Line 2 Bloor–Danforth
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Line 2 Bloor–Danforth is a subway line in the
Toronto subway The Toronto subway is a rapid transit system serving Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is a multimodal transport, multimodal rail network consisting of three Pa ...
system, 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 largest ...
(TTC). It has 31 stations and is in length. It opened on February 26, 1966, and extensions at both ends were completed in 1968 and again in 1980. The line runs primarily a few metres north of
Bloor Street Bloor Street is a major east–west residential and commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct, which spans the Don River Valley, westward into Mississauga where it ends at Central Parkw ...
from its western terminus at
Kipling Avenue Kipling Avenue is a street in the cities of Toronto and Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, 6 concessions (12 km) west from Yonge Street, and is a major north–south arterial road. It consists of three separate sec ...
with a direct connection to the Kipling GO Station to the
Prince Edward Viaduct The Prince Edward Viaduct System, commonly referred to as the Bloor Viaduct, is the name of a truss arch bridge system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, connecting Bloor Street East, on the west side of the system, with Danforth Avenue on the east. The ...
east of Castle Frank Road, after which the street continues as
Danforth Avenue Danforth Avenue (informally also known as the Danforth) and Danforth Road are two historically-related arterial streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Danforth ''Avenue'' is an east-west street that begins in Old Toronto at the Prince Edward ...
and the line continues running a few metres north of Danforth Avenue until just east of Main Street, where it bends northeasterly and runs above-grade until just east of Warden station, where it continues underground to its eastern terminus, slightly east of Kennedy Road on
Eglinton Avenue Eglinton Avenue is a major east–west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga in the Canadian province of Ontario. The street begins at Highway 407 (but does not interchange with the tollway) at the western limits of Mississauga, as a ...
, which has a direct connection to the Kennedy GO Station. The subway line is closed nightly for maintenance, during which
Blue Night Network The Blue Night Network is the overnight public transit service operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The network consists of a basic grid of 27 bus and 4 streetcar routes, distributed so that almost all o ...
bus routes provide service along the route. The most travelled part of the line is located 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 ancho ...
's midtown area known as Yorkville. In this area, the subway connects to
Line 1 Yonge–University Line 1 Yonge–University is a rapid transit line on the Toronto subway. It serves Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It is operated by the Toronto Transit Commission, has 38 stations and is in length, making it th ...
at , and Yonge stations. Towards the east, where the line runs parallel to
Danforth Avenue Danforth Avenue (informally also known as the Danforth) and Danforth Road are two historically-related arterial streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Danforth ''Avenue'' is an east-west street that begins in Old Toronto at the Prince Edward ...
, it serves areas such as
Greektown Greektown is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Greeks or people of Greek ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. History The oldest Greek dominated neighborhood outside of Greece were probably the Fener in Ista ...
(also known as "the Danforth") and the
East Danforth East Danforth, also known as Danforth Village, is a neighbourhood in the east end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the eastern part of Danforth Avenue in the old city of Toronto. It stretches from the eastern edge of Greektown, Toronto ...
neighbourhood. It then runs through a very short stretch of
East York East York is a former administrative district and municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a semi-autonomous borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toron ...
to its eastern terminus in
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
, where it connects to
Line 3 Scarborough Line 3 Scarborough (originally known as the Scarborough RT or SRT) is a light rapid transit line that is part of the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The line runs entirely within the suburban district of Scarborough, encompas ...
. To the west of Yorkville, the line continues along Bloor Street serving many communities such as
the Annex The Annex is a neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The traditional boundaries of the neighbourhood are north to Dupont Street, south to Bloor Street, west to Bathurst Street and east to Avenue Road. The City of Toronto recognizes ...
,
Koreatown A Koreatown (Korean: 코리아타운), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have ...
,
Bloorcourt Village Bloorcourt Village is a Business Improvement Area in Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada along Bloor Street east of Dufferin Street. It is located on the southern edge of the Dovercourt Park neighbourhood. This is west of downtown, and located within ...
,
Bloordale Village Bloordale Village is a Business Improvement Area (BIA) located along Bloor Street from Dufferin Street to Lansdowne Avenue, west of downtown in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It sits on the southern border of the Wallace Emerson neighbourhood and th ...
,
Junction Triangle Junction Triangle is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the city's west end, just west of Lansdowne Avenue. The area is a triangle surrounded on all three sides by railway lines: the CNR/CPR mainline to the west, Metroli ...
,
Bloor West Village Bloor West Village is a family-friendly residential neighbourhood and vibrant shopping district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Bordered on the south by Bloor Street, it encompasses all businesses along Bloor Street between South Kingsway and Ellis P ...
, a very short stretch in
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, and the Kingsway and Islington–Etobicoke City Centre areas in
Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...
, where it terminates at
Kipling Avenue Kipling Avenue is a street in the cities of Toronto and Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, 6 concessions (12 km) west from Yonge Street, and is a major north–south arterial road. It consists of three separate sec ...
in Six Points. Construction of an extension to
Sheppard Avenue Sheppard Avenue is an east–west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street has two distinct branches near its eastern end, with the original route being a collector road leading to Pickering via a turnoff, and the main ro ...
and
McCowan Road McCowan can refer to the following: * McCowan Baronets, British baronetcy *Millar McCowan, Scottish confectionery company *McCowan (surname) *McCowan Road, a major thoroughfare in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ** A local name for York Regi ...
to replace Line 3 Scarborough began on June 23, 2021.


Name

When the Bloor–Danforth line, the second subway line in the city, opened in 1966, it necessitated renaming the first subway line to the Yonge line. Unofficially, the subway lines were already numbered, but in October 2013, the TTC announced plans to give the lines an official number to help riders and visitors to navigate the system. The new signage reflecting this change began being installed in March 2014, with and being the first two stations updated. The subway was formerly internally known as route 601. Since the mid-2010s, it is publicly referred to as "Line 2 Bloor–Danforth".


