisville Station, and then from Eglinton, south along the entire line. That day, at 2:30pm, the last streetcar to travel Yonge St. south of Eglinton made its final ride.

Following nine years later was the University line opening, continuing from Union back north to St. George Station.

In 1973, the Yonge line was extended north to York Mills Station, and the next year it was as far north as Finch Station. Five years after that, the Spadina line was opened, going from the north terminus of the University line to Wilson Station.

In 1987, a new station was added south of Finch on the Yonge line, at the North York Centre. In 1996 the Spadina expansion opened, adding one new station, Downsview Station.

This line is scheduled for the next phase of expansion, which will bring the line to York University, 4 km northwest of Downsview station (and perhaps beyond, into the city of Vaughan); preliminary route planning has begun. See the link below.

Stations

The line forms a rough 'U' shape, starting the western leg at the northern terminus of Downsview Station, at Sheppard Avenue and W.R. Allen Road ("the Allen"), a small expressway, travelling in its median for six kilometres. Moving southeast through a creek valley, it travels south under a short stretch of Spadina Road. Sharing the Bloor-Danforth Line's Spadina and St. George stations, it turns south again at Queen's Park, passing the legislature and running the full length of University Avenue beyond. It turns east on Front Street to serve Union Station, Toronto's main rail hub. Its eastern leg runs up Yonge Street for sixteen kilometres, crossing the Bloor-Danforth Line again at Bloor-Yonge, and the Sheppard Line at Sheppard-Yonge, before reaching its northern terminus at Finch station. The line is generally underground, but has surface or elevated sections between Downsview and Eglinton West, and between Bloor and Eglinton. Most of the tunnel was constructed by cut-and-cover, but some was bored, as noted below.

All stations, whether by transfer or fare-paid terminal, connect to surface TTC bus and/or streetcar routes. Other surface and train connections are noted below.

As of early 2004, Downsview, St. George, Queen's Park, Queen, Dundas, Bloor-Yonge, Davisville, Sheppard-Yonge and Finch stations have elevators for wheelchair access.

Downsview

W.R. Allen Road at Sheppard Avenue West, opened 1996.
Nearby landmarks: Downsview Park

The station is underground and east of the Allen Road. The line continues underground for 750 m to cross to the west side of the road, then runs on the surface past Wilson Yard, the TTC's newest subway yard (opened in 1978). At this point the Allen becomes an elevated expressway; the subway (using what were originally the yard access tracks) crosses under its southbound lanes and rises to the road's level.

Wilson

W.R. Allen Road at Wilson Avenue, opened 1978.

Yorkdale

W.R. Allen Road just south of Highway 401, opened 1978.
Nearby landmarks: Yorkdale Shopping Centre
Connections: GO Transit buses

The station's arched glass roof originally featured an artwork by Michael Hayden called Arc en Ciel (French for "rainbow"). This consisted of a large number of variously colored neon lights that would light in a pattern running along the station in the appropriate direction whenever a train went through. After some years this stopped working and was removed.

After Yorkdale station the Allen descends into a shallow open cut below the surrounding ground level, and the subway with it.

St. Clair West

St. Clair Avenue West between Bathurst Street and Tweedsmuir Avenue, opened 1978.
Nearby landmarks: Nordheimer Ravine, Spadina Museum, Casa Loma, Forest Hill, Forest Hill Village

The sports field of St. Michael's College School is directly above the length of the station; a supermarket is built over the south entrance of the station.

The station features the TTC's first underground streetcar loop, serving the 512 St. Clair streetcar.

The line continues under the ravine, then goes into bored tunnel under Russell Hill to reach Spadina Road, where the normal cut-and-cover tunnel resumes.

Dupont

Spadina Road at Dupont Street, opened 1978.
Nearby landmarks: Casa Loma, George Brown College, Toronto Archives

Spadina

Spadina Road at Kendal Avenue (Spadina line platform, opened 1978).
Connects to the Bloor-Danforth Line (1)
Nearby landmarks: Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, The Annex, University of Toronto - northwest side

Spadina station consists of two separate parts, one for each line, at the same level and 400 m apart; the north-south station was originally planned as a separate station called Lowther, but the TTC decided to join them, presumably to save on staffing costs, with a pair of long underground moving walkways, which in 2004 are facing removal to save the cost of refurbishment. An underground streetcar loop for the 510 Spadina streetcar was opened in 1997 at the Bloor end of the station.

South of the station, the tunnel turns off-street and curves eastward through 90°, to run briefly parallel to Bloor Street; the connecting tracks from the Bloor-Danforth subway then rise on each side to meet it.

