- "*Ding-Dang-Dong* Please stand clear of the doors👁 Image
. The next station is TV Tropes, TV Tropes station. Doors will open on the right."
The first subway in Canada (opened in 1954), the Toronto Subway is one of the most heavily used on the North American continent. Operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (who also operates Toronto's streetcar and bus systems), the system covers 109 stations with about 99.4 kilometers of track as of February 8, 2026.
The Toronto subway system currently consists of 5 lines, 3 heavy rail and 2 light rail. Subway lines were originally only assigned a name, but a new wayfinding standard which included numbering the subway lines was announced by the TTC in 2013 and phased in over the following year (possibly in anticipation of the 2015 Pan-Am Games, which were expected to be a major tourist draw). Lines are numbered in the order that they began construction,note The original pattern was numbering based on date of first opening, however Line 6 Finch West ended up opening before the delay-plagued Line 5 Eglinton, despite starting construction 9 years later. though this pattern will be disrupted in the 2030s when the Ontario Line is expected to be assigned the currently-unused number 3. While lines are also assigned colours to differentiate them on route maps, they are never referred to only by their colour.
Lines of the Toronto Subway:
Shaped like a U, the Yonge-University Line is the oldest in the system (with the Eglinton-Union stretch opening in 1954). Line 1 has the highest ridership in the system and is the heart of the subway network, with all current and future lines interchanging with it at least once.note Line 2 at Spadina, St. George, and Bloor-Yonge; Line 4 at Sheppard-Yonge; Line 5 at Cedarvale and Eglinton; Line 6 at Finch West; and the Ontario Line at Osgoode and Queen. At the base of the U is Toronto Union Station, the second-busiest rail station in North America after New York Penn Station and the busiest passenger transportation facility of any type in Canada, where passengers can transfer to intercity trains and busses. An extension of the western arm of the U into the suburb of Vaughan was opened at the end of 2017 after significant delays, and an extension of the eastern arm into Richmond Hill is currently under development. Since 2011, it has been run with the rather marvelous Toronto Rocket👁 Image
rolling stock. It was also the first part of the system to receive underground Wi-Fi and cell phone service. Still often referred to by locals as the "Yonge-University-Spadina line".
Covering an east-west axis about 2 to 3 kilometers inland from Lake Ontario, the Bloor-Danforth line is the second oldest, second busiest and second longest in the system. The first portions of it opened in 1966 after being in the planning stages for several years, with extensions opening in 1968 and 1980. Every now and then there's talk of extending it west to Mississauga but, as of 2025, the latest extension under construction is eastward to replace the former Line 3 Scarborough (see below).
The Sheppard Line services a portion of the Sheppard Avenue corridor in the inner suburb of North York. Running east from Sheppard-Yonge station on the eastern arm of Line 1 to Don Mills station, it is the shortest and least used line in the system. This has led to it being derisively called the "Sheppard Stubway" or "subway to nowhere". There aren't many interesting things to say about this line, though, besides the fact that it is the only line to have no uncovered sections and features several optical illusion artworks at its stations.
- Line 4 was the last subway line to have its construction led by the TTC. All subsequent lines in the system have been been built as public-private partnership projects overseen by Metrolinx, the provincial transit authority for the Greater Toronto Area, which retains ownership of the constructed infrastructure... although the TTC are the ones to operate the lines and all employees working along the new lines work for the TTC rather than Metrolinx or the private contractors.note The 2017 extension of Line 1 to Vaughan was the last subway project of any kind to be wholly led by the TTC, all future subway extension projects are also being led by Metrolinx.
- Proposals to extend the line further east to serve parts of Scarborough and further west to Sheppard West station on the western arm of Line 1 are currently in the planning stages. Some proposals call for the heavy rail subway to be extended while others call for a new Sheppard East LRT line to be built running eastward from Don Mills station.
The Eglinton line (also called the Eglinton Crosstown) runs east-west through midtown Toronto to provide a more northern alternative to Line 2. Along its length it connects to GO Transit, UP Express, Line 1, Line 2, and the future Ontario Line. Like the former Scarborough line it is a light rail system rather than a true subway. The western half of the line is fully grade-separated, similar to a subway, running mostly underground to Laird station, where the train surfaces and runs in the median of Eglinton Avenue for the remainder of its length.
- This route was cancellednote not for the first time; more below in late 2010 shortly after Rob Ford took office as mayor, but was restored with some redesigns shortly afterwards. Construction of the line was plagued with multiple delays, and construction of a westbound extension to the border with the neighbouring city of Mississauga began before the line had even opened. It ultimately opened over 5 years late and significantly over budget.