History


Pre-subway era

The earliest mention of rapid transit along the Bloor–Danforth line's route was made in a 1910 report that was prepared by an American firm of transit consultants. This study had been commissioned by a special commission, which included City Controller
Horatio Clarence Hocken Horatio Clarence Hocken (October 12, 1857 – February 18, 1937) was a Canadian politician, Mayor of Toronto, social reformer, a founder of what became the ''Toronto Star'' and Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge of British America from ...
and Mayor of Toronto Joseph Oliver. In their final report, the consultants suggested that the
Prince Edward Viaduct The Prince Edward Viaduct System, commonly referred to as the Bloor Viaduct, is the name of a truss arch bridge system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, connecting Bloor Street East, on the west side of the system, with Danforth Avenue on the east. The ...
, which spans the Don River Valley, should include a lower deck for a future subway. The lower deck was built, but the first plan for a line to use it was not made until June 15, 1933, when the TTC published a report which suggested construction of a subway and an expressway broadly following
Bloor Street Bloor Street is a major east–west residential and commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct, which spans the Don River Valley, westward into Mississauga where it ends at Central Parkw ...
and
Danforth Avenue Danforth Avenue (informally also known as the Danforth) and Danforth Road are two historically-related arterial streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Danforth ''Avenue'' is an east-west street that begins in Old Toronto at the Prince Edward ...
. The estimated cost of the project was , but the plan was not implemented. Plans for a somewhat longer route, running east to west from Victoria Park Avenue to the Humber River, were proposed by the Toronto Planning Board in December 1943, although the report did not include costings. During the fall of 1911, the City of Toronto put out a tender for the construction of concrete tubes to carry a subway. However, when the cost of the subway was put to a referendum, the construction of the subway tunnels was rejected. Before the subway was built, the
Bloor streetcar line The Toronto Transit Commission operated the Bloor streetcar line along Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue, extending at its longest from Jane Street (Jane Loop) in the west end of the city to Luttrell Avenue (Luttrell Loop) in the east. Both Luttre ...
operated along the route between Jane Street and Luttrell Avenue (located near
Shoppers World Danforth Shoppers World Danforth is a hybrid shopping plaza and shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has 40 stores serving parts of East York, Scarborough and The Beaches, near the Victoria Park subway station. Today a moderately sized suburban ...
). Paired
PCC streetcars The PCC (Presidents' Conference Committee) is a streetcar (tram) design that was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II it was licensed for use elsewhere in the ...
or multiple units (MUs) operated from 1950 to the opening of the subway line in 1966. The TTC favoured this route because the Prince Edward Viaduct made it easier to build a subway across the Don Valley, and the streetcar that ran along the route was filled with passengers travelling from
East York East York is a former administrative district and municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a semi-autonomous borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toron ...
and
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
. To provide relief to this streetcar line and to ease expansion into the suburbs, the line was built a few metres north of both Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue.


Subway construction

During the period after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, rapid development created a need for more public transit. A referendum on whether a subway should be constructed along
Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...
was held on January 1, 1946, and this proposal received majority support. The opening of the
Yonge subway Yonge is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Charles Duke Yonge (1812–1891), English historian and translator of Philo of Alexandria * Charles Maurice Yonge (1899–1986), British marine biologist * Charlotte Mary Yonge (1823†...
in 1954 resulted in another plan by the TTC for a Bloor–Danforth line, this time without an expressway, costing $146million. The line was approved, but was not built. In the 1950s, there was intense debate over where the second Toronto subway line would run as it would affect how bus routes in Toronto's suburbs would operate. There were two main plans. While both shared the same route at the outer ends, the TTC favoured a route that continued eastwards from
Christie station Christie is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the east side of Christie Street just north of Bloor Street West, and opened in 1966 as part of the original segment of the ...
to
Pape station Pape is a subway station on the Bloor–Danforth line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The station opened in 1966 and is located in Toronto's Greektown neighbourhood at the northeast corner of Pape Avenue and Lipton Avenue, just north of Danforth Av ...
. This plan was championed by the TTC chairman,
Allan Lamport Allan Austin Lamport, (April 4, 1903 – November 18, 1999) was mayor of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from 1951 to 1954. Known as "Lampy", his most notable achievement was his opposition to Toronto's Blue laws which banned virtually any activ ...
, and also included an extension of the Yonge line from Union station northwards to meet the new line at
St. George station St. George is a station on Line 1 Yonge–University and Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway. It is located north of Bloor Street West between St. George Street and Bedford Road. It is the second-busiest station in the system after Bl ...
. The other plan, which was proposed by the city's planning department and endorsed by the Metro Toronto chairman,
Fred Gardiner Frederick Goldwin Gardiner, (January 21, 1895 – August 21, 1983) was a Canadian politician, lawyer and businessman. He was the first chairman of Metropolitan Toronto council, the governing body for the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, ...
, had a large "U"-shaped diversion in the centre. From Christie, it ran south to
Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original east ...
, and after following Queen Street eastwards to Pape Avenue, turned north to rejoin the east–west route at Pape station. The eastern routing is similar to the Relief Line subway proposal of the 2010s and its successor, the
Ontario Line The Ontario Line is an under-construction rapid transit line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its northern terminus will be at Eglinton Avenue and Don Mills Road, at Science Centre station, where it will connect with Line 5 Eglinton. Its southern ...
. In 1956, Toronto's midtown area was starting to experience growth. There was a public debate about the two schemes between the two chairmen and the municipalities that made up Metropolitan Toronto. The extension of the Yonge line along University Avenue, and the east–west Bloor–Danforth line extension were authorized on September 5, 1958 by the Ontario Municipal Board which sought a compromise between the involved communities. The financing of the project was controversial. For the first time, financing was to be split between the TTC and Metro Toronto, incurring a property tax increase. This was opposed by Etobicoke, Long Branch, Mimico, New Toronto and Scarborough, who wanted the project to be funded solely by the TTC. The battle to stop the project went to the
Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
. The University line opened in 1963, and the Bloor–Danforth line opened from
Keele station Keele 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 on the east side of Keele Street. The station opened in 1966, and was the western terminus of th ...
in the west to
Woodbine station Woodbine is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The station is at the southeast corner of Woodbine Avenue and Strathmore Boulevard, just north of Danforth Avenue. Description The main entrance, collector, an ...
in the east on February 26, 1966. Nine men died during its construction. Most of the line was built underground using the
cut-and-cover A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube constr ...
method, with some sections built using a tunnel boring machine. Other parts of the line were built above ground in grade separated rail corridors. The line was long, and ran about north of Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue. The cost of the initial section was $200million ($billion in dollars). Once the line started full operation, construction of extensions to the Bloor–Danforth line began. The extensions to Islington station in the west and
Warden station Warden is a station on the Bloor–Danforth line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the southeast corner of St. Clair Avenue East and Warden Avenue. The station is located perpendicular to St. Clair Avenue, and is the only Line 2 st ...
in the east opened simultaneously on May 11, 1968. These were completed at a cost of $77million ($million in dollars). On November 21, 1980, the line was extended to the current terminal stations of
Kipling station Kipling is the western terminus station of Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway system. The station is served by buses and subway trains operated by the Toronto Transit Commission and is adjacent to the Kipling GO Station on the Milton ...
in the west and
Kennedy station Kennedy is both a terminal and interchange station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth and Line 3 Scarborough of the Toronto subway system. Opened in 1980, it is located east of the Kennedy Road and Eglinton Avenue intersection. With the adjacent Ken ...
in the east at a further cost of $110million ($million in dollars).


