Line 1 Yonge–University
Line 1 Yonge–University is a rapid transit line of the Toronto subway. It serves Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. Operated by the Toronto Transit Commission, it has 38 stations and is in length, making it the longest line on the subway system. It opened as the "Yonge subway" in 1954 as Canada's first underground passenger rail line and was extended multiple times between 1963 and 2017. As of 2010, Line 1 was the busiest rapid transit line in Canada, and one of the busiest lines in North America. In the 12 months ending August 2024, it averaged over 625,000 riders per weekday.
Route description
The line forms a rough 'U' shape, with two portions running generally north–south that meet at in the southern part of the city's downtown, and then gradually spreading farther apart as they proceed northward. From Union station, the eastern portion of the line runs straight under or nearby Yonge Street, sometimes in an uncovered trench, for to its northeastern terminus at Finch Avenue, connecting with Line 2 Bloor–Danforth at and Line 4 Sheppard at. This eastern portion, often just called the "Yonge Line", serves Downtown Toronto, Midtown Toronto and York Mills before ending at Finch Avenue, the northern edge of North York Centre.The western portion snakes northwesterly from Union, initially running straight under University Avenue, Queen's Park Crescent, and the St. George campus of the University of Toronto to Bloor Street, where it turns westerly to run under Bloor Street for about. Along this stretch, it interchanges with Line 2 at and Spadina stations. At Spadina Avenue, it turns north to run for roughly under Spadina Road before curving northwesterly to continue along the Nordheimer and Cedarvale ravines to the foot of Allen Road at Eglinton Avenue. It reaches the surface and continues northward in the road's median for past Wilson Station, after which it resumes travelling underground and runs northwesterly on an off-street alignment below suburban industrial areas, interchanging with the eastern terminus of Line 6 Finch West at Finch West station, before reaching the York University campus and Steeles Avenue. From there, it turns to parallel Jane Street for roughly until its northwestern terminus in the neighbouring city of Vaughan's planned downtown core, the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, at the intersection of Jane Street and Highway 7. This western portion serves the Annex and Forest Hill neighbourhoods in Old Toronto; Humewood–Cedarvale in the former city of York; Yorkdale–Glen Park, Downsview, the York University Heights–Northwood Park areas in the former North York; and the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre in Vaughan.
Name
The line's name has been changed as it has been extended. Following its opening between Union Station and Eglinton Avenue along Yonge Street in 1954, it was called "the subway". In 1963, it was extended along University Avenue to St. George station and renamed the "Yonge–University Line". Briefly in 1966, the Yonge–University subway ran in two branches: one west along Bloor to Keele station, the other east along Bloor and Danforth to Woodbine station via Bay Lower station.In 1978, the "Spadina" section was opened and the line became the "Yonge–University–Spadina Line". Although only two stations are on Spadina Road, a larger portion of the line was originally intended to follow the planned Spadina Expressway, which was partially built as Allen Road. The subway also had an additional internal route number: route 602.
Unofficially, subway lines were already numbered, but in October 2013, the TTC announced plans to display line numbers publicly to help riders to navigate the system. In March 2014, the line was officially numbered and renamed "Line 1 Yonge–University", with the Spadina part being dropped from the name. Announcements, documentation and rapid transit maps across the system now refer to the line as "Line 1" or "Line 1 Yonge–University".
History
Early proposals
There were several early proposals to build a subway along or near Yonge Street, many of which involved running streetcars in a tunnel. Here are some of the proposals.- In 1909, an English company offered to build and operate a subway along Yonge Street from Eglinton Avenue to Front Street. The plan was abandoned because the city would take over public transit in 1921, and the company's franchise would then terminate.
- In 1910, when running for mayor of Toronto, Toronto Star co-founder Horatio C. Hocken proposed building a "tube" along Yonge Street from north of St. Clair Avenue to Front Street. He dropped the idea after losing that election.
- In 1911, a city engineer planned a line from Bay and Front streets to Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue. The electorate rejected the plan.
- In 1931, City Controller Hacker proposed a north–south subway running from Avenue Road and St. Clair Avenue south to Front and York streets, making a wide loop via Front, Scott, Victoria and Gerrard streets. The TTC rejected this proposal saying there was insufficient population to justify such a project.
- In 1942, the TTC proposed a north–south line under Bay Street from Union Station to Bloor Street then jogging over to Yonge Street to continue to north of St. Clair Avenue. This idea was rejected in favour of a subway completely along Yonge Street.
Construction
A plan was put to the voters on January 1, 1946. The plan had two parts. First, it featured a "rapid transit subway" operated with subway trains from Eglinton Avenue to the north as far as College Street to the south. The line would continue directly under Yonge and Front Streets to Union Station. Second would be a "surface car subway", diverting streetcar services off Queen Street and Dundas Street. This would run mostly along Queen Street, with each end angling north to reach Dundas Street west of Trinity Park to the west and Gerrard Street at Pape Avenue. The route would run directly under Queen Street from University Avenue to Church Street, with the rest off-street. The vote was overwhelmingly in favour, and Toronto City Council approved construction four months later.
