Toronto Transit Commission Line 2 Bloor-Danforth

	Line 2 Bloor-Danforth
Number of Branches		1
Distance		26.23km (Kipling Station - Kennedy Station)
Blue Night		300 Bloor-Danforth
Types of vehicles used		T1
Division		Greenwood
Ridership (2018)		527,640

Line 2 Bloor-Danforth is a subway line operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has 31 stations and is 26.2 km (16.3 miles) in length.

Route

This subway line connects Kipling Avenue in the west and Kennedy Road in the east via Bloor Street, Danforth Avenue, and a hydro corridor in Scarborough.

Branches

This line has 1 scheduled branch:

• Line 2 Kipling Station - Kennedy Station

Overnight Service

Overnight service is provided by 300 Bloor-Danforth along Bloor Street, Danforth Avenue and Danforth Road to Kennedy Station. Some trips extend to Pearson Airport, providing late night service in the place of the 900 Airport Express route. On Sundays, these routes operate through the early morning hours as the subway starts at 8:00am instead of the usual 6:00am.

History

Included as part of the Yonge subway proposal was a grade-separated streetcar line under Queen Street from Trinity-Bellwoods Park in the west to just Broadview Avenue in the east. When construction of the Yonge subway began in 1949, a lack of federal subsidies meant the plans for Queen Street were deferred. After the opening of Yonge subway in 1954, attention turned to an east-west alignment. By this time, development had expanded to Metropolitan Toronto's suburbs. Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue became a major thoroughfare into the city. Streetcars operated in multiple units from Jane Street to Luttrell Avenue along the corridor.

With an increase in traffic congestion and ridership, the TTC proposed a subway under Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue between Keele Street and Woodbine Avenue instead of what had become a proposal for a subway under Queen Street. Metro Council eventually approved the Bloor-Danforth subway in 1958 as well as the University subway that would connect it and the Yonge subway.

The Ontario Municipal Board approved construction of the two lines in September 1958. They made use of cut-and-cover and tunnel boring construction methods. The Bloor-Danforth Line opened to the public on February 26, 1966. Streetcar service was maintained from Keele Station to Jane Street in the west and from Woodbine Station to Luttrell Avenue in the east.

It was decided during construction that the Bloor-Danforth line should be extended to provide access to the suburbs of Metropolitan Toronto. Soon after the line opened, construction began on a westward extension to Islington Avenue and an eastward extension to Warden Avenue. The extensions opened on May 11, 1968, and brought the subway into Etobicoke and Scarborough. The remaining operation of streetcars on Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue were discontinued.

In 1976, Metro Council approved another extension for the Bloor-Danforth Line in either direction for one stop — Kipling Avenue in the west and Kennedy Road in the east. A ceremony to commemorate the completion of the extensions was held on November 21, 1980. Passenger service commenced the following day.

The Bloor-Danforth Line became publicly known as Line 2 in 2014 in an effort to simplify the identification of the subway lines.

Future extensions

Scarborough Subway

During his 2010 mayoralty campaign, Rob Ford proposed to replace the Scarborough RT with an extension of the Bloor–Danforth Line. However, on March 31, 2011, council, to Ford's dismay, agreed with the provincial government that Metrolinx would replace the Scarborough RT with an LRT as part of the Eglinton 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 and Mayor Rob Ford.

However, the idea of a Scarborough Subway extension instead of the LRT proposal rose again in October 2012, arguing that the subway extension would mean one less transfer for Scarborough residents at Kennedy Station. This was affirmed by then chair Karen Stintz in April 2013. At the end of June 2013, Metrolinx requested the city to make a firm decision on the future of the RT. There was uncertainty whether city council was still in favour of the LRT conversion after most councilors shifted their support for a Bloor-Danforth subway extension. The provincial government later indicated they were open to negotiating a Bloor-Danforth extension with the city if both sides could agree on a way to fund the project. The issue was put to debate for two days by city council resulting in a 28 to 16 vote in favour of the extension. However, it was dependent of funding from both the provincial and federal government. Council also endorsed a property tax increase greater than that proposed by Rob Ford of between 1.1 and 2.4 per cent over three years.

On September 4, 2013, the province of Ontario announced that it would fund $1.4 billion for the 6.4 km extension from Kennedy to Scarborough Town Centre. The Federal Government of Canada would fund $660 million. Toronto City Council approved the extension by a vote of 24-20 on October 8, 2013 where the route will extend eastward towards McCowan Road, then north towards the Scarborough Town Centre and Sheppard Avenue East. The city would also raise property taxes annually over the next three years. An environmental assessment would still need to be completed before construction could take place, meaning the extension would likely not open until at least 2023.

There would be new stations at Lawrence Avenue, Scarborough Town Centre, and Sheppard Avenue East. The City examined a number of corridors for the extensions. These included: the Scarborough RT, Midland, Brimley, McCowan, Bellamy, and Markham. Midland, McCowan, and Bellamy were shortlisted. By June 2015, McCowan emerged as the preferred corridor based on its distance from the future SmartTrack line, Lawrence East Station, and cost.

