Downsview Park station

Downsview Park is a rapid transit station on Line 1 Yonge–University of the Toronto subway and a commuter rail station on the Barrie commuter rail line of GO Transit. Subway service began on December 17, 2017, and GO Train service began on December 30, 2017.[3] Downsview Park station is a fully integrated multi-modal transit facility serving both transit lines. This is in contrast to other interchanges between TTC subway and GO Transit rail lines, which have separate structures for each agency.

For the subway station formerly known as Downsview, see Sheppard West station.

Downsview Park
Location1212 Sheppard Ave West,
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates43°45′14″N 79°28′42″W
Operated byToronto Transit Commission
PlatformsCentre platform
Tracks2
Bus routes
Construction
ParkingNone
Disabled accessYes
ArchitectAedas
Architectural stylePostmodern architecture
Other information
Station codeGO Transit: DW
History
OpenedDecember 17, 2017 (2017-12-17)[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2018[2])2,520
Rank73 of 75
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station
toward Vaughan
 Yonge–University
toward Finch

TTC ridership statistics for 2018 showed that Downsview Park was the least used station on the heavy-rail subway system, displacing Bessarion on Line 4 Sheppard.

Services

TTC Line 1 operates every 5 minutes or better all day, every day.[4]

The GO Transit Barrie Line operates approximately every 15–30 minutes during the morning peak period, every 30 minutes during the afternoon peak period, and every 60 minutes outside of peak periods including on weekends and holidays.[5]

Subway station

Name

The station had been expected to be named "Sheppard West"[6] and was officially referred to by that name during construction.[7]

Approval was given in 2010 for the station to be named "Downsview Park", subject to the satisfactory resolution of negotiations between the Toronto Transit Commission, the City of Toronto, and the federally-managed Downsview Park related to property acquisition, and to rename the existing Downsview station to "Sheppard West".[8]

Description
Entrance to one of the subway station buildings
Artwork: Spin
by Panya Clark Espinal

The subway platform is underground on an east–west axis parallel to Sheppard Avenue West. It is one of three stations on Line 1 with an east–west orientation, the others being Union and St. George. An intermediate concourse level is located below ground between the subway and GO platforms. GO Transit has committed to cost-sharing at this station. Upon its opening, York University GO Station located a short distance to the north experienced a service reduction; only weekday peak period trains service that station, while all trains service Downsview Park GO. A new roadway named Vitti Street on the west side of the station provides vehicle access and passenger pick-up/drop-off.[9] To the east and west of the station, the line swings broadly at a 90° angle northwest to Finch West station and southeast via a compound curve to Sheppard West station.

The station is located in a low-density district; however, the TTC expects mixed-use development on nearby land. The GO train connection is also expected to boost ridership.[10]

The station building is constructed of glass, stone, and aluminum blend and has a green roof. It is designed to allow sunlight to reach the subway platform. The artwork Spin by artist Panya Clark Espinal spans the interior's walls, floors, and ceilings. Artist Espinal also created the artwork for Bayview station.[10] The floor of the station at the platform level is constructed using striped terrazzo.

Architecture firm Aedas was commissioned to design the station; their initial plan provides twinned entrances on opposite sides of the rail corridor, each with green roofs that resemble landing strips or wings.[11]

GO station
Downsview Park
Operated byGO Transit
Platforms1[9] (2nd roughed-in)
Tracks1 (2nd planned)
Connections
Construction
Disabled accessYes
ArchitectAedas
Architectural stylePostmodern architecture
Other information
Station codeGO Transit: DW
Fare zone19
History
OpenedDecember 30, 2017 (2017-12-30)[12]
Traffic
Passengers (Apr-Dec 2019)451 daily[13]
Services
Preceding station GO Transit Following station
York University
towards Allandale Waterfront
 Barrie Union Station
Terminus

The GO Transit commuter rail station is at the surface on a north–south axis, perpendicular to the subway line. There is only one platform, but a second is roughed-in and will open after the ongoing construction to double-track the Barrie line is completed.[14] There are separate surface station buildings to serve both platforms after completion.