Subway operations

Upon opening, the Bloor–Danforth line was well received: a survey taken four months later showed that the subway was used by 10,000 riders per hour. As a result, many bus and streetcar routes were either discontinued or shortened. Various bus and streetcar routes that connected to the subway stations allowed the line to continue to grow and become more sustainable. The line carries an average of 503,060 passengers on weekdays during the 2015 operating year. For the first six months of operation, the subway was operated as a single system, with trains from Eglinton station running through to either Keele or Woodbine station, while other trains connected the latter two points. However, the manoeuvre made operation of both lines more difficult, and the practice was abandoned after the initial trial period, leaving Lower Bay station
abandoned Abandon, abandoned, or abandonment may refer to: Common uses * Abandonment (emotional), a subjective emotional state in which people feel undesired, left behind, insecure, or discarded * Abandonment (legal), a legal term regarding property ** Chi ...
. In 1971, Metro Council insisted that the zone fare system be removed to allow residents of the suburbs to travel anywhere with a single fare. Prior to this, stations west of and east of were geographically part of Zone 2 for fare purposes, but the subway used a flat fare system, so they were treated as being part of zone 1. This created problems when transferring from the subway to the buses, which were in different zones at the same location. The solution was a change in political thinking, where the subway was seen as a subsidized public service, instead of a utility that needed to balance its books. On October 15, 1976, an arsonist lit a fire on a subway train at
Christie station Christie is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the east side of Christie Street just north of Bloor Street West, and opened in 1966 as part of the original segment of the ...
. The fire destroyed four subway cars and some wall tiles, and resulted in a section of the subway being closed for a few days. As a result, the middle section of Christie station has different-coloured trim tiles. On September 19, 2007, the station modernization program was started. This program would result in making the subway system more
accessible Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...
, add new bus and streetcar platforms, and improve the connections to regional buses and
GO trains GO Transit is a regional public transport, public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station (Toronto), Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white GO Transit rail ser ...
.


Stations

Kipling station, the western terminus of Line 2 Bloor–Danforth, is located near
Kipling Avenue Kipling Avenue is a street in the cities of Toronto and Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, 6 concessions (12 km) west from Yonge Street, and is a major north–south arterial road. It consists of three separate sec ...
and Dundas Street West. After going east for , it meets the University segment of Line 1 at both and St. George stations. It also meets the Yonge Street line at Yonge station. The route's eastern terminus is located at Kennedy station, which is also the southern terminus of
Line 3 Scarborough Line 3 Scarborough (originally known as the Scarborough RT or SRT) is a light rapid transit line that is part of the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The line runs entirely within the suburban district of Scarborough, encompas ...
. The line does not run under Bloor Street or Danforth Avenue, except at the
Prince Edward Viaduct The Prince Edward Viaduct System, commonly referred to as the Bloor Viaduct, is the name of a truss arch bridge system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, connecting Bloor Street East, on the west side of the system, with Danforth Avenue on the east. The ...
; otherwise, it 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. Most stations on the Bloor–Danforth line have side platforms. At the surface, some stations are designed to be a part of a shopping area, which are located above the subway. Other stations are large facilities on the surface that also contain bus and/or streetcar platforms to allow transfers to take place.


Designs

The pre-1980 subway stations of the Bloor–Danforth line follow a two-colour background and trim theme and use the unique Toronto Subway typeface on the stations' walls. The tiling theme was influenced by
SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...
's
Broad Street Subway The Broad Street Line (BSL), also known as the Broad Street subway (BSS), Orange Line, or Broad Line, is a subway line owned by the city of Philadelphia and operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). The line r ...
in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and used a cycle that was similar to the design employed on the Yonge subway. This design consists of two colours for the tiles, one for main wall tiles and another for trim tiles near the ceiling of the stations. The station names on the main wall tiles use the colour of the trim tiles and vice versa, except that some of the station names of the trim tiles are white instead of the main wall tile colour for readability. This pattern is based on a design similar to the stations along the University line, which follow a regular pattern with some small variances, which are the result of multiple events. One of these tiling variances is located at Christie station, where some of the original tiles were replaced following the 1976 arson attack. The replacement trim tiles were differently coloured due to the lack of extra green trim tiles. Other variations to the pattern can be observed at Islington and Warden stations, as well as at the former bus bay of Victoria Park station, the three of which have a tricolour design. The current terminus stations of Kipling and Kennedy stations, upon initial opening in 1980, resemble the second version of Union subway station. When they opened, Kipling and Kennedy stations were the only Line 2 stations not to use the Toronto Subway typeface. However, in late 2017, Kipling station was redesigned to use the Toronto Subway typeface as well, leaving Kennedy station being the sole station on Line 2 not to use the typeface.


