Line 1 Yonge-University is a subway line operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the busiest subway line in Toronto, since it serves much of the city's downtown. The line has 38 stations and is 38.4 km (23.9 miles) in length. It is designated as Line 1 (formerly routes 1 or 601) of the city's rapid transit network.
This line connects Finch Station and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station via Yonge Street, Front Street, University Avenue, Spadina Road, and Allen Road. Some trips on weekdays may terminate at Wilson Station when heading back to the yard.
Overnight service is provided by 320 Yonge along Yonge Street. The rest of the line does not have overnight service, however, the line operates until 1:00 AM every day.
History
Controller Horatio Clarence Hocken, an early proponent of a subway line, proposed plans for one from Bay and Front Streets to Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue. This was voted down, but a subway proposal was an election issue again in 1912. Citizens largely voted against a subway.
As traffic increased, the Rapid Transit Department was created by the TTC in 1944. In 1942, the TTC had looked at running a line from Union Station, up Bay Street to just north of Bloor Street, and then up Yonge Street to just north of St. Clair Avenue. In 1949, the citizens of Toronto voted largely in favour of a subway, and TTC settled on the current alignment up Yonge Street from Union Station to Eglinton Avenue. Construction began on September 8, 1949 with a ceremony at Yonge and Wellington Streets. The new Yonge subway line opened on March 30, 1954.[1]
The University subway opened on February 28, 1963 as an extension of the Yonge Line from Union to St. George Station at Bloor Street and Queen's Park Circle. The Yonge Line was extended in 1973 to York Mills Station, and first opened to passengers on March 30. One day short of an exact year later in 1974, the extension to Finch Station opened.[2]
In 1956, the Metro Toronto Planning Board proposed incorporating a subway line into the yet-to-be-built Spadina Expressway. The TTC hoped to start the project as early as 1968. But due to a delay in Ontario Municipal Board approval and rise in cost, this was not realized. It was not until January 28, 1978 that the subway from St. George Station to Wilson Station opened. The Spadina Expressway was cancelled in 1971 after being built from Wilson to Lawrence Avenues. It was incorporated into the median of what became Allen Road, similar to already-existing expressway-median-running rail lines in Chicago.[1]
On June 18, 1987, North York Centre Station opened between Finch and Sheppard Stations on the existing line. The Spadina Line was extended north one station to Downsview, which opened on March 31, 1996.
The name of the line has changed as it was extended. It was simply the Yonge Line until 1963 when it became the Yonge-University Line with the opening of the University Avenue extension. In 1978 when the Spadina section was added, the line became the Yonge-University-Spadina Line. Although only two stations are on Spadina Road, a larger portion of the line runs along would have been the Spadina Expressway and is now known as Allen Road. In 2014, the line's name was simplified to Line 1 Yonge-University as part of a rebranding of the city's rapid transit lines.
Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension
Following the first Spadina extension at the end of the 1970s, there was talk of extending the line to at least York University. In early 2006, the Government of Ontario announced $870 million in funding towards a subway that not only reached York University, but traveled further into Vaughan. The TTC had initially considered an extension that far north would not be worth pursuing because of the existing densities. This is also something critics still point to. At the time of the announcement, the location of what would become the terminal station featured big-box stores, parking lots, and industrial buildings. The estimated cost of the extension was $2.6 billion. The federal government agreed to commit $697 million toward the project.[3] The City of Toronto and The Regional Municipality of York committed to funding $526 million and $352 million, respectively.
The 8.6 kilometre extension takes Line 1 from Downsview Station (now known as Sheppard West Station) northwest through York University to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. There are six stations on the extension: Downsview Park (proposed as Sheppard West), Finch West, York University, Pioneer Village (proposed as Steeles West), Highway 407, and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (proposed as Vaughan Corporate Centre) stations.[4] Vaughan Metropolitan Centre was initially named for commercial development proposed in Vaughan known as Vaughan Corporate Centre. Its name was changed to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre in July 2009. The TTC proposed Vaughan Centre as the name for the station at their meeting on September 30, 2010, which matched their existing naming conventions. The TTC also recommended to change Downsview's name to Sheppard West and have the proposed Sheppard West station named Downsview Park instead.[5] Steeles West Station was changed to Black Creek Pioneer Village Station[6] on September 28, 2012, and finally to Pioneer Village Station on July 24, 2013.[7]
The TTC issued a Request for Information on August 26, 2006 for four tunnel boring machines for use on the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension Project. Herrenknecht Tunneling Systems USA and LOVAT were the only respondents and expressed interest in participating in a request for proposals (RFP). The TTC worked closely with the two companies in preparation for an RFP which was issued April 3, 2009. LOVAT's submission was found to be the lowest priced at $58,466,480.60 (Herrenknecht's bid was $64,016,835). The Commission approved awarding the contract to LOVAT on July 9, 2009.[8] From September 10 to 24, 2010, the TTC asked the public to submit suggestions for two pairs of names to be given to the twin tunnel boring machines. Online voting was done from October 8 to 22, and on December 10, the names were revealed: Holey and Moley and Yorkie and Torkie.[9]
The official start of tunnel boring was marked with a ceremony on June 17, 2011 at the Sheppard West Station launch site. Tunnelling was complete in November 2013. The Spadina Line extension opened on December 17, 2017. To mark the occasion, service on the TTC was free for the day.[10]
Future expansion
Yonge Subway Extension
In 2008, Metrolinx identified the extension of the Yonge line north from Finch Station to Richmond Hill Centre at Highway 7 as one of the top 15 priorities for early implementation within the first 15 years of their Regional Transportation Plan. The extension would have six stations over 6.8 kilometres resulting in average station spacing of 1.13 kilometres.[11] There would be two stations in Toronto: Cummer/Drewry and Steeles, and four stations in York Region: Clark, Royal Orchard, Langstaff/Longbridge, and Richmond Hill Centre. By 2012, the station at Royal Orchard was removed as the forecasted ridership was to low to justify its construction. A train storage facility would be located north of Richmond Hill Centre Station.
The TTC noted extra capacity will be needed to accompany the extension and recommended the building of the Spadina extension first, replacing existing subway cars with the new Toronto Rocket, automatic train operation, and the Relief Line.
In June 2016, the Liberal Party of Ontario announced $55 million in funding to continue planning and design work for the Yonge Subway Extension.[12] The federal Liberal party contributed $36 million towards planning in 2017.[13] Preliminary engineering and design work began in 2017.
In April 2019, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario announced $5.6 billion in funding to build the Yonge Subway Extension—part of a $28.5 billion expansion of transit in the Greater Toronto Area. The extension is set to be completed by 2027 along with the Relief Line/Ontario Line.[14]
In 1985, the TTC unveiled a plan known as Network 2011, which outlined planned improvements to the transit system, including three new subway lines. One of these lines was the Downtown Relief Line which would ease projected overcrowding of the Yonge Line. The line, however was not built after the government withdrew its support.[15]
In 2008, then chair Adam Giambrone renewed support for the Relief Line to help ease increasingly worse congestion at Bloor-Yonge Station and St. George Station.[16] After intense study, four corridors were developed for consideration: Broadview to Queen/Richmond, Pape to Queen/Richmond, Broadview to King/Wellington, and Pape to King/Wellington. The Pape to Queen corridor was approved in March 2016 by the City of Toronto. The Relief Line was estimated to be operational between 2028 and 2031.
In April 2019, the provincial government announced changes to the Relief Line (renamed Ontario Line) as part of a $28.5-billion transit plan. The $10.9-billion line is expected to be completed by 2027.[17]