- Future extensions of the line east to Scarborough Town Centre and west to Toronto Pearson Airport have already been approved, but are still in the planning stages.
- Avenue station on Line 5 is the deepest station in the entire subway network, located 32 metres (105 ft) below street level. Passengers are free to use the staircase to exit the station but warning signs are posted to advise that they will need to climb the equivalent of 9 floors worth of stairs to reach street level. The signs go on to politely recommend taking the escalator or elevator instead.
Another light rail line, this one runs west from Finch West station on the western arm of Line 1 to Humber College in the northwestern part of Toronto and is at ground level in the median of Finch Avenue for almost its entire length, except for short tunnel segments near the 2 terminal stations of the line. It was constructed to replace the western leg of the 36 Finch bus route, one of the most overcrowded TTC bus routes. Unlike the other lines in the system, all stops along the line except the two terminal stations are unstaffed platforms in the road median.
- Was actually cancelled in late 2010 shortly after Rob Ford took office as mayor, but was subsequently restored by city council in early 2012 over his objections. As with Line 5 above, it is owned by Metrolinx but operated by TTC employees.
- When it opened it was widely criticized for being slower than the buses it was meant to replace, with trips being far slower than the initial estimated duration provided by Metrolinx. The months after its opening also saw severe winter weather (including a massive storm in January 2026 that dropped a record-breaking amount of snowfall) which caused issues with the track switches freezing and knocking all or part of the line out of service.
Future lines
Currently under construction (ceremonial ground was broken in 2022 but full construction started in 2023), the Ontario Line is the replacement project for the long-discussed Downtown Relief Line (more below). In terms of technology it is expected to fall somewhere between the traditional subway lines and Lines 5 and 6, similar to Line 3 Scarborough, with subway-esque trains powered by overhead wire. It will also be the first subway line in Toronto to operate using driverless trains. The line is roughly shaped like a backwards "L" running at a combination of ground-level, underground, and elevated from Line 5's Don Valley station (formerly Science Centre) in North York to Exhibition Place, near the western part of the Toronto Waterfront (connecting to GO Transit and the TTC's 509 and 511 streetcar lines). As its predecessor's name suggests, it is intended to relieve pressure on the existing Line 1 Yonge-University, particularly the overcrowded Bloor-Yonge interchange station.
Former lines
The Scarborough Line was an elevated light metro system rather than a true heavy-rail subway. It opened in 1986 and ran on a five-stop line from Kennedy to McCowan through its namesake Scarborough Town Center. Originally planned to operate using existing streetcar vehicles (although separated from traffic), the Ontario government forced the city to convert the line into a testbed for the Intermediate Capacity Transit System, developed by the provincially-owned Urban Transportation Development Corporation, by threatening to withdraw the promised 75% provincial funding for the new line. The line was redesigned to use the ICTS linear induction motors as its system of propulsion, a technology likely best known within transit for its use on the Vancouver SkyTrain, Detroit People Movernote to which some of the trains that served this line were sold after the line was permanently closed and London Docklands Light Railway systems. Following the introduction of line numbering, many Scarborough locals continued to refer to the line by its original name: "Scarborough RT" (Rapid Transit). Since 2013, a plan was implemented that would replace Line 3 with an extension of Line 2 Bloor-Danforth on a more eastern right of way. The line was originally set to close in November 2023, but was permanently closed several months early on July 24, 2023 after a derailment. Current plans for the left over line infrastructure is that it will be converted into a public park.
Other facts about the Subway:
- The width (gauge) of the tracks on Lines 1, 2, and 4 are not standard railway gauge (4 foot 8 1/2 inches), but instead use the unique Toronto gauge which is slightly wider (4 foot 10 7/8 inches). This is because the subway tracks were designed to match the gauge of Toronto's streetcar system and part of Toronto's subway system was originally planned to be serviced by existing streetcars. Historic Toronto transit equipment must be re-gauged if it is to operate elsewhere. (Which it has been; in particular, the standard-gauge tram system of Alexandria in Egypt used re-gauged former TTC streetcars to run its street-running "City" tram routes through the historic city center from the 1960s through 1980s.)
- It was long believed that The reason for the non-standard gauge was to make it impossible for the streetcar tracks to be used for freight rail cars; however, a prevailing theory now is that the wider gauge allowed horse-drawn vehicles to ride along the streetcar right of way and not get bogged down in the muddy, unpaved roads of the day.
