Sheppard (TTC)
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| Toronto subway/RT | |
| Yonge-University-Spadina | |
| Bloor-Danforth | |
| Scarborough RT | |
| Sheppard | |
The Sheppard Line is the newest subway line line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. It currently has five stations and is 5.5 kilometres (3.4 miles) long. It opened on November 24, 2002. It is internally numbered as Route 4, but this number is not shown on TTC maps, signs, or schedules and is rarely used or even known by the public.
The 385 Sheppard East bus provides late-night service when the subway is not in operation. This service terminates at Sheppard-Yonge Station and follows Sheppard Avenue to Meadowvale. Bus service is extended on Sundays because the subway and RT starts at 9:00 a.m. instead of the usual time of 6:00 a.m.
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[edit] History
Plans were developed in the early 1990s to build new subway lines along Eglinton and Sheppard Avenues. With the election of the Progressive Conservative provincial government in 1995, work on the Eglinton line was halted, but the Sheppard line was constructed. Some believed that North York Mayor Mel Lastman’s political clout (he was later elected Mayor of the amalgamated City of Toronto) was enough to ensure that his Sheppard line “pet project” was built. The Downsview station was added to the Spadina line partially in anticipation of the Sheppard project westward extension.
The Sheppard subway is unusual in that it was the first “suburban” subway; the previous TTC lines had started from downtown Toronto. However, North York, especially around Yonge and Sheppard, has seen intense high-rise developments in recent years, giving it the nickname of the “new downtown” upon which other surrounding suburban areas were increasingly relying. The case for building the subway line was the existing TTC bus service could not handle the commuter capacity; full buses drove right past waiting crowds at bus stops. Although some suggested that expanding Sheppard Avenue to allow for dedicated bus lanes would have been far cheaper than a subway, there would have been political opposition from the Willowdale community. The new Fairview Mall commuter parking garages at Don Mills were also intended to take the pressure off of the crowded Finch station.
Another reason was to alleviate the congested Highway 404–Don Valley Parkway (DVP) route; while Highway 404 was widened by the province in 1999–2001, similar plans to expand the DVP were not approved by city council, and this would result in an inevitable bottleneck. The intention was that downtown-bound drivers would exit Highway 404 at Sheppard Avenue, and take the subway to avoid this choke point.
When the Sheppard line opened in 2002, it was the city’s first new subway line in decades. It is shorter than originally planned, running from Yonge Street (at the former Sheppard station, now renamed Sheppard-Yonge) east to Don Mills Road rather than further west to Downsview station and southeast to Scarborough Centre station. The line will be extended only with substantial additional government funding.
The Sheppard line cost just under $1 billion and took eight years to build. It is the first subway line in Canada to be built entirely with a tunnel-boring machine, though its stations are all in cut-and-cover sections, and there is an enclosed bridge over the Don River near Leslie station. Yonge Street had to be diverted for several years in order to accommodate the expansion of Sheppard Station.
One of the ideas proposed for the Sheppard line was platform screen doors. Aligned at the edge of the platforms, platform screen doors would align themselves with the subway-car doors when in station for safety and suicide prevention. The system was dropped on the account of cost.
Stations are built to eventually take the TTC's standard subway trains of six 23 m (75-foot) cars, but part of each platform has been blocked off since only four-car trains are needed to carry the amount of traffic the line currently receives. The line is designed so that it can be extended at both ends, allowing for the construction of the originally planned westward and eastward branches in the future. The TTC still hopes to extend the line to Scarborough Town Centre, but the westward extension is no longer a priority.
[edit] Criticisms
The line has been derided by critics as a “subway to nowhere” or a “stubway.” Apart from the Sheppard-Yonge and Don Mills terminals, its stations have received little use, even during rush hour. Service is also considered infrequent, with common five-to-six-minute headway between trains in rush hour versus two-to-three-minute intervals for the other lines. One problem is that the subway is parallel to Highway 401; while the latter is busy, it has a twelve-lane collector-express system to manage high traffic volumes.
The suburban subway is also criticized because most of the surrounding population is more affluent and more likely to drive. The Don Mills station at Fairview Mall has also sparked further controversy because the commuter lot requires a fee even if one holds a monthly Metropass transit pass; the parking charge was required in order to prevent the limited garage space from being overwhelmed (the regular mall parking is cordoned off until the shopping centre opens). Although the subway was intended to divert some Highway 404 southbound and 401 westbound traffic from using the congested Don Valley Parkway, this plan has also not worked out to expectations due to the aforementioned parking fee and infrequent service.
The new subway, however, spurred over $1 billion of construction of new housing, including several high-rise condominum towers, along its route (particularly around Bayview station), with more expected in coming years.
[edit] Stations
The entire line runs under or near Sheppard Avenue East. All of its stations, whether by transfer or in the fare-paid area, connect to surface TTC bus routes. All stations have elevators for wheelchair access, and public art; noteworthy examples are the scenic mural at Sheppard-Yonge, the children’s logo at Bayview, and Leslie station’s tiles showing the words “Sheppard & Leslie” handwritten by hundreds of ordinary people.
| Name | Opening Year | Interchange | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheppard Line | |||
| Sheppard-Yonge |
 |
2002 | Yonge-University Spadina |
| Bayview |
|
2002 | 11 Bayview |
| Bessarion |
|
2002 | 85 Sheppard East |
| Leslie |
|
2002 | GO Transit (Oriole, 1 km) |
| Don Mills |
|
2002 | York Region Transit, Viva Green |
[edit] Future expansion
Between Don Mills and Scarborough Centre
Prior to march 2007, the TTC considered the Sheppard East extension of the Sheppard subway to Scarborough Centre as one of its two top priorities for rapid-transit expansion, along with a northerly extension of the Spadina line. In addition to this eastern extension, the original plans for the Sheppard line included a westward extension to Downsview station on the Spadina line,. Neither extension is now considered a priority. In March 2007, the City of Toronto and the TTC released the Transit City proposal to begin a new round of transit expansion using light rail (streetcar) technology on dedicated rights-of-way instead of subway technology. The Sheppard East subway extension has been replaced in this plan by a light rail line running from Don Mills station along Sheppard Avenue East to Meadowvale, where it would meet the northern terminus of an extended Scarborough RT line. Under this proposal, there would be no direct connection between the North York and Scarborough "city centres".
The following stations were included on the plan for the subway extension:
Between Downsview and Sheppard-Yonge
[edit] Western extension
- Downsview – existing station on the Spadina line
- Faywood
- Bathurst North
- Senlac
[edit] Infill on existing line
- Willowdale – between Sheppard-Yonge and Bayview
[edit] Eastern extension ("Sheppard East")
- Consumers
- Victoria Park North
- Warden North
- Kennedy North
- Agincourt – relocated GO Transit railway station
- Progress – between Brimley Road and Midland Avenue
- Scarborough Centre – existing station on the Scarborough RT line
Source: Toronto Transit Sheppard line map
[edit] Voice automation system
This subway line uses an automated system to announce each stop on this subway line. The system was commenced on January 1, 2006.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Transit Toronto – The Sheppard subway
- Rapid Transit Expansion Study (Toronto Transit Commission, 2001). (PDF, 2.6 MB)
