Toronto Subway and RT
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| Toronto Subway/RT | |
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Yonge-University-Spadina |
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Bloor-Danforth |
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Scarborough RT |
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Sheppard |
The Toronto Transit Commission operates the subway/RT system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. These services are considered the primary, isolated rapid transit system; the streetcars and buses are the secondary, 'surface' routes.
The TTC uses the term 'rapid transit' internally to describe all four lines, but in general public usage it is normally applied only to the Scarborough RT line, which is mostly elevated, while the other three are referred to as 'subways'.
| Contents |
Overview
This system includes three conventional subway lines and one intermediate-capacity elevated line:
| Line | Route | Opening | Distance | Stations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yonge-University-Spadina | Downsview - Union - Finch | 1954 | 30.2 km | 32 |
| Bloor-Danforth | Kipling - Kennedy | 1966 | 26.2 km | 31 |
| Scarborough RT | Kennedy - McCowan | 1985 | 6.4 km | 6 |
| Sheppard | Sheppard-Yonge - Don Mills | 2002 | 5.5 km | 5 |
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 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.
For a complete list of stations and their locations, plus information on accessibility, nearby landmarks, and other service information, go to the article of one of the lines linked above. A map of the lines and their stations appears below.
TorontoSubway-real.png
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 most run the entire length of their line from terminus to terminus.
Subway facts
The very existence of the Danforth line, opened in 1966, is thanks to a decision made nearly fifty years earlier. When the Bloor Street 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.
Like most metros, the Toronto subway/RT trains collect their electric power from a third rail mounted beside the tracks. 'Paddles' mounted on the bogeys are located on both sides of each coach for the required contact. The power is supplied at 600 V DC.
Scarborough RT trains cannot switch directions except at the ends of the line. There are no turnback switches between the two termini, meaning that trains can only be switched to the opposite track there.
In August 1995, the TTC suffered its worst subway accident in what the TTC refers to as the Russell Hill accident on the Yonge-University-Spadina line. Three women died and 100 people were injured, a few seriously. This led to a major shake-up at the TTC.
GO Transit's commuter trains stop at or near the Kipling, Dundas West (GO's Bloor station), Main Street (GO's Danforth station), and Leslie (GO's Oriole station) 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's 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.
Track information
For the most part, the subway system is composed of two parallel three-rail tracks. At most stations, particularly the older ones, the rails enter two separate bays in each station, one for Eastbound, one for Westbound (or North/Southbound). The newer stations (with some exceptions), use a single platform between the tracks. Along the lines, there are also storage tracks, a third set of rails, longer than the length of a train, which can be used for resting trains, or turning around. These exist at the following locations:
- East of Islington Station
- East of Ossington Station
- East of Broadview Station
- South of Lawrence West Station
- North of St. Clair West Station
- South of Osgoode Station (Accessible from north end only)
- North of Union Station (on the University Line)
- South of York Mills Station
- North of Finch Station
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 (on Bloor-Danforth and Yonge-University-Spadina Lines)
- West of Woodbine Station
- East of Victoria Park Station
- East of Warden Station (geographically south of the Station)
- East 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)
- North of Bloor Station
- South of Eglinton Station
- South of Lawrence Station
- South of Sheppard Station
- South of Finch Station
- East of Yonge Station (on the Sheppard Line)
- East of Bayview Station
- West of Don Mills Station
There is also a single crossover north of Union Station (on the Yonge Line), allowing 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 end-of-the-line until the University Line was opened in the 1960s.
Other track "anomalies" that exist are:
- 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 approching St. George Station from Spadina split, one heading for Upper, the other for Lower-St. George.
- North of Museum Station the tracks split, one heading for Upper-St. George St, the other for the now abandoned Lower-Bay.
- Single cross-overs, acting as entrances to the Vincent Yards, the Wilson Yards, and the Downsview 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 Wilson Station. Trains must back into this track, and leave head first.
- 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.