Modernization program

As the stations on the line have begun to show signs of aging, the TTC has initiated a station modernization program aimed at improving accessibility and appearances at several subway stations. These modernizations include new and updated wall finishes, signage, lighting and public art, as well as the installation of elevators for accessibility needs. and stations are the first slated for modernization under this project, and Islington will also be modernized under larger capital projects aimed at greater accessibility and reconstruction of bus loading platforms. Construction of a second access route at
Broadview station Broadview is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The entrance to the building is from Broadview Avenue just north of Danforth Avenue. The station, which is the north-eastern terminus of the 504B King and 5 ...
was completed in 2007. This work provided direct access to bus platforms and a new streetcar platform, improving traffic control within the station. Victoria Park station's modernization project was completed between 2008 and 2011 to make the station more functional, attractive, better connected to the surrounding community, and fully accessible. The second exit program was also included in station modernization projects after a fire safety audit revealed several at-risk stations with only one means of access and egress from the subway platform level to the street. Some stations with only one entrance/exit received a second means of access/egress during major overhauls at stations such as Pape and Dufferin. Other stations such as and are scheduled to receive second exits for egress only. Due to the potential for land
expropriation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
and construction of the exit structures in residential neighbourhoods, this portion of the program has become controversial, as some houses need to be removed to accommodate these secondary exits. Plans to add a second exit for Donlands, Greenwood, and Woodbine stations were deferred in late February 2011 due to lack of funding. In September 2017, the addition of elevators and a second exit/automatic entrance were completed at Woodbine station, rendering it fully accessible. As of July 2020, modernization work for Donlands station is planned to begin in the fourth quarter of 2020.


Fare collection

All types of TTC fares are accepted at staffed subway station entrances.
Presto card The Presto card (stylized as PRESTO) is a contactless smart card automated fare collection system used on participating public transit systems in the province of Ontario, Canada, specifically in Greater Toronto, Hamilton, and Ottawa. Presto car ...
s can be purchased and loaded with money or digital monthly TTC passes at automatic fare vending machines, which also sell Presto 1-ride, 2-ride or day pass tickets. Presto cards and tickets are accepted at all TTC subway station entrances. On December 1, 2019, all subway station collector booths were permanently closed and replaced by roaming customer service attendants. While customers would still be able to pay their fares by senior or youth TTC tickets, tokens or day passes, these were no longer available for purchase at stations and no change will be given to customers who pay cash fares. All Line 2 stations except
Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
connect to surface TTC bus or streetcar routes during regular operating hours. Some connections require
proof-of-payment Proof-of-payment (POP) or proof-of-fare (POF) is an honor-based fare collection system used on many public transportation systems. Instead of checking each passenger as they enter a fare control zone, passengers are required to carry a ticket, p ...
. Valid proof-of-payment includes paper transfers – free supplementary tickets obtained at the point of entering the transit system that allow the rider to transfer to another route on a one-way continuous direction with no stopovers or backtracking permitted – and Presto cards, which provide unlimited two-hour transfers in any direction across the TTC network.


Service


Frequency

The frequency for this line is 2–3 minutes during peak periods and 4–5 minutes during off-peak periods. The Route 300 Bloor–Danforth bus provides late-night service to the area around the stations when the subway is not in operation. This service operates frequently along Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue between East/West Mall and Kennedy station via Danforth Road, Brimley Road, Eglinton Avenue East, North/South Service Road, Transway Crescent and Kennedy Road. On Sundays, these routes operate through the early morning hours, because the subway starts service at 8:00 a.m. instead of the usual 6:00 a.m. Frequency is 6–30 minutes.


Capacity

As of 2016, Line 2 was running at capacity with almost 26,000 peak-hour riders. Upgraded signalling would allow for more frequent trains and expand peak-hour capacity to almost 33,000 riders by 2031.


Rolling stock

The first trains to operate on Line 2 were the M1-series subway trains, which were among the first subway trains to be manufactured in Canada. At the time of construction, these subway cars were the longest in the world. As a result of camshaft propulsion controls, the increased speed provided by the M-series trains and the H-series trains allowed the Bloor–Danforth line to operate efficiently between Islington and Warden without the need for a larger subway fleet. As a result, the G-series subway trains were exclusively confined to the Yonge–University line. In the 1980s, as the H-series trains took over, the M-series trains were only used during rush hour as the trains were linked to be made up of vehicles of a single class. With the introduction of the T1-series subway trains (which had been used exclusively on the Yonge–University–Spadina line during their first years of service in the late 1990s), the M1-series trains were retired from service between 1998 and 1999. Due to the opening of the Bloor–Danforth line and the additional services that were required, a new set of trains were purchased from the
Hawker Siddeley Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of onl ...
group. These trains, which were a part of the H series, were similar to the M1-series trains with newer features such as electrically operated doors. With the introduction of the T1-series subway trains, the H1 and H2 trains were retired from service, while the remaining H4 trains (along with some earlier T1 series trains) were shifted to the Bloor–Danforth line. Following the introduction of the
Toronto Rocket The Toronto Rocket (TR) train is the fifth and latest series of rolling stock used in the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the trains were built by Bombardier Transpo ...
subway trains on the Yonge–University and Sheppard lines, all of the T1-series trains were transferred to the Bloor–Danforth line, where they replaced the remaining H4- and H6-series subway trains. The T1s are now the only trains operating on the line. The remaining H4 trains were retired from revenue service throughout the fall of 2011, and the last cars were decommissioned on January 27, 2012. They were the last version of TTC trains that were not equipped with air-conditioning systems (but instead used ceiling fans); they were also the last of which to be outfitted with larger orange upholstered bench seating and were mainly used on weekdays, most often during rush hour several years before their retirement. The H4s also had a similar interior design based on the H2 subway cars. The H6-series trains (which had bright orange doors and panels, individual seats, along with light brown floors, cream walls and brown simulated wood grain panels) were retired from service between 2013 and 2014; the final run for the last H6-series train took place on June 20, 2014. In the summer of 2016, a few TR trains were used on Line 2 because of an air conditioning malfunction in numerous individual T1 cars, combined with a hotter than average summer. This was after Toronto Mayor
John Tory John Howard Tory (born May 28, 1954) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 65th and current mayor of Toronto since 2014. After a career as a lawyer, political strategist and businessman, Tory ran as a mayoral candidate in the 2003 ...
accepted a challenge posted on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
to ride an overheated T1 train on Line 2 during a hot summer day. The TTC estimated that the T1 fleet's useful life would end in 2026. In 2017, the TTC planned to replace the T1 fleet with 62 new trains, possibly using the TR type from Bombardier to eliminate the time needed to prototype a different model. However, in March 2019, the TTC reversed its decision and planned to delay the purchase of new train sets by refurbishing the T1 fleet to extend its life by a decade. The cost of refurbishment was estimated at $715million, versus $1.86billion required to replace the T1 fleet. Refurbishment would not include installing automatic train control (ATC) equipment on the T1 fleet, while new train sets would have included this feature, and this choice will thus delay the implementation of ATC on Line 2 by ten years. It was concurrently revealed the TTC lacked the facilities to store and maintain a new fleet as a new Kipling carhouse, which was originally planned to open in the mid-2020s, was now scheduled to open in 2031.