History

The official ground breaking ceremony for the Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension was held on November 27, 2009,[15] however tunnelling operations did not commence until June 2011.[16] The station opened on December 17, 2017, along with the rest of the extension.[17] It opened to GO Transit service on December 30, 2017, on the same day that a major service increase was inaugurated on the Barrie line.[3]

This station, along with the five other TYSSE stations, were the first to be opened without collector booths. It was also among the first eight stations to discontinue sales of legacy TTC fare media (tokens and TTC senior, student or youth tickets). Presto vending machines were available to sell Presto cards and to load funds onto them.[18] On May 3, 2019, this station became one of the first ten stations to sell Presto tickets via Presto vending machines.[19]

Nearby landmarks

Nearby landmarks include Downsview Park, which is Canada's National Urban Park and played host to World Youth Day in 2002 and the SARSstock concert in 2003. The Park is the site of an airstrip used by aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace and formerly used as Canadian Forces Base Downsview. Other points of interest include the Chesswood hockey arenas, Toronto FC's BMO training ground, Scotiabank Pond Hockey Arena, and "The Hangar" sports facility, as well as industrial lands north of Sheppard.

Surface connections
Main article: List of Toronto Transit Commission bus routes

A transfer is required to connect between the subway and surface bus routes, as there is no attached bus terminal and connections are made on-street, outside the station. Buses stop on Sheppard Avenue and Vitti Street, about 140 metres from the west station building entrance.[20]

Route Name Additional Information
84A/C/D Sheppard West Eastbound to Sheppard–Yonge station
84A Westbound to Weston Road
84C Westbound to Steeles Avenue West via Arrow Road
(Rush hour service)
84D Westbound to Pioneer Village station via Oakdale Road
(Rush hour service)
101 Downsview Park Westbound to Downsview Park
106 Sentinel Eastbound to Sheppard West station and westbound to Pioneer Village station
107 St. Regis Southbound to Sheppard West station and northbound to Pioneer Village station via Petrolia Road
108A/B Driftwood Eastbound to Sheppard West station
108A Westbound to Pioneer Village station via Grandravine Drive
108B Westbound to Pioneer Village station via Arleta Avenue
984A Sheppard West Express Eastbound to Sheppard–Yonge station and westbound to Weston Road
(Rush hour service)
384 Sheppard West Blue Night service; Westbound to Weston Road and eastbound to Sheppard–Yonge station.

References
  1. Beattie, Samantha; Spurr, Ben (December 16, 2017). "After delays, cost overruns, and tragedy, a subway to Vaughan is complete". Toronto Star. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  2. "Subway ridership, 2018" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved February 5, 2019. This table shows the typical number of customer-trips made on each subway on an average weekday and the typical number of customers travelling to and from each station platform on an average weekday.
  3. "More Barrie GO Trains". GO Transit. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017.
  4. "TTC Downsview Park". ttc.ca. Toronto Transit Commission. n.d. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  5. "Barrie Line - table 65" (PDF). gotransit.com. GO Transit. January 5, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  6. Kalinowski, Tess (November 27, 2009). "TTC breaks ground on subway extension". Toronto Star. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  7. "TTC Sheppard West Station". ttc.ca. Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  8. "Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension, Station Names" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. September 30, 2010. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  9. "Sheppard West Subway Station Open House" (PDF). Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension. Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  10. Spurr, Ben (January 23, 2017). "TTC's newest subway extension taking shape". Toronto Star. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  11. "Sheppard West Station, Approval Of Conceptual Design" (PDF). Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension Project. Toronto Transit Commission. September 24, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  12. "First GO train rolls through new Downsview Park station". CityNews Toronto. December 30, 2017. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  13. "GO Transit Ridership Map (April-December 2019)" (PDF). Metrolinx. February 13, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  14. "Notice of Commencement and Public Engagement Barrie Rail Corridor Expansion Transit Project Assessment Process" (PDF). Metrolinx. May 11, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  15. "Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension breaks ground". Railway Gazette. November 30, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  16. "Tunnel boring for Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension begins". Toronto Transit Commission. June 17, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  17. Westoll, Nick (September 5, 2017). "Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension scheduled to open in mid-December". Global News. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  18. "New Customer Service Agents at TTC stations". Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  19. "TTC extends sales of Presto Tickets to 10 stations". Toronto Transit Commission. May 6, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  20. "Bus Route Changes". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved February 22, 2019.

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