- From Northbound Yonge to Eastbound Sheppard: Simple track split on the Yonge Line
Track gauge
The tracks of Toronto's streetcars and subways (apart from the Scarborough RT) are built to the unique gauge of 1.495 m (4 feet 10 7/8 inches), slightly wider than the usual standard of 1.435 m (4 feet 8 1/2 inches). There are arguments over the reason why this is. One popular 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. 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.
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, though the idea was ultimately dropped in favour of dedicated rapid-transit trains. 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.
Closed stations
The TTC has one closed subway station: the lower level of Bay subway station. This subway station was briefly used in 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. It is said that chaos ensued as passengers at Bay didn't know which platform their next train might end up on, causing people to wait on the stairs. Switching trains also didn't add that much more time to a commute, since at your original stop you would have to wait for a train that took you to where you wanted to go, anyway. Much infrastructure for interlining is still present on the system. Most older stations still have signs informing passengers of the subway's next 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 subway station.
The tracks through Lower Bay are still in existence and are used from time to time to move equipment between the 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, which would be 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 make more sense. 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 TTC also planned but did not construct a Lower Osgoode station for the Queen line.
In the 1990s, the TTC began digging Allen Station under Eglinton West for the Eglinton subway project, but it was filled in again when the government of Ontario cancelled that line.
Vehicles
Here is a list of rapid transit vehicles used by the TTC since 1954:
Subway trains
- Gloucester Railway Wagon and Carriage Company G-class (G1, G2, G3 G4) - retired
- Montreal Locomotive Works M-class (M1) - retired
- Hawker-Siddeley Canada RT75 (H1, H2, H3 (a modified H2 with chopper control), H4)
- Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC) RT75 (H5 and H6)
- Bombardier RT75 (T1)
Scarborough RT trains
- UTDC RT-ICTS (CCR)
Work vehicles
- RT-4 Platform Maintenance Car (converted Peter Witt streetcar)
- RT-5 The Tunnel grout car
- Nippon Sharyo RT-10 - nicknamed 'Tokyo Rose'
- Nippon Sharyo RT-12 battery-electric locomotive
- Nippon Sharyo RT-11 flat trailer
- Nippon Sharyo RT-13 crane
- RT-14 and RT-15 Subway Rail Grinders - ex PCC streetcars (retired)
- RT-14 and RT-15 Mark II - The Subway Wall Washers - ex-G class subway cars
- AVRA RT-14 and RT-15 Mark III Snow Clearing Equipment
- RT-16 Mark II Subway Wall Washer Car
- AVRA RT-17 Mark III Subway Wall Washer Car
- Anbel Corporation RT-18 Diesel Hydraulic Locomotive
- Niigata RT-20 crane/flat car
- Nippon Sharyo RT-22 non-motored flat car
- RT-38 and RT-39 Garbage cars - ex-Gloucester and H1 subway cars
- Plasser American RT-41 Tamper
Facilities
Here is a list of subway and RT yards and facilities:
- Davisville Subway Yard - services the Yonge and Sheppard lines
- Greenwood Subway Yard - services the Bloor-Danforth line
- Wilson Subway Yard - services the Spadina and University lines
- McCowan RT Yard - services the Scarborough RT line
- Keele (Vincent) Yard - inactive
Source: TTC Subway Related Properties (http://transit.toronto.on.ca/subway/5300.shtml)
Formerly-planned lines
See also
References
- Transit Toronto Subway and RT (http://transit.toronto.on.ca/subway/index.shtml)
- Transit Toronto Lost Subway Stations (http://transit.toronto.on.ca/subway/5006.shtml)
- Thirty Years down the line Toronto Star March 1984, M1 and M9
- Welcome Aboard - Tomorrow's Transit Today - UTDC 1985
- TTC Rider - Maps for the quickest route on the system (http://www.ttcrider.ca)
External links
- Official TTC site (http://www.ttc.ca/)
- News, history and discussion (http://transit.toronto.on.ca/)
- CBC Radio and TV archives about the Montreal Metro and Toronto Subway (http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-75-1099/science_technology/subways_history/)
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