St. George

Bloor Street West at St. George Street, opened 1963.
Connects to the Bloor-Danforth Line (1)
Nearby landmarks: Bata Shoe Museum, University of Toronto - north side, Royal Conservatory of Music, York Club

On leaving the station, the line curves south by 90° to run under Queen's Park (the street). The two tracks split into separate tunnels in this area, briefly running at different levels to form a grade-separated junction with the second pair of link tracks from the Bloor-Danforth line, which curve in from the east.

Museum

Queen's Park at Charles Street West, opened 1963.
See also note 1.
Nearby landmarks: Royal Ontario Museum, Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, University of Toronto - northeast side and Victoria University

South of the station, the line goes into bored tunnel to run under Queen's Park (the park), passing to one side of provincial legislature itself.

Queen's Park

Queen's Park/University Avenue at College Street, opened 1963.
Nearby landmarks: Queen's Park (Provincial legislature), University of Toronto - south side, Women's College Hospital, Toronto General Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital

The station is in bored tunnel. The line continues south in bored tunnel under University Avenue.

St. Patrick

University Avenue at Dundas Street West, opened 1963.
Nearby landmarks: Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario College of Art and Design, Hospital for Sick Children

The station is likely named for St. Patrick Street, which runs parallel to University Avenue two blocks to the west.

The bored tunnel continues until just before the next station.

Osgoode

University Avenue at Queen Street West, opened 1963.
Nearby landmarks: Osgoode Hall, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto City Hall, Nathan Phillips Square

St. Andrew

University Avenue at King Street West, opened 1963.
Nearby landmarks: St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Roy Thompson Hall, Entertainment District, Toronto Stock Exchange, First Canadian Place (Bank of Montreal), Toronto Dominion Centre

Leaving the station, the line turns 90° east to run under Front Street.

Union

Front Street West between Bay Street and York Street, opened 1954.
Connections: Union Station - main hub of GO Transit; service on VIA Rail, Ontario Northland, and Amtrak.
Nearby landmarks: Union Station (a landmark in itself), Royal York Hotel, Air Canada Centre, Toronto Convention Centre, CN Tower, Royal Bank Plaza, BCE Place, Hockey Hall of Fame

An underground streetcar loop was added to the station in 1990 and is now served by the 509 Harbourfront and 510 Spadina routes. Union's status as a transport hub has placed a lot of strain on its narrow centre platform. A plan is in place to add a new platform for eastbound trains, outside the tracks; the old platform will then only need to serve westbound trains.

Leaving the station, the line turns 90° north to run under Yonge Street.

King

Yonge Street at King Street, opened 1954.
Nearby landmarks: Scotia Plaza, Commerce Court

Queen

Yonge Street at Queen Street West/East, opened 1954.
Nearby landmarks: The Bay, Eaton Centre - south end, Old City Hall courts, Elgin & Winter Garden Theatres, Massey Hall

Early subway expansion plans called for an east-west light rail subway for streetcars under Queen Street, and a lower Queen station for these was roughed in under the subway station. Priorities changed and the line was never built, but many people unknowingly pass through this lower station every day; the tunnels that go under the station so that riders can move between northbound and southbound platforms use portions of this intended station, with most of the excess infrastructure walled off.

Dundas

Yonge Street at Dundas Street West/East, opened 1954.
Nearby landmarks: Dundas Square, Eaton Centre - north end, Ryerson University, Canon Theatre

Dundas is the only station in Toronto where the northbound and southbound platforms are in separate fare-paid areas, owing to the constrained space and difficult geology at this location.

College

Yonge Street at College Street/Carlton Street, opened 1954.
Nearby landmarks: College Park courts, Toronto Police headquarters, Maple Leaf Gardens

North of the station, the tunnel turns off-street, paralleling Yonge Street to the east.

Wellesley

Yonge Street at Wellesley Street West/East, opened 1954.
Nearby landmarks: St. Michael's College, Yonge St. Strip - southerly end, Church and Wellesley gay village

Bloor-Yonge

Yonge Street at Bloor Street West/East, opened 1954.
Connects to the Bloor-Danforth Line
Nearby landmarks: Toronto Reference Library, Yonge St. Strip - northerly end

The station was originally simply named "Bloor", and connected with a pair of enclosed platforms in the center of Bloor Street to allow interchange with Bloor streetcars within the fare-paid zone.

When the Bloor-Danforth subway opened (replacing the streetcars), the station became "Bloor-Yonge" according to maps, but the actual station signs show "Bloor" on the Yonge-University-Spadina line and "Yonge" on the Bloor-Danforth Line, following the style common in New York. The Bloor-Danforth tracks cross under this line.

Bloor is one of the busiest stations in the system, and in 1992 the TTC took advantage of building construction over the station to open it out and widen the platforms. This was actually the first stage of a plan to eventually enable trains to open their doors on both sides: the tracks would next have been slewed outwards within the widened station, and a central platform built between them. The TTC does not currently intend to proceed with this; if they ever do, it will require closing the station for many months.