The plebiscite contained the condition that the federal government would subsidize 20 percent of the project. The federal Minister of Reconstruction, C.D. Howe, promised federal support in an October 3, 1945, letter. However, the funding fell through over a disagreement about the details of the employment arrangements. A scaled down proposal, about 20 percent smaller, was agreed to in its place. The work along Queen Street was abandoned temporarily, and the original $42.3million was reduced to $28.9million plus $3.5million for rolling stock. After a two-year delay due to postwar labour shortages, construction on the new subway did not start until September 8, 1949. A total of of material was removed and some of reinforcing steel and 1.4million bags of cement were put into place. A roughed-in station was constructed below station for a proposed Queen line, but that line was never built.
File:HCRY-Chicago-48.jpg|thumb|The TTC intended the subway to use streetcar-derived trains, like this former Chicago 'L' train preserved at the Halton County Radial Railway.
Service on the Yonge route would be handled by new rolling stock, and the TTC was particularly interested in the Chicago series 6000 cars, which used trucks, wheels, motors, and drive control technologies that had been developed and perfected on PCC streetcars. However, the United States was in the midst of the Korean War at the time, which had caused a substantial increase in metal prices, thus making the PCC cars too expensive for the TTC. Instead, in November 1951, an order was placed with the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company in England for 104 cars for $7,800,000 including spare parts.
The Toronto Subway typeface and TTC logo were also designed during this period. The logo used during the subway's development was designed by mid-century architect John C. Parkin and chief architect Arthur Keith. Against the wishes of Walter Paterson, the chief engineer, TTC chairman William McBrien and general manager H.C. Patten rejected the design in favour of one that was more similar to the one previously used on TTC vehicles.
Opening
After five years of construction, Ontario Premier Leslie Frost and Toronto Mayor Allan Lamport officially opened the long Yonge subway on March 30, 1954. It was the first subway in Canada.The original Yonge Street subway line went from Union subway station near the namesake railway station north to Eglinton station. Dignitaries, including the premier and the mayor, rode the first train that morning, going north from the yards at Davisville station, and then from Eglinton station south along the entire line. The line was then opened to the public, and that day at 2:30 pm, the last streetcar made its final trip along the Yonge streetcar line.
Operations and extensions
Trains operated at average speeds of. The plan to operate two-car trains during off-peak hours was abandoned in favour of four-car trains, and six-car trains were standard during most periods, with some eight-car trains used during peak periods.On February 28, 1963, an extension was added to curve north from Union Station, below University Avenue and Queen's Park to near Bloor Street, where it turned west to terminate at St. George and Bloor Street.
On February 26, 1966, the Bloor–Danforth line opened, from Keele to Woodbine. For six months, as a trial, the Yonge–University line operated as two branches: Eglinton–Keele and Eglinton–Woodbine. The interlining trial was determined to be ineffective, and the Yonge–University line was cut back to St. George on September 4, 1966.
On June 23, 1969, the University subway service from St. George to Union stations was discontinued entirely after 9:45 p.m. from Mondays to Saturdays and all day on Sundays and holidays. The 5B Avenue Road buses run in place between Eglinton and Front Street whenever the University subway did not operate, with side-jaunts to St. George station to capture passengers from the Bloor subway. This arrangement remained in place until January 28, 1978, when the Spadina subway opened north to Wilson Station.
On March 31, 1973, the line was extended north from Eglinton to, and on March 29, 1974, to. These two extensions were part of the North Yonge Extension project, bringing the subway to North York.
Stations were also planned for Glencairn, Glen Echo and Empress.
On January 28, 1978, the Spadina segment of the line was opened for service, going from St. George station, the north terminus of the University line, to Wilson station. From St. George station, the segment ran north and northwest to Eglinton Avenue and Allen Road, then north along the median of the Allen Road to Wilson Avenue. This extension had been proposed as part of the Spadina Expressway, but when the expressway portion south of Eglinton Avenue was cancelled after massive protests, the subway was still built following the route through Cedarvale Ravine. Hence, it was called the Spadina line, though it follows Spadina Road for less than.
On June 18, 1987, North York Centre station was added between Sheppard and Finch stations as an infill station to serve the rapidly growing North York City Centre.
On August 11, 1995, at 6:02 pm, the Russell Hill subway accident occurred as a southbound subway train heading toward Dupont station crashed under Russell Hill Drive, killing three passengers and sending 30 to hospital. This accident prompted the Toronto Transit Commission to review its practices and put resources into safety.
On March 31, 1996, the Spadina segment of the line was extended from Wilson station north to Downsview station.
File:Finch West 2016.JPG|thumb|right|Finch West station on the TYSSE under construction in 2016
On November 17, 2016, with the Presto fare gates installed at Eglinton station, all of the stations along the line became Presto-enabled.