522 Exhibition West was a
streetcar route in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, operated by the
Toronto Transit Commission
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and larges ...
from the 1960s to 1986.
[
]
History
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), and the private streetcar companies that preceded it, ran special streetcar service to the CNE from the 19th Century.
[
The TTC ran a seasonal streetcar service named the 522 Dundas Exhibition, to serve the ]Canadian National Exhibition
The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day ...
. In 1980, this route was officially renamed "Exhibition West," from the former name "Dundas Exhibition." This streetcar route operated on special occasions and events that took place at Exhibition Place, such as the Canadian National Exhibition, and the Molson Indy.
522 operated from Dundas West station
Dundas West is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located just north of Bloor Street West at the corner of Dundas Street and Edna Avenue. The station is about 200 metres west of B ...
, running south on Roncesvalles, east on King Street, south on Dufferin Street
Dufferin Street is a major north–south street in Toronto, Vaughan and King, Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, two concessions (4 km) west of Yonge Street. The street starts at Exhibition Place, continues north to Toronto's northe ...
, and south towards the Dufferin Gates at Exhibition Place
Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments ...
.
The 522 route began service when the TTC opened the Bloor–Danforth subway line in 1966. The TTC discontinued the route in 1986 and replaced it with the 93 Exhibition West route, but reinstated it for one year in 1995, due to the large number of buses required to shuttle passengers on the Spadina line, because of the Russell Hill accident on August 11, 1995.[
A similar event-only route, the 521 King Exhibition (now known as the 521 Exhibition East) also only served the CNE during special events.
]
Resurrection
Unlike the counterpart of this route ( 521 Exhibition East), 522 was reinstated in 1988, not as a streetcar route, but as 93 Exhibition West, which was also a seasonal service that ran only during the CNE and other special occasions. The 93 was later renamed the 193 Exhibition Rocket on November 23, 2002 as a TTC marketing strategy to brand regular-fare express services as "Rocket" routes.
The 193 buses operated from Dundas West Station, southeast on Dundas Street West, south on Dufferin Street to Springhurst Avenue at Dufferin gate loop
Dufferin Gate Loop, also known as Dufferin Loop, is a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) bus station and turning loop for streetcars near the southern end of Dufferin Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. During the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) ...
. This route operated as a seasonal express service.Dufferin station
Dufferin is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at Dufferin Street just north of Bloor Street West. It opened in 1966 as part of the original segment of the subway line. Wi- ...
on Line 2 Bloor-Danforth, then heads north to Wilson station, however the 929 is not a non-stop service.
See also
*Toronto streetcar system
The Toronto streetcar system is a network of nine streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is the busiest light-rail system in North America. The network is concentrated primarily in D ...
*List of Toronto Transit Commission bus routes
This article lists all bus routes, along with their branches, on the Toronto Transit Commission bus system. The list is current .
Route types
The Toronto Transit Commission operates five types of bus routes:
* Regular service routes have at l ...
* 504 King
504 King (304 King during overnight periods) is an east–west Toronto streetcar route in Ontario, Canada. It serves King Street in Downtown Toronto as well as Broadview Avenue on the east end and Roncesvalles Avenue on the west end of the line ...
- current routes which travel along sections of tracks used by 522
References
{{TTC
Streetcar routes in Toronto
4 ft 10⅞ in gauge railways