- The former Line 3 Scarborough and the Metrolinx-built lines (Lines 5, 6, and the Ontario Line) use standard track gauge.
- Kennedy is the only station in the system where two lines interchange that is not located along Line 1. From 1985 to 2023 it served as an interchange between Lines 2 and the original 3, and since 2026 it has been an interchange between Lines 2 and 5. If Line 5 had opened on schedule in 2020 it would have made Kennedy the first station where three lines met.
- Lines 5 and 6 are bilingual, with onboard announcements and station signage provided in both English and French, because they were constructed by the provincial government agency Metrolinx. This is due to Ontario's French Language Services Act, which requires that provincial government public services must be available in French in designated areas (of which Toronto is one) that have a certain proportion of French speakers
- The system only has one abandoned station, Lower Bay... which is actually just part of a station. The lower level of Bay station on Line 2 Bloor-Danforth was only in service for a few months as part of a unique (but inefficient) interlining service plan to have all stops served by at least two lines. The lower level of Bay station was walled off with the only access being a nondescript maintenance door. Lower Bay is now frequently rented out by the TTC to film and television productions, and it even has pre-made signs so it can double for a New York Subway station. Tours are also open for the public most years as part of Doors Open Toronto.
- There is another Toronto subway station with an extra level that was never used. When the Queen Street subway station was built, it was originally planned to interchange with an underground streetcar line that would be built along Queen Street downtown, and the station for this line was “roughed in” below the existing Queen Street station on the Yonge line. The subterranean streetcar line was never built, and thus the lower level has never been used by transit vehicles. However, you're walking through it if you use the under-track walkway between the southbound and northbound tracks. The unused portions will finally be incorporated into the Queen-Yonge station of the under-construction Ontario Line.
- St. Patrick, Queen's Park, and Museum stations were built with several cross passageways linking the north and southbound platforms. After the 1975 murder of Mariam Peters at St. Patrick station these passageways were sealed off to avoid providing a hiding place for "lawbreakers" and turned into storage rooms (except at Museum where metal bars were used to allow for ventilation).
- The system has its own font, which is called... wait for it.... Toronto Subway👁 Image
. It was first developed during planning for the subway system in the 1940s and used in the signage for all stations opened from 1954 to 1974. Since the original designer of the font is unknown and no documentation of the font's design were kept, other fonts were used for signage when building or remodeling stations between the 1970s and 1990s. The design of the font was reverse-engineered in the 2000s using older signs, and a lower case version of the font was developed. It is now the official font of the subway system, used in all new stations starting with the Line 4 Sheppard in 2002 (including renovations of older stations using other fonts). - The subway system includes two stations that are outside of the boundaries of the city of Toronto, Highway 407 and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre are both located in the neighbouring city of Vaughan. While TTC bus routes require an extra fare payment when crossing the border into Vaughan, the subway is treated as a single fare zone.
- The western extension of Line 5 (currently under construction) will bring a third station outside Toronto: the terminal station Renforth will be located just across the border with Mississauga and will serve as an interchange with the Mississauga Transitway bus rapid transit line.
- When the Prince Edward Viaduct👁 Image
was built across the Don Valley in the 1910s, the designer included a lower deck on the bridge in anticipation of a hypothetical future subway, an expensive and controversial move at the time. This ended up saving millions of dollars when the Bloor-Danforth line was built in the 60s, as they could build the subway on the existing lower deck instead of having to build a new bridge or route the line around the valley. - Development Hell and Executive Meddling tend to be the default state of any transit projects in Toronto:
- When Line 1 opened in 1954, over 40 years had elapsed since the first subway proposal along Yonge Street had been made. Further proposals would emerge over the years, to the point that when CBC News reported on opening day, their tagline was "Toronto got itself a subway...really!".
- Line 1 (and later Line 2) would be continually expanded throughout the 60s and 70s, but would slowly grind to a halt from the 80s onwards. The last extension to Line 2 was completed in 1980, with westward expansion into Mississauga stalled and eastward expansion into Scarborough confined to a single stop. Line 1 has received more attention, with the latest extension into York Region opening in 2017. An extension along Yonge into Richmond Hill has been proposed, but is controversial for adding passengers to a line that is already overloaded, especially by the time trains get downtown.
