Toronto Spadina Subway Extension Emergency Exits | ?m | 1s | TTC | IBI Group

[INTz]

Finch west is progressing quickly. The parking entrance is lit up. Looks good!

Looking good all lit up #FinchWest #KeeleFinchPlus https://t.co/5HD3V8eOHu https://twitter.com/georgieintz/status/938562958929604608

 

[Megaton327]

Finch west is progressing quickly. The parking entrance is lit up. Looks good!

Looking good all lit up #FinchWest #KeeleFinchPlus https://t.co/5HD3V8eOHu https://twitter.com/georgieintz/status/938562958929604608

About time! I was getting concerned we'd see December 17th come, with trains running through that one station without stopping.

Seems a bit silly to have an open house for it on the 16th.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Now it's the inspectors turn looking for missing receptacle covers, cracked lamps, missing bulbs, construction debris, loose tiles, working fare gates, clean windows, and locals sneaking in.

 

[mdrejhon]

Now is a great moment to admire the Montreal-style artwork of brand new TTC subway stations. Montreal subway stations were always fancier than Toronto's but these match the game.

Not your grandfather's subway stations, I like the designs.

 

[M II A II R II K]

The northbound to Vaughn signs are up at stations.

 

[pman]

There’s a remarkable negative correlation between the spaciousness and general magnificence of our subway stations and the number of people who use (or will use) them.

 

[mind_the_gap]

... Seems a bit silly to have an open house for [Finch West] on the 16th.

Agreed. Why would they not just do this the next day, when the line actually opens.

I'd have rather had an Open House for the emergency exits, that we will hopefully never have to see otherwise.

Also, I forget who mentioned it before on this forum, but why not re-number the Wilson Rocket as the 196, to reflect the local service. (However, IMO all Rocket routes should be numbered in the now vacant 200-series.)

 

[TransitBart]

There’s a remarkable negative correlation between the spaciousness and general magnificence of our subway stations and the number of people who use (or will use) them.

What are you hinting at exactly?

 

[amnesiajune]

There’s a remarkable negative correlation between the spaciousness and general magnificence of our subway stations and the number of people who use (or will use) them.

Correlation? Perhaps. Causation? Definitely not. Sheppard-Yonge is probably the most sprawling station (and one of the prettier ones) in the system, and it's the fourth-busiest. Rosedale, Summerhill, Castle Frank and Chester are small, boring and generic and have garbage ridership. Nobody says "Hey, I'm going to go to a different station because this one looks too nice."

 

[lead82]

The grander the station the less people will use it. All the new stations are beautiful and grand. However they are located in mostly sparsely populated areas and will be utterly empty for most of the day. Sure York U will be fairly busy as will Finch West and Pioneer Village during peak hours. Outside of peak and on weekends, these stations will be ghost towns. Especially places like VMC and 407 station and Downsview Park. Downsview Park has no usefulness as a station and the only reason it’s there is to connect with Barrie line trains. It should have been built a lot further south closer to the actual Downsview Park sports centre.

Meanwhile our downtown stations are packed to the brim because they are well used but also because the initial designs were idiotic and they built these core stations on the cheap and did not account for putting in proper mezzanines and platform widths. During rush hour it takes forever to get into or leave the downtown stations because there is usually one stairs and one escalator to facilitate vertical movement. When trains are delayed in afternoon rush the crowds on Yonge Line stations College-Dundas-Queen-King are so large that they are dangerously close to a hazard.

 

[amnesiajune]

Also, I forget who mentioned it before on this forum, but why not re-number the Wilson Rocket as the 196, to reflect the local service. (However, IMO all Rocket routes should be numbered in the now vacant 200-series.)

They probably wouldn't do this to avoid confusion.

 

[lead82]

Correlation? Perhaps. Causation? Definitely not. Sheppard-Yonge is probably the most sprawling station (and one of the prettier ones) in the system, and it's the fourth-busiest. Rosedale, Summerhill, Castle Frank and Chester are small, boring and generic and have garbage ridership. Nobody says "Hey, I'm going to go to a different station because this one looks too nice."

Sheppard-Yonge is a mess of a station. It was over built with the middle platform for Line 4 that will never be used with a terrible flow design. The vertical circulation is awful for those who want to get from bus terminal to Line 4 - having to go down to Line 1 and then come up to Line 4 platform. I used to use this station all the time and many people were confused on how to get to Line 4. They would often to go the unused westbound platform only to find out there are no trains there. There should have been a simple path built for people to go from bus terminal to Line 4.

In terms of aesthetics, sure the Line 4 station is new and has nice public art. The Line 1 station is hideous and should have been renovated to give it a refreshed look with Line 4.

As for the other stations you mentioned, it’s true they are small and under used. I’d argue that they should never have been built in the first place as they are too close to the other stations. However, the downtown stations on Yonge line between Bloor and Union are tiny and super crowded with limited vertical circulation and need to be expanded. As always though there is no money for such needed projects. It is spent wastefully building huge stations in the suburbs. Except for the terminal, the new Spadina extension stations are hugely overbuilt. Look how huge Downsview Park station is. It has 2 massive buildings that could have been used as valuable developed land. Same with Finch West. There could have been integrated development.

 

[crs1026]

Is there a firm timing for when the first trains will depart each end of the new line next week?

I would hate to repeat the events of Feb 26, 1966, when a friend and I arrived at Keele Station..... just in time to hear the very first train rumble eastwards out of the station. (At least Train #3 had fewer people standing at the front windows ;-) )

- Paul

 

[11th]

Sheppard-Yonge is a mess of a station. It was over built with the middle platform for Line 4 that will never be used with a terrible flow design. The vertical circulation is awful for those who want to get from bus terminal to Line 4 - having to go down to Line 1 and then come up to Line 4 platform. I used to use this station all the time and many people were confused on how to get to Line 4. They would often to go the unused westbound platform only to find out there are no trains there. There should have been a simple path built for people to go from bus terminal to Line 4.

They could, but have chosen not to. A tunnel could easily have been built connecting the present bus terminal pathway to the Sheppard Ave West (line 4) mezzanine.

 

[mind_the_gap]

Sheppard-Yonge is a mess of a station. It was over built... There should have been a simple path built for people to go from bus terminal to Line 4.

This is so true... that long walk between the 84/196 (soon to be 84E) is really a discouragement for using that station for travel other than along the Yonge subway. For example, I frequently take the York Mills bus and transfer to the Wilson bus/Rocket because of the much shorter walk.

With all the work they did at Sheppard-Yonge at the time, a convenient connection between services east and west of Yonge should've been obvious, considering they built a new Line 4 entrance right beside the bus terminal.

EDIT: As I've mentioned before on this forum, I believe the whole bus terminal should be redevolped (since the Sheppard line opening, it's way too underused to justify taking over so much valuable land). Keep the current pedestrian tunnel open to the Harlandale exit, and put bus shelters along Harlandale.