Procurement of new trains (2020s)

On August 6, 2020, the TTC issued a request for information (RFI) to gather information from potential suppliers to identify those who would be interested in designing and supplying new subway trains (NST) to the TTC. The RFI closed on September 18, 2020, and the TTC hosted an information session date on May 4, 2021, with potential suppliers to discuss the background, industry engagement, procurement model, and technical overview with interested NST manufacturers. The TTC later issued a request for proposal (RFP) on October 13, 2022, to the prequalified proponents to submit proposals for delivering the NST. Prequalified rail vehicle manufacturers included Alstom Transport Canada,
CRRC Qingdao Sifang CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese rolling stock manufacturer based in Qingdao, Shandong province. Founded in 1900 during the German occupation, Qingdao Sifang is one of the oldest rolling stock manufacturers in China. History Q ...
,
Hyundai Rotem Hyundai Rotem (founded in 1977) is a South Korean company that manufactures rolling stock, defense products and plant equipment. It is a part of the Hyundai Motor Group. Its name was changed from Rotem to Hyundai Rotem in December 2007 to refl ...
, and Kawasaki Rail Car.


Depot

Most trains that serve the Bloor–Danforth line are stored at the
Greenwood Yard The Greenwood Yard (also known as the Greenwood Complex) is a rail yard with support buildings that service subway vehicles on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway. Greenwood is one of two subway yards on Line 2, the other being the ...
, which opened with the first segment of the line. Before the yard was built, the land was occupied by a
quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...
and a
garbage dump A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
. Due to its location next to the
Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...
(and GO Transit) tracks, it was possible for trains to be delivered directly to the subway. The CN rail tracks were converted to allow for the storage of more subway trains as the T1-series trains were shifted from Yonge–University–Spadina line to the Bloor–Danforth line. In addition to providing storage for subway trains, the Greenwood Yard is also used to maintain vehicles that operate on
Line 3 Scarborough Line 3 Scarborough (originally known as the Scarborough RT or SRT) is a light rapid transit line that is part of the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The line runs entirely within the suburban district of Scarborough, encompas ...
, as the
McCowan Yard McCowan Yard is a rail yard on the Toronto Transit Commission's (TTC's) Line 3 Scarborough of the Toronto subway system. The yard is situated on a site located east of McCowan Station, the eastern terminal of the line. The yard's street entrance ...
is only equipped for vehicle storage and to perform basic maintenance of vehicles. The
Keele Yard Keele Yard (originally known as Vincent Yard) is a rail yard on the Toronto Transit Commission's (TTC's) Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway system. Keele Yard is located between Dundas West and Keele stations. Description The yard cons ...
(originally known as the Vincent Yard) is a small facility located between Keele station and
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 ...
. It provides for the storage and cleaning of subway trains but not for maintenance. Since June 18, 2017, the yard stores and services four trains overnight with the remaining yard capacity used to store work equipment. The TTC is planning to build a new subway yard on the site of a former CPR freight yard, southwest of
Kipling station Kipling is the western terminus station of Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway system. The station is served by buses and subway trains operated by the Toronto Transit Commission and is adjacent to the Kipling GO Station on the Milton ...
. When the TTC replaces the T1 subway fleet, it will need space to store the new trains as they are delivered as well as new shops to service them. The Greenwood Yard will be inadequate as it is completely full with no room to expand, and because its facilities are optimized for two-car train sets rather than the six-car train sets of the proposed new fleet. The estimated cost of the new yard was $500million, of which only $7million for planning work was included in the Capital Budget as of July 2017. , the TTC estimated that the Kipling Yard would open in 2031.


Expansion plans


Scarborough Subway Extension

The Scarborough Subway Extension (SSE) will replace
Line 3 Scarborough Line 3 Scarborough (originally known as the Scarborough RT or SRT) is a light rapid transit line that is part of the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The line runs entirely within the suburban district of Scarborough, encompas ...
with an eastward extension of Line 2.


Earlier history

In 1983, there was discussion of a rapid transit extension from Kennedy to
Scarborough City Centre Scarborough City Centre is a commercial district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the central business district for the former city of Scarborough, which amalgamated with Toronto in 1998. Scarborough City Centre remains one of the central bu ...
. As multiple types of technologies were examined many politicians requested a subway extension instead of the then proposed streetcar line. Instead, a
medium-capacity rail system A medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a rail transport system with a capacity greater than light rail, but less than typical heavy-rail rapid transit. MCS’s trains are usually 1-4 cars, or 1 ligh ...
, known as the
Scarborough RT Line 3 Scarborough (originally known as the Scarborough RT or SRT) is a light rapid transit line that is part of the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The line runs entirely within the suburban district of Scarborough, encompass ...
, was built. In 2005,
Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022. Structure The cur ...
again proposed to extend the line northeastward as a replacement for the aging Scarborough RT. In 2006, this proposal was then altered when Scarborough councillors agreed to support plans to refurbish the existing line using other light-metro options for Scarborough. Using heavy-rail rapid transit like the rest of the Toronto subway in Scarborough was not yet examined.