In January 2016, City Staff announced that they planned to eliminate the stop at Lawrence and end the line at Scarborough Town Centre due to ridership conflict with proposed SmartTrack stations. The City also identified little development opportunities at these stations. The cost of building the extension was estimated at $2 billion. However, by June 2016, the City announced that the cost had risen to $2.9 billion.

The corridors were re-evaluated with the one-stop plan. The Scarborough RT, Midland, Brimley, and McCowan were looked at as potential corridors. After evaluation, McCowan again was the preferred corridor. The extension would continue past Kennedy Station and follow Eglinton Avenue, Danforth Road, and McCowan Road. The station at Scarborough Town Centre would be under its eastern parking lot north of Triton Road. The alignment has yet to be finalized. According to city planners, the McCowan alignment would cost $3.2 billion and take nine years to build. City council approved the McCowan alignment in 2017, and the project was ready to proceed to procurement by 2019. The cost of the extension was revised to $3.87 billion with a planned completion date of 2027 and a delayed opening for the Scarborough Centre bus terminal in 2030. The 31-bay bus terminal will be used by the TTC, GO Transit and Durham Region Transit.

In April 2019, the newly elected Progressive Conservative government announced a $28.5-billion transit expansion plan. Part of the plan was a return to the three-stop Line 2 extension to McCowan Road and Sheppard Avenue East. The estimated cost was $5.5-billion, and the extension was expected to be complete between 2029 and 2030.

On August 20, 2020, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) for the Scarborough Subway Tunneling Project. The contract was expected to be awarded in mid-2021. In April 2021, Metrolinx identified Strabag as the successful bidder that would design, build and finance the tunnel. Work began in May 2021 to prepare the tunnel boring machine (TBM) launch shaft site on the northeast corner of McCowan Road and Sheppard Avenue East. The TBM for the Scarborough Subway Extension was manufactured by Herrenknech of Schwanau, Germany. It arrived in Canada in December 2021.

Metrolinx began the procurement for the Stations, Rail and Systems contract in September 2021. Three teams were shortlisted in February 2022 and invited to respond to the request for proposals (RFP). The teams were: Dragados (with Dragados Canada, Inc. as lead and Design Prime Team Member, AECOM Canada, Ltd. as Design Prime Team Member), KSX Integrated Design-Builders (with Peter Kiewit Sons ULC, SNC-Lavalin Constructors (Pacific) Inc. as leads and Design Prime Team Members, and Construction Prime Team Members), Scarborough Transit Connect (with Aecon Infrastructure Management Inc., FCC Construccion S.A. as applicant leads and Construction Prime Team Members, Mott MacDonald Canada Limited as Design Prime Team Member). In November 2022, Scarborough Transit Connect was announced as the winning proponent.

Stations

Station Name	Date Opened	Notes
Kipling	November 22, 1980
Islington	May 11, 1968
Royal York	May 11, 1968
Old Mill	May 11, 1968
Jane	May 11, 1968
Runnymede	May 11, 1968
High Park	May 11, 1968
Keele	February 26, 1966
Dundas West	February 26, 1966
Lansdowne	February 26, 1966
Dufferin	February 26, 1966
Ossington	February 26, 1966
Christie	February 26, 1966
Bathurst	February 26, 1966
Spadina	January 28, 1978 (Spadina) February 26, 1966 (Bloor)
St. George	February 28, 1963 (University) February 26, 1966 (Bloor)
Bay	February 26, 1966	Lower Bay Station closed.
Bloor-Yonge	March 30, 1954 (Yonge) February 26, 1966 (Bloor)
Sherbourne	February 26, 1966
Castle Frank	February 26, 1966
Broadview	February 26, 1966
Chester	February 26, 1966
Pape	February 26, 1966
Donlands	February 26, 1966
Greenwood	February 26, 1966
Coxwell	February 26, 1966
Woodbine	February 26, 1966
Main Street	May 11, 1968
Victoria Park	May 11, 1968
Warden	May 11, 1968
Kennedy	November 22, 1980 (Danforth) March 24, 1985 (Scarborough)

Summary

	Frequency	Vehicles Used	Notes
Weekday AM Peak	3	25 2	Gap Trains
Weekday Midday	3	25
Weekday PM Peak	4:30	25 2	Gap Trains
Weekday Early Evening	7:15	14
Weekday Late Evening
Saturday Early Morning	6	17	Until 11:00am
Saturday Morning	5:33	20	After 11:00am
Saturday Afternoon	4:38	24
Saturday Early Evening	7:15	14
Saturday Late Evening
Sunday Early Morning	Route does not operate. Service provided by 300 Bloor-Danforth.
Sunday Morning	5:38	19
Sunday Afternoon	5:21	20
Sunday Early Evening	7:15	14
Sunday Late Evening
Last updated: September 6, 2022