- Line 5 on Eglinton, first proposed in the "Network 2011" plan in 1985 as a busway, was upgraded to a subway project by the province of Ontario under pressure from city and regional governments, and broke ground in 1994...only to be cancelled in 1995 after a provincial election, and what little excavation had taken place unceremoniously filled back in. Had construction gone through, however, it would only have been a four-stop "stubway" extending west from Eglinton West station, and not the crosstown line built. As mentioned above, it was back on the schedule with the Transit City proposal of the late 2000s, which was then cancelled after the election of Rob Ford as mayor, and then Un-Cancelled within months. Aside from Line 6 Finch, few other projects from the Transit City plan have survived. The project faced numerous delays, to the point that anytime the city posted a completion date most people assumed that it would be further delayed. Some have accused the contractors and workers of purposely working slow to draw out the contract, which some workers have been reported even admitting.
- Perhaps the Ur-Example for Toronto is the infamous "Downtown Relief Line". Also part of the 1985 "Network 2011" plan, the goal of the U-shaped DRL was to reduce pressure on existing downtown transit routes and stations, particularly the congested Bloor-Yonge interchange station between Lines 1 and 2. After the province hesitated to fund the expensive project, it disappeared from the official plan for two decades, returning in 2008 as part of "The Big Move", a new 25-year plan for regional transit commissioned by Metrolinx. A study was completed in 2012, proposing a reverse L-shaped line from the suburban neighbourhood of Don Mills to City Hall along Queen Streetnote following the route of the aborted Queen Street streetcar-subway, first proposed over a century earlier, intersecting with Line 2 along the way. In 2016, the provincial government announced funding to plan the design of the line, in partnership with the city, with a further 120-day project assessment taking place in 2018. This ultimately came to an end in 2019, when the provincial government under Doug Ford announced the "Ontario Line", intended to replace the in-progress Relief Line study. This line will run from the Ontario Science Centre in Don Mills, through the under-redevelopment East Harbour near the mouth of the Don River, along Queen, and down to Exhibition Placenote changed from the closed and provincially-owned Ontario Place directly to the south, which the Ford government had proposed redeveloping as a casino in the west end of the waterfront. Unlike the Relief Line, the Ontario Line would include significant sections of at-grade or elevated track, as well as rolling stock incompatible with the rest of the subway network. Many of these changes came as a surprise to the city, but eventually the two governments came to an agreement later in 2019. Federal government funding was chipped in early in 2021, and the current schedule projects a 2031 opening. Till then, Toronto waits...
- The TTC has received criticism for being the only transit system in North America that has zero government financing or supervision (largely due to conservative government changes in the 90's), which means that riders are actually paying for the system to keep going, instead of taxes going towards it. Adding to this, prices continued to increase while service times decreased, leading to a large drop in riders during COVID. At the same time, violent incidents increased by 48 percent during the pandemic, many of which were completely random and senseless (like people getting pushed onto tracks for no reason). This has led to public outcry for major changes to be made to how TTC is managed. So far, little change has been made.
Other public transit in Toronto:
- Toronto is one of only five cities in North Americanote The others being Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh to retain its original streetcar network for transportation purposes.note As opposed to cities like Portland, Seattle, or Oklahoma City, which tore up their streetcar tracks and later started again from scratch or the likes of New Orleans, which retained them for historical tourism purposes. Possibly as a result of this, Toronto's network is the most extensive in the continent. The streetcars also boast an underground station of their own at Queen's Quay, used by streetcars of the Harbourfront and Spadina lines. Aside from Queen's Quay, a turnaround loop at Union Station, another turnaround loop at Spadina Station, and a through loop at St. Clair West Station, these lines operate at street level. The streetcars mostly operate in mixed traffic, but certain lines have dedicated rights-of-way even aside from the tunnels and loops (e.g. the 510 Spadina, which mostly runs in dedicated tracks in the median of Spadina Avenue).
- GO Transit serves the greater Toronto area, operating commuter trains and coach-style buses. Its train lines run from their hub at Union Station as far as Hamilton, Kitchener, Oshawa, and even Niagara Falls. Unlike the Subway and streetcars, GO is operated by Metrolinx, an agency of the Ontario provincial government. Of particular note is that while GO's rail services currently operate like a typical North American commuter rail system, they are in the process👁 Image
of slowly transitioning to something akin to a German S-bahn system (complete with Deutsche Bahn being involved in the expansion process), with increased frequency in off-peak hours and eventual electrification of some of their lines, complete with European-style electric multiple units. - The Union-Pearson Express (aka. UP Express or UPX) is a rail link between Union Station and Toronto Pearson Airport, sharing the Kitchener Line with GO Transit trains until Etobicoke, where it diverges toward Pearson. Like GO Transit, UPX is operated by Metrolinx. For the moment, it uses diesel multiple units, but when the Kitchener Line electrifies (see above), UPX's dedicated track will as well.