After leaving the station and crossing under Church Street in tunnel, the line returns to the surface, mostly in open cut, for some 800 m.

Rosedale

Yonge Street at Crescent Road, opened 1954.
Nearby landmarks: Ramsden Park, Rosedale

This open-air station has separate canopies over the two platforms. Originally the line continued north in open cut as far as Price Street, where the tunnel resumed, but a one-block section from Rowanwood Drive to Price was roofed over in 2002.

Summerhill

Yonge Street at Shaftesbury Avenue, near Summerhill Avenue, opened 1954.

The tunnel originally ended at Summerhill Avenue, immediately beyond Summerhill station; the line continued in open cut as far as Pleasant Boulevard, just before the next station. Various sections of this open cut were roofed over as the years passed, and since the early 1980s it has been entirely under cover (except when one block was opened out and re-covered, to allow new construction above it). Passengers who look out into the tunnel on this section can still see the sloping sides of the original cut, the stumps of lampposts, and the undersides of four road bridges.

St. Clair

St. Clair Avenue East at Yonge Street, opened 1954.
Nearby landmarks: David A. Balfour Park (Vale of Avoca ravine), St. Michael's Cemetery, Deer Park, Upper Canada College, Forest Hill

After the station, the tunnel jogs left to cross to the west side of Yonge Street. Then the line runs on the surface for some 1.3 km, initially between Yonge Street and the Davisville Yard, the TTC's original subway yard.

Davisville

Yonge Street at Chaplin Crescent/Davisville Avenue, opened 1954.
Nearby landmarks: Mount Pleasant Cemetery, TTC Main Administrative Office Building

This station, adjacent to Davisville Yard, has a third track with its own platform face, which can be used by trains entering or leaving service at the yard or as an alternate route if one of the running lines is blocked.

It is an open-air station below street level, with separate canopies over each platform; the line continues north in open cut as far as Berwick Avenue, just before the next station.

Eglinton

Yonge Street at Eglinton Avenue West/East, opened 1954.
Nearby landmarks: TVO studios, Eglinton Park, Yonge Eglinton Centre, Canada Square

Parts of the Canada Square complex are built directly over the station.

After the station, the line changes to bored tunnel with cut-and-cover tunnel at stations. It swings to the right to run directly under Yonge Street again.

Lawrence

Yonge Street at Lawrence Avenue West/East, opened 1973. Nearby landmarks: Lawrence Park and the series of parks which run through Chatsworth and Blythwood ravines from Chatsworth Drive/Cheritan Avenue to Bayview Avenue, a distance of about 2.8 km.

York Mills

Yonge Street at Wilson Avenue/York Mills Road, opened 1973.
Nearby landmarks: Hogg's Hollow, York Mills Park

The line passes under the Don River West Branch at this point, with a passage at one end of the station actually extending under the small river. The original plan was for the river to be bridged, with the station above ground, but local residents objected and the underground layout was substituted. Consequently, trains approach the station from both directions on a steep downgrade.

Sheppard-Yonge

Sheppard Avenue East/West at Yonge Street, opened 1974.
Connects to the Sheppard Line

Much like the Bloor-Yonge Station, this station was renamed from "Sheppard" to "Sheppard-Yonge" when the Sheppard Line opened in 2002, but it does not have differing names on the two lines; all signs say "Sheppard-Yonge". The Sheppard Line tracks cross above the Yonge line. Just before the station a pair of connecting tracks split off to each side of the line, one turning right and the other forming a backward "?" shape, to reach the Sheppard Line. These are used if cars or work equipment need to be transferred between the two lines.

After the station, the line continues in cut-and-cover tunnel.

North York Centre

Yonge Street at Park Home Avenue/Empress Avenue, opened 1987.
Nearby landmarks: Mel Lastman Square, Gibson House, Toronto Centre for the Arts, York Cemetery

This station was added by excavating alongside the existing tracks, on a level section of route provided for this purpose when the line was built.

Finch

Yonge Street at Finch Avenue West/East, opened 1974.
Connections: Buses of GO Transit, Brampton Transit, York Region Transit

Notes

(1) Bay and St. George stations each have four parallel tracks, two above two. Between these stations and Museum is a full double-track, grade-separated wye junction. The tracks to/from Museum connect to the upper St. George and lower Bay stations, while the tracks along Bloor use lower St. George and upper Bay. From February to September 1966 all three sides of the wye were used in regular service: from each of three terminals - Eglinton, Keele, and Woodbine - trains ran alternately to the other two (between Eglinton and Museum they went via Union). Thereafter the Bloor-Danforth Line became a separate route, lower Bay was closed, and upper St. George became a terminus until the line to Wilson was opened. Lower Bay is sometimes used as a movie or TV set representing various other cities, and has been used for platform-surface experiments; see its article for more.

Exterior Links

Spadina line extension