Toronto subway
The Toronto subway is a rapid transit system serving Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It is operated by the Toronto Transit Commission, an agency of the City of Toronto. The subway system is a rail network consisting of four lines: Line 1 Yonge–University, Line 2 Bloor–Danforth, Line 4 Sheppard, and Line 6 Finch West.
In 1954, the TTC opened Canada's first underground rail line, then known as the "Yonge subway" and now part of Line 1, under Yonge Street between Union Station and Eglinton Avenue with 12 stations. the network encompasses 87 stations and of route. In, the system had a ridership of, or about per weekday as of, making it the busiest rapid transit system in Canada in terms of daily ridership. there are 43 stations under construction as part of two new linesLine 5 Eglinton and the Ontario Lineand two extensions to existing lines.Lines
The lines of the Toronto subway system are known by both a number and a name. While each line is also assigned a colour, the colours are only used to visually distinguish between them on maps and signage, not as names.
There are four operating rapid transit lines in Toronto:
- Line 1 Yonge–University
- Line 2 Bloor–Danforth
- Line 4 Sheppard
- Line 6 Finch West
Two additional lines are also under construction:
Line 1 Yonge–University is the longest and busiest rapid transit line in the system. It opened as the Yonge subway in 1954 with a length of and since then has grown to a length of. The modern line is U-shaped, having two northern terminalsat Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and and its southern end at Union station in downtown Toronto.
Line 2 Bloor–Danforth, opened in 1966, runs parallel to Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue between Kipling station in Etobicoke and Kennedy station in Scarborough. Construction started in 2021 on a three-stop extension of Line 2 northeastward from Kennedy station to Sheppard Avenue and McCowan via Scarborough City Centre.
Line 4 Sheppard, opened in 2002, runs eastward under Sheppard Avenue East from Sheppard–Yonge station on Line 1 to Don Mills station; it is the shortest rapid transit line in Toronto at a length of and the only one without any open sections.
Line 6 Finch West, opened in 2025, runs westward at-grade in the median of Finch Avenue for and 18 stops from Finch West station on Line 1 to Humber College station. It was the first light rail line to enter service as part of the rapid transit system; construction began in 2019, and the line opened on December 7, 2025.
two new lines are under construction:
- Line 5 Eglinton is an under-construction light rail line along Eglinton Avenue, planned to run from Kennedy station in the east to Mount Dennis station in the west. The line will have 25 stations, 15 of which will be underground, while the remaining ten will be at-grade stops located in at the road's median. Construction began in 2011. The line was expected to be completed in 2024 at a cost of approximately $12billion, though it has since been delayed.
- * An extension of Line 5 westwards for to Renforth station is also under construction. The extension will have seven stations, four of which will be underground and two of which will be elevated. Construction began in 2022 and is scheduled for completion in the 2030s.
- Ontario Line is an under-construction subway line from Exhibition station to Don Valley station that will provide the first east–west rapid transit line through the Financial District and the central downtown core. The project evolved from the long-planned Downtown Relief Line, first proposed in the mid-1980s. The line is scheduled for completion in 2031 at a cost of $17 to $19 billion.