Light rail proposal (2007–2013)

In 2007, mayor David Miller included the refurbishment of the Scarborough RT using modern light rail transit as part of his
Transit City Transit City was a plan for developing public transport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was first proposed and announced on 16 March 2007 by then-Toronto Mayor David Miller and Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Adam Giambrone. T ...
plan. The light rail line would have run between Kennedy station and Sheppard Avenue East via
Scarborough Town Centre Scarborough Town Centre (STC) is a shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Central to the Scarborough City Centre in the former city of Scarborough, it is adjacent to Scarborough Centre station, the Scarborough Centre Bus Terminal and the CTV ...
. The line would have used the right-of-way of the Scarborough RT, which would have been shut down for conversion to light rail, requiring bus substitution. Construction would have lasted 3 to 5 years and cost about $2billion plus an unknown cost to redesign the connection at Kennedy station. During his 2010 mayoralty campaign,
Rob Ford Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian politician and businessman who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014. Before and after his term as mayor, Ford was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobi ...
denounced the idea of light rail transit and instead proposed to replace the Scarborough RT with an extension of the Bloor–Danforth line. However, on March 31, 2011, Ford agreed with the provincial government that the province's Metrolinx agency would replace the Scarborough RT with an elevated light rail line as part of a proposed Eglinton–Scarborough Crosstown line instead. In June 2012, the idea of a Scarborough subway extension was a key part of Toronto's proposed OneCity transit plan. This plan was later rejected by the
provincial government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, ...
and Mayor Rob Ford.


Three-stop proposal (2013–2016)

On September 4, 2013, the province of Ontario announced that it would fund two-thirds of the extension of the Bloor–Danforth line from Kennedy to
Scarborough City Centre Scarborough City Centre is a commercial district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the central business district for the former city of Scarborough, which amalgamated with Toronto in 1998. Scarborough City Centre remains one of the central bu ...
at
Scarborough Centre station Scarborough Centre is a rapid transit station and bus terminal in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving Line 3 Scarborough of the Toronto subway system and multiple bus routes of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is located north of Ellesmere ...
. The federal government of Canada would fund the remaining one-third. Toronto City Council approved the extension by a vote of 24–20 on October 8, 2013. The subway route would extend eastward towards McCowan Road, via Eglinton Avenue and Danforth Road, and proceeding north towards the intersection of McCowan Road and Sheppard Avenue, via Scarborough City Centre. There would be three new stations at Lawrence Avenue East (serving the Scarborough General Hospital),
Scarborough Town Centre Scarborough Town Centre (STC) is a shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Central to the Scarborough City Centre in the former city of Scarborough, it is adjacent to Scarborough Centre station, the Scarborough Centre Bus Terminal and the CTV ...
and Sheppard Avenue East. The city would also raise property taxes annually over the next three years. Digging of the extension was expected to begin as early as 2018, with a completion within five years. In December 2014, Councillor
Glenn De Baeremaeker Glenn De Baeremaeker ( ) is a former city councillor in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who represented Ward 38, one of the two former Scarborough Centre wards from 2003-2018. The son of working-class parents, he has a master's degree in international ...
, one of the city's deputy mayors, proposed a fourth stop along the Scarborough Subway Extension, at Danforth Road and
Eglinton Avenue Eglinton Avenue is a major east–west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga in the Canadian province of Ontario. The street begins at Highway 407 (but does not interchange with the tollway) at the western limits of Mississauga, as a ...
to reduce the station spacing between Kennedy station and the next stop from about to . At that time, he was told the extra station would add $100million to $150million to the cost of the extension. However, a subsequent city staff report indicated that the proposed stations at Lawrence Avenue and at Sheppard Avenue had "little development potential" nearby and were too close to planned
SmartTrack SmartTrack is a municipal proposal to enhance GO Transit rail service within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It takes advantage of the province's existing GO Transit Regional Express Rail plans. SmartTrack has evolved since it was originally proposed ...
stations. In 2016, when this proposal was abandoned, about five percent of the design was complete, and the cost was estimated at between $4.6billion and $6.9billion.


One-stop proposal (2016–2019)

On January 20, 2016, city staff issued a proposal to eliminate two of the three stops on the planned Scarborough Subway Extension and to terminate Line 2 Bloor–Danforth at Scarborough Town Centre. The planned intermediate stop at Lawrence Avenue would be eliminated along with the proposed stretch to Sheppard Avenue. This revised plan would prevent the subway from competing for ridership with
SmartTrack SmartTrack is a municipal proposal to enhance GO Transit rail service within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It takes advantage of the province's existing GO Transit Regional Express Rail plans. SmartTrack has evolved since it was originally proposed ...
's branch to Markham. Also, the proposed change was to reduce the cost of the extension from $3.5billion to $2.5billion, where the $1billion saved would be used to extend
Line 5 Eglinton Line 5 Eglinton (also known as the Eglinton Crosstown or the Crosstown) is a light rail line that is under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Metrolinx and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the line will be part ...
east- and northwards to
University of Toronto Scarborough The University of Toronto Scarborough, also known as U of T Scarborough or UTSC, is one of the three campuses that make up the tri-campus system of the University of Toronto. Located in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the campus is set upo ...
. (However, most of the $1billion saved was subsequently diverted back to the SSE to cover additional estimated construction costs for the one-stop subway.) City planning staff estimated that the peak ridership of the one-stop extension to be 7,300 in the peak hour and peak direction, about half of the 15,000 peak ridership considered the low end to justify a subway. With the original three-stop extension, the peak ridership estimate was 9,500 to 14,000; however, that estimate was reduced to 7,300 because of competition from the proposed SmartTrack and by the elimination of two of the three original stops. Mayor
John Tory John Howard Tory (born May 28, 1954) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 65th and current mayor of Toronto since 2014. After a career as a lawyer, political strategist and businessman, Tory ran as a mayoral candidate in the 2003 ...
and Scarborough Councillor
Glenn De Baeremaeker Glenn De Baeremaeker ( ) is a former city councillor in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who represented Ward 38, one of the two former Scarborough Centre wards from 2003-2018. The son of working-class parents, he has a master's degree in international ...
say a peak ridership of 7,300 would have still been acceptable as it was still greater than the 6,000 peak at terminal station Kipling. However, a ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' article points out there would be only one station within 6 kilometres of Scarborough Town Centre but more stations are within 6 kilometres of other terminal stations to boost ridership. The SSE would have carried an estimated 31,000 riders per day as compared to 66,355 riders from Kipling to Jane (five stations) and 96,660 riders from Finch to York Mills (four stations). The SSE would have performed better in ridership only against the terminal of the underperforming Sheppard line. In June 2016, the estimated cost of the one-stop SSE was revised from $2billion to $2.9billion because tunnels need to be deeper than expected in some places, with the new terminal station being 45 to 90 per cent deeper. An additional cost factor is that a high water table would require more concrete. There is also a $300million maintenance cost to keep
Line 3 Scarborough Line 3 Scarborough (originally known as the Scarborough RT or SRT) is a light rapid transit line that is part of the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The line runs entirely within the suburban district of Scarborough, encompas ...
operating until the SSE's opening resulting in a total project cost of $3.2billion. In February 2017, city staff reported that the estimated cost of the extension would increase by $150million to $3.35billion in order to build a 34-bay bus terminal at Scarborough Town Centre, which was to be the largest bus terminal of the TTC system. Also, the projection for new riders for the extension was revised downwards to 2,300 per day, down from the 4,500 new riders estimated in the summer of 2016. In March 2017, city staff estimated the extension would take six years to construct with an expected opening in the second quarter of 2026. The project was funded. On March 28, 2017, city council approved the design of the extension via McCowan Road. According to transit advocate
Steve Munro Steve Munro (born 7 September 1948) is a Canadian blogger and transit advocate from Toronto, Ontario. Munro has been credited in playing a lead role in the grass-roots efforts to convince the Toronto City Council to reverse plans to abandon ...
, the SSE would have been built to use only
automatic train control Automatic train control (ATC) is a general class of train protection systems for railways that involves a speed control mechanism in response to external inputs. For example, a system could effect an emergency brake application if the driver do ...
(ATC). This would preclude the operation of T1 subway cars on the extension as it would have been too expensive to convert T1 cars to ATC. In April 2019, city staff revised estimates for the SSE project, by then known as the Line 2 East Extension (L2EE), to a total of $3.87billion with a completion date estimated for end of 2027 and a delayed opening date of 2030 for the bus terminal at Scarborough Centre. In addition, plans for the extension to run ATC upon opening were dropped and instead replaced with the inclusion of "enabling works" allowing for ATC to be implemented at a later date.


