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News Release

Largest Subway Expansion in Decades Connects Toronto to Vaughan
December 15, 2017

Six New Stops a Major Milestone as Transit Investments Continue Across the Province
The largest expansion of Toronto's subway system in nearly 40 years comes into service on December 17, offering a fast and convenient new option for people to get to a job or class -- and home to their families sooner.

Today, Premier Kathleen Wynne -- along with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; John Tory, Mayor of Toronto; Josh Colle, TTC Chair; and Wayne Emmerson, York Region Chairman and CEO; as well as other local transit and elected officials, celebrated the landmark project by taking the inaugural ride on the new stretch of Line 1 linking Toronto with Vaughan. This is among the largest subway expansions in North America in recent decades, with six new stations and 8.6 kilometres of new track. It will allow people to get from the new subway terminus at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre to the Sheppard West station in about 14 minutes, and to Union Station in 42 minutes. And students will be able to take rapid transit to York University for the very first time.

The extension of Line 1 into York Region will strengthen connections across the region. The new extension forges links with other transit connections being built across the region, from the future Finch West LRT to the Barrie GO rail line and the vivaNext rapid-bus network in York Region. The new subway terminus is already helping to encourage business and residential development in Vaughan's emerging downtown. This hub will help create a walkable, urban community with extensive green space and quick access to transit. The fast connection between Vaughan and Union Station in downtown Toronto will help businesses attract the best talent and boost their productivity -- and help families across the region connect quickly and easily.

This milestone marks the first in a series of game-changing transit projects the Ontario government will open in the coming years. The 19-kilometre Eglinton Crosstown LRT is one of the largest infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Toronto; Waterloo Region is set to celebrate the opening of its first light rail project, just as Regional Express Rail is set to better connect it with the Greater Toronto Area; and Ottawa's Confederation Line LRT is expected to open next year.

Expanding rapid transit is part of Ontario's plan to create fairness and opportunity during this period of rapid economic change. The plan includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25 through the biggest expansion of Medicare in a generation.


QUICK FACTS
  • The Line 1 Extension/Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) will add an estimated 36 million transit trips and eliminate 30 million car trips per year, helping to ease traffic congestion, improve air quality and fight climate change.
  • More than 2,800 parking spots at three commuter lots along the new extension will make it even easier for commuters to get out of their cars and get to work and home to their families more quickly and efficiently.
  • The province has provided $974 million for this project through the Move Ontario Trust. The City of Toronto is providing $904 million, the federal government up to $697 million and York Region $604 million.
  • The total cost of the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension is about $3.2 billion.
  • The six new subway stations are Downsview Park, Finch West, York University, Pioneer Village, Highway 407 and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.
  • The subway’s new terminus at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre is a major new transportation hub in York Region. It connects directly to the vivaNext rapidway on Highway 7 — part of an extensive rapid transit network of dedicated bus lanes that York Region Transit is building with up to $1.4 billion in funding from Ontario.
  • Ontario and the City of Toronto are cutting costs for commuters in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. Starting on January 7, 2018, adult, senior, youth and student TTC riders will pay a TTC fare of just $1.50 when they use a PRESTO card to transfer to or from GO Transit or the Union Pearson Express.
  • The Line 1 Extension/Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension is the largest subway expansion in the region in nearly 40 years.
 
Justin Trudeau joins premier, mayor at TTC line 1 extension opening

See link.

justin-trudeau.JPG
 
Amare said:
An interesting background on how the Spadina Subway Extension came to be. Essentially the project came to be through gentlemen agreements, handshakes and the drawing of lines on a map:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/toronto-subway-extension/article37324030/
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That article really downplays the fact that a subway extension to York University has been a high priority for the city since the 1980s, and doing anything to get someone else to pay for it was an even-higher priority.
 
amnesiajune said:
That article really downplays the fact that a subway extension to York University has been a high priority for the city since the 1980s, and doing anything to get someone else to pay for it was an even-higher priority.
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That was my thought......I was at York late 70s into early 80s....talk then was how the subway was "coming soon".......I get why someone like Sorbara, in his biography, would say "The story begins in 1986. ....." but we don't have to buy into his ego by believing/repeating that!

As for today....it seems (to me) all a bit strange that we would ribbon cut on the Friday morning of a very busy travel weekend (lots of shopping trips, party trips, get to Union to get out of town trips, etc), let the VIPs enjoy the one subway trip they will take in 15 years.....then shut the thing down again and not open to the public until most of that busy weekend is past.....if the thing is "officially" open and trains can run on it and the stations are ready.....wait 1 hour after the VIPs are done (god help us if they ever got close to a regular person) and swing the doors open and let people use it.
 
Looks like the TTC just pushed Sunday's schedule changes to the website two days early, overwriting the current schedules. This is kind of annoying considering I was still planning to use some of those routes before the subway's opening on the 17th.
 
No one will fund a subway extension just to go to York U, identified priority (which we have many of) or otherwise. Just like no one will chose to go to York U because of a "promised" subway.

AoD
 
TOareaFan said:
As for today....it seems (to me) all a bit strange that we would ribbon cut on the Friday morning of a very busy travel weekend (lots of shopping trips, party trips, get to Union to get out of town trips, etc), let the VIPs enjoy the one subway trip they will take in 15 years.....then shut the thing down again and not open to the public until most of that busy weekend is past.....if the thing is "officially" open and trains can run on it and the stations are ready.....wait 1 hour after the VIPs are done (god help us if they ever got close to a regular person) and swing the doors open and let people use it.
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The ceremonial opening is on a Friday because the media would rather not be dragged out to this on a Sunday morning. The actual opening is on a Sunday because that's how the TTC's schedules operate - the start of the week for them is Sunday. (As an added benefit it basically works as a final "soft launch" in the unlikely case that something needs to be changed for Monday morning.)
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
No one will fund a subway extension just to go to York U, identified priority (which we have many of) or otherwise. Just like no one will chose to go to York U because of a "promised" subway.

AoD
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York U didn't want the subway to end at York U because it was worried that it would lead to an influx of "non-community members" (people other than students, staff, or faculty) on campus. Also IMO the subway actually reduces the charm of York's campus, making it feel less like the 1960s-era suburban campuses of Guelph, Waterloo, and Brock, but not quite like the urban campuses of Ryerson and U of T. Of course, the convenience makes it worth it for the vast majority of people.
 
Sandpit said:
York U didn't want the subway to end at York U because it was worried that it would lead to an influx of "non-community members" (people other than students, staff, or faculty) on campus. Also IMO the subway actually reduces the charm of York's campus, making it feel less like the 1960s-era suburban campuses of Guelph, Waterloo, and Brock, but not quite like the urban campuses of Ryerson and U of T. Of course, the convenience makes it worth it for the vast majority of people.
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We shouldn't be surprised if we see major building construction happen on the campus. This really could be a big boom for York U.
 
There's already been major construction on York's main campus, and more to come: The Quad residences, the new Student Centre, the Bergeron Centre, etc. Not including all the new additions from earlier in the decade. I graduated in 1998 and I don't even recognize large parts of the campus these days!
 
innsertnamehere said:
if a private landowner wants to pave over a vacant field and use it for parking for the subway, what is to prevent them? They have long term development plans for it, there is no harm in providing an interim land use.
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Agreed. I'd much rather have those cars sitting in a parking lot next to the subway than sitting on the 401.
 
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