Until July 2023, the TTC operated an elevated light metro service. Line 3 Scarborough, originally known as the Scarborough RT, was an elevated medium-capacity rail line serving the city's eponymous suburban district. It opened in 1985, running from Kennedy station to McCowan station via. It was the only rapid transit line in Toronto to use the Intermediate Capacity Transit System technology. Because of maintenance difficulties, Line 3 was to be decommissioned on November 19, 2023. However, it was decommissioned approximately four months early due to a derailment on July 24, 2023. Bus service replaced Line 3 and is scheduled to continue until the extension of Line 2 to McCowan Road and Sheppard Avenue via Scarborough City Centre opens in 2030.History
Timeline
Line 1 Yonge–University
Canada's first subway, the Yonge subway, opened in 1954 with a length of. The line ran under or parallel to Yonge Street between Eglinton Avenue and Union station. It replaced the Yonge streetcar line, Canada's first streetcar line. In 1963, the line was extended northwards from Union station under University Avenue to Bloor Street, where it would later connect with the Bloor–Danforth subway at the double-deck St. George station. In 1974, the Yonge Street portion of the line was extended from Eglinton station north to Finch station. The Spadina segment of the line was constructed north from St. George station initially to Wilson station in 1978, and in 1996 to Downsview station, renamed Sheppard West in 2017. Part of the Spadina segment runs in the median of Allen Road – an expressway formerly known as the Spadina Expressway – and crosses over Highway 401 on overpasses. Six decades of extensions gave the line a U-shaped route running from its two northern terminals and looping on its southern end at Union station. The latest extension from Sheppard West to opened on December 17, 2017, making the line long, over five times its original length.Line 2 Bloor–Danforth
Opened in 1966, the Bloor–Danforth subway runs east–west under or near Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue. It replaced the Bloor streetcar line. Initially, the subway line ran between Keele station and Woodbine station. In 1968, the line was extended west to Islington station and east to Warden station, and in 1980, it was further extended west to Kipling station and east to Kennedy station.Line 3 Scarborough
Opened in 1985, Line 3 was a light metro line running from Kennedy station to McCowan station. The TTC started to construct the line to use Canadian Light Rail Vehicles. However, the TTC was forced to convert to the Intermediate Capacity Transit System technology because the provincial government threatened to cut funding to the TTC if it did not. This line was never extended, and in July 2023, the line was shut down pending its dismantling due to a derailment that resulted in injuries. It is set to be replaced with an extension of Line 2 to Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road via Scarborough Town Centre.Line 4 Sheppard
Opened in 2002, the Sheppard subway runs under Sheppard Avenue from Sheppard–Yonge station to Don Mills station. The line was under construction when a change in provincial government threatened to terminate the project, but Mel Lastman, the last mayor of the former City of North York, used his influence to save the project. Despite the construction of many high-rise residential buildings along the line since its opening, ridership remains low resulting in a subsidy of $10 per ride. The line was intended to be extended to Scarborough Centre station, but because of the low ridership and the cost of tunnelling, there was a plan to extend rapid transit eastwards from Don Mills station via a surface light rail line, the Sheppard East LRT. However, in April 2019, Premier Doug Ford announced that the provincial government would extend Line 4 Sheppard to McCowan Road at some unspecified time in the future, thus replacing the proposed Sheppard East LRT. Line 4 Sheppard is also the only subway line in Toronto not to have any open sections.Line 5 Eglinton
is funding the Line 5 Eglinton, a light rail line along Eglinton Avenue. From Mount Dennis in the west to Brentcliffe Road, the line will run almost entirely underground where Eglinton Avenue is generally four to five lanes wide. From east of Brentcliffe Road to Kennedy station, the line will operate on the surface in a reserved median in the middle of Eglinton Avenue, where the street is at least six lanes wide. Building on the surface instead of tunnelling reduces the cost of construction on the eastern end of the line. The average speed of the line is expected to be ; as a comparison, the average speed of the heavy-rail Line 2 Bloor–Danforth is. The Eglinton line originated from Transit City, a plan sponsored by then–Toronto mayor David Miller, to expedite transit improvement by building several light rail lines through the lower density parts of the city. Of the light rail lines proposed, only the Eglinton line is under construction as of 2022 and the Finch West line opened in 2025. Line 5 was expected to be completed in 2024, but it has faced numerous delays. The Government of Ontario announced on December 5, 2025, that substantial completion of the line had been achieved and that full operational control would be transferred from Metrolinx to the TTC, with service expected to begin in early 2026.Line 6 Finch West
Opened in 2025, Line 6 Finch West, also known as the "Finch West LRT", is a surface light rail line owned by Metrolinx. It is operated by the TTC and was also part of the Transit City proposal announced in 2007. The, 18-stop line extends from Finch West station on Line 1 Yonge–University to Humber College station at the north campus of Humber Polytechnic. The line is forecast to carry about 14.6million rides a year or 40,000 a day by 2031. Construction on this line began in 2019. It was scheduled for completion in the first half of 2024, with an estimated cost of $1.2billion, though it was delayed until December 7, 2025.