Revised three-stop proposal (2019–present)

In May 2018, Rob Ford's brother
Doug Ford Douglas Robert Ford Jr. (born November 20, 1964) is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 26th and current premier of Ontario since June 2018 and leader of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party since March 2018. He ...
– during his campaign to become
premier of Ontario The premier of Ontario (french: premier ministre de l'Ontario) is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly of On ...
– pledged to work on and pay for the three-stop proposal. In July 2018, the TTC was still focused on building the one-stop proposal. On April 10, 2019, Doug Ford, who had since become premier, announced that the province would revert the extension back to the three-stop proposal at an estimated cost of $5.5billion with an estimated completion date between 2029 and 2030. As with the three-stop proposal of 2013–2016, there would be three new stations located along McCowan Road at Lawrence Avenue, Scarborough Town Centre and Sheppard Avenue East. In February 2020, Metrolinx released a cost–benefit analysis showing that the $5.5-billion project cost for the three-stop extension is double the estimated benefits of $2.8billion over 60 years. Benefits included reducing travel time and cars on the road. Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster said the estimate of benefits was conservative and Metrolinx may improve the benefits over time.


SSE construction

On August 20, 2020, Metrolinx issued a request for proposals to design and carry out tunnelling work. A launch shaft would be constructed at the northeast corner of Sheppard Avenue East and McCowan Road, with an extraction shaft along Eglinton Avenue on the east side of Midland Road. In April 2021, Strabag was selected to design, build and finance the tunnel. The scope of the advance tunnel contract includes the following: * tunnelling works for the subway extension, from Kennedy Station to McCowan Road / Sheppard Avenue * design and construction of launch and extraction shafts, tunnels, as well as headwalls for emergency exit buildings and stations * supplying tunnel boring machines and installing segmental precast concrete tunnel liners * activities necessary to build the tunnel (e.g. utility relocations, supports for shaft and headwalls, temporary power supply, lighting, ventilation, and drainage) Construction on the extension began on June 23, 2021. The SSE tunnel will contain two tracks within a single bore of in diameter and will be the largest subway tunnel by diameter in Toronto. The
tunnel boring machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore throu ...
(TBM) was being built by
Herrenknecht Herrenknecht AG is a German company that manufactures tunnel boring machines, headquartered in Allmannsweier, Schwanau, Baden-Württemberg. It is the worldwide market leader for heavy tunnel boring machines. Roughly two-thirds of its 5,000 employ ...
in Schwanau, Germany. Arriving in early 2022, the TBM was to be transported via sea in multiple shipments for reassembly at the launch site. In the second quarter of 2022, the TBM was to start digging at a speed of per day. The stations, rails and systems (SRS) contract will be delivered using a progressive design–build delivery strategy. In September 2021, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario released an RFQ to shortlist potential bidders. In February 2022, following close of the RFQ process, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario released an RFP to 3 shortlisted bidders:
Dragados ACS, Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A. () is a Spanish company dedicated to civil and engineering construction, all types services and telecommunications. It is one of the leading construction companies in the world, with projects i ...
(including
AECOM AECOM (, ; formerly AECOM Technology Corporation) is an American multinational infrastructure consulting firm. AECOM has approximately 51,000 employees, and is number 157 on the 2019 Fortune 500 list. The company's official name from 1990 t ...
), KSX Integrated Design-Builders (
Kiewit {{Infobox settlement , official_name = Kiewit , other_name = , native_name = , nickname = , settlement_type = Village , motto = , image_skyline = Hasselt - Sint-La ...
and
SNC-Lavalin SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is a Canadian company based in Montreal that provides engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services to various industries, including mining and metallurgy, oil and gas, environment and water, infrastructure, a ...
), and Scarborough Transit Connect (
Aecon Aecon Group Inc. is a construction company in Canada, providing services to private and public sector clients across its three core segments of Infrastructure, Industrial, and Concessions. Aecon produces construction materials including asphal ...
, FCC Construccion, and
Mott MacDonald The Mott MacDonald Group is a consultancy headquartered in the United Kingdom. It employs 16,000 staff in 150 countries. Mott MacDonald is one of the largest employee-owned companies in the world. It was established in 1989 by the merger of M ...
). In November 2022, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario announced that Scarborough Transit Connect was the successful bidder and would work with the province over an 18- to 24-month development phase to finalize the scope, risk allocation, project costs and project schedule. Once the development phase had concluded, Metrolinx would have the option to execute the project agreement with the development partner to progress to construction, which would include agreements on detailed designs and the final negotiated price. The scope of the SRS contract included the following: * a extension of Line 2 Bloor–Danforth subway * Tunnelling work for the length of the alignment * Three new stations: Lawrence Avenue and McCowan Road, Scarborough Centre, and a terminal station at McCowan Road and Sheppard Avenue * Emergency exit buildings, traction power substations, and modifications at Kennedy station * Transit connections to Line 2, Line 5 Eglinton, GO train service (Stouffville line), and
Durham Region Transit Durham Region Transit (DRT) is the regional public transit operator in Durham Region, Ontario, Canada, east of Toronto. Its headquarters are at 605 Rossland Rd East in Whitby, Ontario, and there are regional centres in Ajax, Whitby, and Oshawa. I ...
bus service * Operating systems for the extension


