Sunnyside Bus Terminal was an
interurban
The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...
bus station
A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...
located in
Sunnyside in the west end of Toronto at the foot of
Roncesvalles Avenue
Roncesvalles Avenue is a north–south minor arterial street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It begins at the intersection of Queen Street West, King Street (Toronto), King Street West and the Queensway running north to Dundas Street, Dundas Street ...
and its intersection with
King Street and
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 eas ...
(and later
The Queensway
The Queensway (or Queensway) is a major street in the municipalities of Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is a western continuation of Queen Street, after it crosses Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in Toronto. The Queensway is ...
) in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Ontario, Canada. It was across from
Sunnyside Amusement Park and beside the
Roncesvalles Carhouse.
The station was owned and operated by
Gray Coach bus lines, a subsidiary of the
Toronto Transit Commission
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operating the majority of the city's transit bus, bus and rail services. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers ...
that operated interurban bus routes connecting Toronto with outlying areas throughout southern Ontario. No route actually began or ended at the terminal, which was used as a rest stop and drop off and pick up point by Gray Coach and
Greyhound
The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets.
Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...
routes heading west from Toronto to locations such as
London, Ontario
London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...
,
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...
,
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada, adjacent to, and named after, Niagara Falls. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, the city had a population of 94,415. The city is located on the Niagara Peninsula along the western bank of the ...
, or
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
. The terminal was also a point of departure for shuttle buses to various racetracks, such as
Fort Erie
Fort Erie is a town in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada. The town is located at the south eastern corner of the region, on the Niagara River, directly across the Canada–United States border from Buffalo, New York, and is the site of ...
,
Long Branch or
Woodbine. The terminal declined in usage following the creation of
GO Transit
GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...
in 1967, particularly after GO stopped contracting several of its routes to Gray Coach in the 1980s.
The station was opened in 1936, on what was then the western edge of Toronto, and was constructed in an
art deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
style, including a steel
canopy
Canopy may refer to:
Plants
* Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests)
* Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes
Religion and ceremonies
* Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...
. The station had a ticket booth, restrooms, a waiting room, and, at its opening, the B&G Coffee Shop and Milk Bar. The coffee shop was operated by a succession of tenants throughout the station's existence and later housed the TEOEL Travel Bureau. The Edgewater Hotel was built next to the bus station on the north-west corner of the intersection in the 1930s, opening in 1939. Edgewater is now a
Howard Johnson motel.
The station was also served by both the
King
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
and
Queen
Queen most commonly refers to:
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen (band), a British rock band
Queen or QUEEN may also refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Q ...
streetcars. Until its closure in 1967, the
Sunnyside railway station across the street provided commuters with a connection to the
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...
.
GO Transit
GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...
was created in 1967 and took over CN's Toronto to Hamilton route replacing it with the
Lakeshore West line
Lakeshore West is one of the GO Transit rail services, seven passenger lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Union Station (Toronto), Union Station in Toronto to Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, ...
which bypassed Sunnyside rail station thus reducing the use of Sunnyside as an intermodal transfer point between rail and coach routes. The rail station closed entirely in 1971 and was demolished in 1973.
Sunnyside Bus Terminal did not have any
bus bays. Buses serving the station stopped at the curb, on Queen Street (later known as the Queensway), outside the station, beside the Roncesvalles Carhouse.
Gray Coach was sold in 1990 to
Stagecoach
A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
and in 1992 was acquired by Greyhound Canada. The Sunnyside Bus Terminal was closed around the same time. The building still stands and retains its steel canopy. Still owned by the Toronto Transit Commission, the building was rented out as a donut shop for several years after Gray Coach's closure before becoming a
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
.
See also
*
Toronto Coach Terminal
The Toronto Coach Terminal is a decommissioned bus station for intercity bus services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was the central intercity bus station in Toronto until mid-2021, when it was replaced by the Union Station Bus Termi ...
, also built for and originally operated by Gray Coach in 1931.
References
{{TTC
Bus stations in Ontario
Transport in Toronto
Art Deco architecture in Canada
Buildings and structures in Toronto
Transport infrastructure completed in 1936
1936 establishments in Ontario
1991 disestablishments in Ontario
Former bus stations
Toronto Transit Commission