Spadina is a
subway station on
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 ...
and
Line 2 Bloor–Danforth
Line 2 Bloor–Danforth is a subway line in the Toronto subway system, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It has 31 stations and is in length. It opened on February 26, 1966, and extensions at both ends were completed in 1968 an ...
in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on
Spadina Road
Spadina, originating from the Ojibwa word ''ishpadinaa'' meaning "high place/ridge", may refer to:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
*Spadina House, a mansion and museum
*Spadina Hotel (built 1873), a historic building
*Spadina Avenue, a major street
*Spa ...
, north of
Bloor Street West
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 ...
. It is one of only two stations open overnight, along with
Union station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
.
Wi-Fi service is available at this station.
The station consists of two separate sections, one for each line, at the same level and 150 metres apart. The north–south platforms, which opened in 1978, were originally planned as a separate station, but the TTC decided to join to the existing 1966 east–west station with a pedestrian tunnel containing a pair of long
moving walkway
A moving walkway, also known as an autowalk, moving pavement, moving sidewalk, people-mover, travolator, or travelator, is a slow-moving conveyor mechanism that transports people across a horizontal or inclined plane over a short to medium distan ...
s. The cost of the moving walkways themselves became an issue when they became due for refurbishment or replacement , and they were shut down and ultimately removed in 2004, leaving the corridor as a simple underground walkway. The former location of the moving walkways remains visible because the tiles used to cover their removal are noticeably different. Warnings to hold the handrails are still embossed on the walls where the ends of the moving walkways were once located.
An underground loop for the
510 Spadina
510 Spadina (310 Spadina during overnight periods) is a Toronto streetcar route in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission.
History Earlier routes
Streetcar service on Spadina Avenue began in 1878 as a horsecar line opera ...
streetcar was added in 1997 near the east end of the east–west platforms. The streetcar platform adds
Postmodern finishes to the station's mix of styles. These range from the basic
Modernist
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
tiles of the Bloor–Danforth line platform, to the more intricate round tiles and backlit signage of the Yonge–University line platform.
In 1997, this station became accessible only to the Bloor–Danforth platforms and exit.
Architecture and art
Spadina and Bloor
The largest above ground structure is the bus station; its main entrance, along with elevators and a fare collector booth, is located on the east side of Spadina Road just north of Bloor Street, which currently serves as the terminus of the ''127 Davenport'' bus route. Originally, it was built to serve as a looping facility for the former ''77 Spadina'' bus which operated until the underground streetcar loop was added and the buses were replaced by ''510 Spadina'' streetcars. This building, with its pseudo-mansard roof and brick arches and no obvious bold signage like most other station entrances, is located at the easterly end of the Bloor line platforms. There is a secondary entrance building directly opposite, on the west side of Spadina Road, which is only accessible to those with
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 ...
s.
At the street level, there are three large
cedar wood
Cedar is part of the English common name of many trees and other plants, particularly those of the genus ''Cedrus''.
Some botanical authorities consider the Old-World ''Cedrus'' the only "true cedars". Many other species worldwide with similarl ...
carvings called ''K'san Village House Posts'' depicting an owl, a wolf and a hawk. They are the work of Fedelia O'Brien, Murphy Green and Chuck Heit respectively, who are from the
Gitxsan First Nation in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
.
Spadina Yonge Platform 01.jpg, Line 1 platform
Spadina TTC Line 2 Platform 2022.jpg, Line 2 platform
Spadina TTC Line 2 Concourse 2022.jpg, Line 2 concourse
Spadina TTC Line 1 to Line 2 Access 2022.jpg, Pedestrian tunnel previously containing a pair of long moving walkways, which were removed in 2004
Walmer Road
There is an automatic entrance, accessible only to Presto card holders as of November 2017, on the east side of Walmer Road. It leads to the west end of the Bloor line platforms.
Norman B. Gash House
![Spadina TTC 85 Spadina Road](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Spadina_TTC_85_Spadina_Road.JPG)
The main entrance to the Yonge–University line part of the station is concealed inside a house at 85 Spadina Road, which was built in 1899 and listed as a heritage property by the City of Toronto in 1974.
[Heritage Property Detail – 85 Spadina Rd.]
/ref> The building was designed by architect Robert Ogilvie for lawyer Norman Gash. The property had previously been needed for construction of the Spadina Expressway
William R. Allen Road, also known as Allen Road, the Allen Expressway and colloquially as the Allen, is a short Controlled-access highway, expressway and arterial road in Toronto. It starts as a controlled-access expressway at Eglinton Avenue, Eg ...
, which was cancelled in 1971. Since it was still planned to build the subway on its original route along the course of the expressway, the site was subsequently acquired by Metropolitan Toronto
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...
in 1972, with the intention of replacing it with a new station building. Local protest forced the TTC to repurpose the old building, thereby retaining the residential character of the neighbourhood. Opposite the house, on the west side of Spadina Road at Kendal Avenue, there is an uncovered stairwell entrance to the station mezzanine. There are northbound and southbound bus stops outside the entrances. This entrance only accepts Presto cards.
This building includes two large artworks: ''Morning Glory'' by Louis de Niverville, a surreal enamel mural sited on the ground level by the stairwell; and ''Barren Ground Caribou'' by Joyce Wieland
Joyce Wieland (June 30, 1930 – June 27, 1998) was a Canadian experimental filmmaker and mixed media artist. Wieland found success as a painter when she began her career in Toronto in the 1950s. In 1962, Wieland moved to New York City and ...
, a huge quilt featuring caribou in a tundra
In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...
landscape, located near the unmanned turnstile on the concourse level below.
Subway infrastructure in the vicinity
This section of the Bloor line was constructed by cut and cover on a strip of land behind the properties fronting on the north side of Bloor Street. The tracks run east from here to the lower level of St. George station. Between the stations connecting tracks from the Bloor line rise on each side to the upper level of St. George station, like exit ramp
Exit(s) may refer to:
Architecture and engineering
* Door
* Portal (architecture), an opening in the walls of a structure
* Emergency exit
* Overwing exit, a type of emergency exit on an airplane
* Exit ramp, a feature of a road interchange
...
s on a highway, providing a link with the University line.
The section of the Yonge–University line at and between Dupont and Spadina stations was constructed under Spadina Road. South of the station the tunnel turns off-street and curves eastward through 90 degrees to run briefly parallel to Bloor Street before entering the upper level of St. George station.
Nearby landmarks
The station is located in 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 ...
neighbourhood at the northwest corner of the University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
main campus. Destinations and nearby points of interest include the Spadina Road Branch of the Toronto Public Library
Toronto Public Library (TPL) (french: Bibliothèque publique de Toronto) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2008 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other pub ...
, Native Canadian Centre of Toronto
The Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, founded in 1962, is a membership based charity organization that provides social, recreational, cultural, and spiritual services to Indigenous people in Toronto.
History
In the post-World War II era, Verna Pa ...
, Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre,Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre: How to reach us
/ref> Bloor Street United Church, and Trinity-St. Paul's United Church
Trinity-St. Paul's United Church and Centre for Faith, Justice and the Arts is a church belonging to the United Church of Canada in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 427 Bloor Street West, just west of Spadina Avenue in the city's downtown ...
.
Surface connections
When the subway is closed, streetcars still enter the station. TTC routes serving the station include:
References
External links
*
{{TTC lines and stations
Line 1 Yonge–University stations
Line 2 Bloor–Danforth stations
Toronto streetcar loops
Railway stations in Canada opened in 1966
Toronto Transit Commission stations located underground