New stations

The northern terminus of the extension will be at Sheppard Avenue East and McCowan Road, and will have an adjacent TTC bus terminal as well as a pick-up and drop-off area. The station entrance will be at Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road. Station design will provide for future expansion of
Line 4 Sheppard Line 4 Sheppard is the newest and shortest subway line of the Toronto subway system, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It opened on November 22, 2002, and has five stations along of track, which is built without any open sectio ...
to terminate at this station as well as further expansion of Line 2 north of the station. The future Scarborough Centre station will be located on McCowan Road at a different location from the existing
Scarborough Centre station Scarborough Centre is a rapid transit station and bus terminal in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving Line 3 Scarborough of the Toronto subway system and multiple bus routes of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is located north of Ellesmere ...
, which will be decommissioned. The new station facilities will be on the north side of
McCowan station McCowan is a terminal station on Line 3 Scarborough of the Toronto subway. It is located at 1275 McCowan Road, just north of Ellesmere Road at Bushby Drive/Town Centre Court. Both of the surface routes that pass the McCowan station also stop ...
(also to be decommissioned) and will occupy most of the block bounded by McCowan Road, Progress Avenue, Grangeway Avenue and Busby Drive. The main entrance will be near McCowan Road and Progress. The new station will have a new
Scarborough Centre Bus Terminal Scarborough Centre Bus Terminal is a regional and intercity bus terminal in Scarborough City Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located near its namesake rapid transit station on Line 3 Scarborough of the Toronto subway. It is served by GO Tr ...
serving TTC, GO Transit and
Durham Region Transit Durham Region Transit (DRT) is the regional public transit operator in Durham Region, Ontario, Canada, east of Toronto. Its headquarters are at 605 Rossland Rd East in Whitby, Ontario, and there are regional centres in Ajax, Whitby, and Oshawa. I ...
buses. The bus terminal will be the western terminus of the planned
Durham–Scarborough bus rapid transit Durham–Scarborough bus rapid transit (DSBRT) is a future bus rapid transit corridor proposed by Metrolinx for the eastern part of the Greater Toronto Area in Southern Ontario, Canada. The bus corridor will run from downtown Oshawa to Scarboro ...
corridor. The station will also have a pick-up and drop-off area. A third new, future Lawrence East station will be located beside Scarborough General Hospital at the northwest corner of Lawrence Avenue East and McCowan Road in a different location from the existing
Lawrence East station Lawrence East is a rapid transit station on Line 3 Scarborough of the Toronto subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The station is located underneath the elevated portion of Lawrence Avenue East, in the Midland Avenue and Kennedy Road corridor. I ...
. There will be entrances at the northwest and southwest corners of Lawrence Avenue and McCowan. There will be a bus terminal on the south side of Lawrence Avenue between Valparaiso Avenue and McCowan Road.


West to Mississauga

The TTC's ''Rapid Transit Expansion Study'', published in 2001, identified three possible western extensions to the line. The first was a link to
Sherway Gardens Sherway Gardens (corporately known as CF Sherway Gardens) is a large retail shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The mall is located west of Downtown Toronto, near the interchange of Highway 427 with the Queen Elizabeth Way and Gardiner ...
, with a station added at the East Mall at a later date. The second included an additional from Sherway Gardens to Dixie Road, while a further section from Dixie Road to
Mississauga City Centre Mississauga City Centre is the downtown of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The downtown district is located generally at the intersection of Hurontario Street and Burnhamthorpe Road, centred around Square One Shopping Centre. Design and layout M ...
, which included three stations, was considered but rejected due to cost and planning considerations. This was replaced by a planned Dundas LRT run by
MiWay MiWay (pronounced "my way"; stylized miWAY), also known as Mississauga Transit and originally as Mississauga Transit Systems, is the municipal public transport agency serving Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and is responsible to the city's Tra ...
going from Kipling station to
Hurontario Street Hurontario Street is a roadway running in Ontario, Canada between Lake Ontario at Mississauga and Lake Huron's Georgian Bay at Collingwood. Within Peel Region, it is a major urban thoroughfare within the cities of Mississauga and Brampton, wh ...
, linking to the
Hurontario LRT The Hurontario LRT (formerly the Hurontario–Main LRT) is a light rail line under construction in the cities of Mississauga and Brampton, Ontario, Canada. The line will run along Hurontario Street from Mississauga's Port Credit neighbourhood ...
as part of the
MoveOntario 2020 MoveOntario 2020 was a 2007 plan proposed by the Government of Ontario that would fund 52 rapid-transit projects throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area in Ontario, Canada. It was succeeded by The Big Move and GO Transit's Go 2020. His ...
transit plan. This plan was revived, along with the Jane LRT, the Finch West LRT extensions, the Waterfront LRTs, and others, by the ''Feeling Congested?'' report by the City of Toronto in 2013, as an "unfunded future rapid transit project".


References


External links

*
TTC subway web page

Transit Toronto: A history of subways on Bloor and Queen Streets

Scarborough Subway Extension (SSE)
about three-stop SSE, published by Metrolinx {{DEFAULTSORT:Line 2 Bloor-Danforth 2 Railway lines opened in 1966 4 ft 10â…ž in gauge railways Rapid transit lines in Canada 1966 establishments in Ontario