| Bloor-Danforth Line | |
|---|---|
 An outside view of Old Mill station, which also extends underground (to the left). |
|
| Info | |
| Type | Rapid transit |
| System | Toronto subway and RT |
| Locale | Toronto, Ontario |
| Termini | Kipling Kennedy |
| Stations | 31 |
| Daily ridership | 484,000 (avg. weekday)[1] |
| Operation | |
| Opened | February 25, 1966 |
| Owner | Toronto Transit Commission |
| Operator(s) | Toronto Transit Commission |
| Rolling stock | T1, H4, H5, H6 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 26.2 km (16.3 mi) |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 107⁄8 in (1,495 mm) |
| Electrification | Third rail |
The Bloor-Danforth Line (officially Route 2 Bloor-Danforth Subway[2]) is the main east-west subway line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. It has 31 stations and is 26.2 kilometres (16.3 mi) in length. It opened on February 25, 1966, and extensions at both ends were completed in 1968 and again in 1980. It is also numbered as Route 2 (formerly route 601[3]), but its route number is used primarily for internal purposes and is rarely shown on public maps or signs.
The 300 Bloor-Danforth bus provides late night service when the subway is not in operation. This service operates frequently along Bloor and Danforth between East/West Mall and Warden. Some trips extend to Pearson Airport, providing late night service in the place of the 192 Airport Rocket. Service is provided east of Warden and Danforth via the 302 Danforth Rd-McCowan bus. On Sundays, these routes operate through the early morning hours, because the subway starts at 9:00 a.m. instead of the usual 6:00 a.m.
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History
There was much debate in the 1950s over where the second Toronto subway line would run. There were many advocates for it to run under Queen Street West and Queen Street East, while others supported Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue. Due to the large amount of growth in that area, and the prophetically available rail deck under the Prince Edward Viaduct, the second option was constructed.
Before the subway was built, the TTC operated streetcars from Jane Street in the west to Luttrell Avenue (west of Victoria Park Avenue) in the east, using paired PCC streetcars or multiple units (MUs) from 1950 to the subway line opening in 1966.
The original Bloor-Danforth line was opened in 1966, running alongside Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue from Keele station in the west to Woodbine station in the east. Construction was already in progress to extend the Bloor-Danforth line in both directions, and these extensions opened simultaneously on May 11, 1968, to Islington Station in the west and Warden Station in the east.[4] Until its abolition in 1973, the five stations from Old Mill and Victoria Park outward then formed an anomaly in the TTC's zone fare system, being treated as part of the central Zone 1.
In 1980, the line was extended once again, this time to the current termini of Kipling station in the west end and Kennedy station in the east.
The automated audible announcements for the Bloor-Danforth Line were installed in January 2008. However, while the automated announcements on TTC buses and streetcars are both audible and visible, it is not until the new subway trains that enter service will provide audible and visible automated stop announcements in 2010.
The TTC estimates that automatic train control on the Bloor-Danforth Line could be installed by 2020.[citation needed]
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.
The line has its western terminus near Kipling Avenue and Bloor Street West. Going east for twelve kilometres along Bloor, it meets the Yonge-University-Spadina line at Spadina, St. George, and Yonge stations. Two kilometres further on Bloor East, crossing the Prince Edward Viaduct, it continues just north of Danforth Avenue for six more kilometres before turning northeast for the final five kilometres, ending at Kennedy station (near Kennedy Road and Eglinton Avenue), which is also the southern terminus of the Scarborough RT.
Most of the line is underground, with exceptions noted below; most of the tunnel is cut-and-cover, but some is bored. The line generally does not run under Bloor Street or Danforth Avenue themselves, but is offset to the north: in some areas it runs under parks and parking lots behind the businesses on the north side of the street, while other sections run under side streets. All stations except Chester connect to surface TTC bus and/or streetcar routes either by transfer or fare-paid terminal. Other surface and train connections are noted below.
Sections of the line that are not underground are the track between Kipling station and just west of Islington station, a short section between Islington station and Royal York station crossing a bridge over Mimico Creek, from Old Mill station to west of Jane station (this is an interesting case, as the portal at Old Mill station is located at roughly the middle of the platform: the western half of the station is underground, while the eastern half is on the Humber River viaduct), east of Runnymede station to west of High Park station, east of Keele station to west of Dundas West station, east of Sherbourne station to west of Castle Frank station (although the bridge is covered, and so appears to be a tunnel from the inside, merely with an unusual shape), east of Castle Frank station to west of Broadview station (spanning the Don Valley on the Prince Edward Viaduct), and east of Main Street station to east of Warden station (Both Victoria Park and Warden stations are above ground, although they are enclosed).
Designs
Most of the stations have similar designs, which are mainly utilitarian. This design consisted of two colours for the tiles: one colour for the main wall tiles and another colour for the trim tiles near the ceiling of the stations. They follow a regular pattern with few exceptions. The exceptions included the old termini of Islington and Warden stations, which both have a tricolour design, as well as the current (since 1980) termini of Kipling and Kennedy stations, which were similar in design to Union station.
Extension/expansion potential
Although there are currently[when?] no plans to extend this subway in either direction, various plans have been considered in the past.
Mississauga City Centre - Kipling
The TTC's Rapid Transit Expansion Study (RTES) identified the extension of this line as a low priority. Currently,[when?] this has been replaced by a planned Dundas LRT run by Mississauga Transit going from Kipling to Hurontario Street, linking to the planned Hurontario LRT as part of the MoveOntario 2020 transit plan.
Stations
As per Exhibits ES-14 and ES-15 in the RTES, possible extensions beyond the current western terminus included:
- East Mall
- Sherway Gardens (or West Mall)
- Dixie GO Station (in Mississauga)
- Cawthra (in Mississauga)
- Cooksville GO Station (in Mississauga)
- Mississauga City Centre
Scarborough RT alternative
In October 2005, a number of Toronto politicians began a campaign to expand the line northeastward as an alternative for the Scarborough RT, which is heavily used and under constant repair, and to study the viability of this alternative. As of August 2006, this campaign was ended, when Scarborough councillors agreed to support plans to refurbish the existing RT and pursue other RT and LRT options for Scarborough. At this point an independent Scarborough subway, connecting the civic centre with downtown Toronto, has yet to be examined. [5]
Stations
Possible stations integrated from the Scarborough RT include:
- Lawrence East
- Ellesmere-Midland (at the intersection, rather than two separate stations (the two existing stations that would be replaced are among the least busiest in Toronto))
- Scarborough Town Centre
- Markham (Sheppard Avenue East/Markham Road)
See also
References
- ^ Toronto Transit Commission - Subway ridership, 2007-2008
- ^ http://www3.ttc.ca/Subway/index.jsp
- ^ Toronto Transit Commission, Scheduled Service Summary, Board Period Commencing Sunday, July 21, 1991
- ^ "The Abandoned Streetcar Shuttle Connection Passages" (HTML). Transit Toronto. 2006-11-10. http://transit.toronto.on.ca/subway/5118.shtml. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
- ^ Kevin McGran (2006-08-28). "Scarborough's dream of new subway ends". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1156716608607&call_pageid=968350130169&col=969483202845. Retrieved 2006-08-29.
External links
- TTC web site
- TTC's 2007 Transit City LRT proposal
- TTC news, history and discussion
- Stand Up Scarborough - volunteer group petitioning for the subway expansion
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