Work is fully underway on the tunnels and at all six stations on the Spadina Subway extension to York University and on to Vaughan's future downtown. Today we have a quick photo update on work at three of those six stations, taken in fading light last Thursday evening.

Vaughan Metropolitan Centre station, named by people who have no experience with trying to fit obnoxiously long names on to a map, is the least advanced for the three pictured, but you can see shoring running the length of the trench now being dug for the station box, and cranes ready to lift more material for the shoring into the worksite below.

The excavation site for Vaughan Metropolitan Centre station on the Spadina Subway extension, image by Nigel Terpstra

Further south, Steeles West station straddles the boundary separating Toronto and Vaughan. The two shots below are taken from Steeles looking southeast into the station box trench.

The excavation trench for Steeles West station on the Spadina Subway extension, image by Craig White

The excavation trench for Steeles West station on the Spadina Subway extension, image by Nigel Terpstra

Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) dubbed Yorkie and Torkie were launched respectively in December 2011 and February 2012 from this site and are currently chewing up rock on their way southeast under York University. Once they arrive at their Keele Street extraction site to the north of Finch West station, they will be moved north to Highway 407 station to excavate the northern tunnels.

Downsview Park station, looking west from where the GO line crosses below, is the farthest along of the stations. The other two TBMs at work on this project, Holey and Moley, set off to the northwest from here last year, and made it to Finch West station in May and June of this year.

The station box for Downsview Park station under construction on the Spadina Subway extension, image by Craig White

After re-assemby onsite, Holey and Moley will soon be launched from the distant end of this photo, looking east from the GO line, toward the current terminus of the Spadina Subway at Downsview station, completing the southern tunnels.

The station box for Downsview Park station under construction on the Spadina Subway extension, image by Craig White

The extension of the Spadina Subway is expected to open in 2016, although some hope persists for a 2015 opening in time for the Pan Am Games, at least for the portion as far north as Steeles West. After all, if you were going to build a new stadium at York University for the games, and were holding many other events there as well, wouldn't you want to open the new line in time for that major international sporting event? We will see if the powers that be can muster up the wherewithall to get the job completed in time for Toronto to host the games with transportation ease, as opposed to with a traffic nightmare.

You can find out more about how all of the new Spadina stations will look below, in our dataBase entries.