Sheppard West station
Sheppard West is a List of [Toronto subway stations|subway station] on Line 1 Yonge–University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The station, which is located near the intersection of Sheppard Avenue West and Allen Road, opened in 1996 in what was then the City of North York, and the commuter parking lot opened in July 2005. It was the northwestern terminus of the line for over two decades, until the opening of the Toronto–York Spadina subway extension on December 17, 2017.
When this station opened, it was among the first accessible stations of the Toronto subway system, and the first to be purpose-built as such. The station also features Wi-Fi service.
History
Sheppard West station was opened in 1996 as a one-stop extension north of Wilson station. The reason for such a short extension was that the provincial government was offering funds for subway expansion as part of the Network 2011 plan, but was debating whether an extension should curve east to interline with a future phase of the proposed Sheppard Line, or continue farther north as part of a loop to join the Spadina and Yonge line branches, either along the hydro corridor north of Finch Avenue or along Steeles Avenue via York University. The Sheppard line interlining idea was dropped in favour of the loop proposal – itself superseded in 2002 by the Vaughan extension plan, which was ultimately what was built. As a northward extension was chosen as part of the intervening loop plans, the short extension was built with the station constructed on a north–south alignment.Construction of an access track to Wilson Yard branching off the mainline south of station began in 2009 but was mothballed after a tunnel was completed in 2010. Track was not laid and the tunnel was sealed off with hoarding. However, the tunnel was put into service in 2018 after completion of an ongoing expansion project to expand the Wilson Yard.
Concurrent with the opening of the extension on December 17, 2017, this station became one of the first eight stations to discontinue sales of legacy TTC fare media, previously available at the fare collector booth. Presto vending machines were available to sell Presto cards and to load funds onto them. On May 3, 2019, this station became one of the first ten stations to sell Presto tickets via Presto vending machines.
Name
Originally, the TTC named the station Downsview due to its intended role as a transfer point for Line 4 Sheppard, which was planned to extend westward beyond Yonge Street and intersect with the western segment of Line 1. Downsview was the winning entry in a public naming competition. Another name considered was Wilson Heights.On May 7, 2017, the station was renamed Sheppard West in preparation for the opening of Downsview Park station that same year. The TTC felt the name Downsview did not accurately reflect the station's location and would mislead passengers into thinking Downsview Park was easily accessible from the station, when in actuality, the upcoming northern station would offer a more direct connection to the park. The renaming cost $800,000, which was largely spent on updating the Toronto Rocket subway trains' automated announcement system and destination signs.
Prior to the renaming, the station was the only one in the system to have its name displayed in mixed-case lettering on the platform walls. The new name is rendered in uppercase lettering, using the traditional Toronto Subway typeface, on placards that obscure the old name. Smaller text at the bottom acknowledges the station's previous name.
Architecture and art
The station was designed by Adamson Associates Architects and The Stevens Group Architects. The subway platform lacks pillars and the ceiling is high and curved, evoking an aircraft hangar. High ceilings, skylights and an exceptionally large mezzanine make the station feel open and airy. Natural light reaches all areas of the station including the subway platform. The offset, glassed-in access walkway above the platform overlooks it and gives passengers views of passing trains below. Originally, the walkway was divided by a sinuous barrier as it ran through both the fare-paid and unpaid areas, with the unpaid half leading from an entrance at the north end of the station to the main fare concourse. The barrier was removed after this entrance had Presto card paddle fare gates installed in 2017. As a result, the north side entrance to the station is now a fully automated entrance and is only accessible to those using Presto.The station features two pieces of artwork:Sliding Pi is a large scale wall mosaic by Calgary artist Arlene Stamp. It can be viewed when travelling between the bus platform and the mezzanine level. The work shows colourful overlapping rectangles with the amount of overlap mathematically determined by the digits in the number pi. The overlapping pattern is non-repeating and gives the impression to viewers that the rectangles are sliding to one side.Boney Bus, created by John McKinnon in 2000, is located in front of the station and consists of an abstract bus shape made from aluminum beams with basalt "wheels".