Islington station (Toronto)

Islington station opened in 1968 in what was then the Borough of Etobicoke as the western terminus of the Bloor–Danforth line,[2] and became a through station in 1980 when the line was extended to Kipling.[3]

Until 1973, TTC buses and subway trains serving the station were in separate fare zones[4] and so turnstiles and collector booths were placed between bus bays and subway platforms. The fare barrier was reconfigured after the zones were abolished to put the bus bays inside the fare-paid zone, and its layout was simplified in a later renovation.

However, the bus bays have also been used by non-TTC buses. In the early years some Gray Coach long-distance services called at Islington, and the Airport Express, also then operated by Gray Coach, had an Islington station route. MiWay (Mississauga) buses, which at first stopped outside the station, began using several of the bus bays after they were no longer needed for TTC buses once Kipling station opened.

The station is located on the northwest side of Bloor Street West and Islington Avenue, and is built on three levels. Street level is where all three parking lots, all three entrances, as well as where the bus platform is located. The entrances to the station can be found at the main parking, and at the east and west sides of Islington Avenue respectively.[5]

Below street level is the concourse and collector, which provides stair access to the bus platforms above it. The subway platforms are underneath the concourse and collector level. There are no elevators in this station, which it is not accessible for persons with physical disabilities.

Signal at the east end of the platform

There is a both a crossover (used mainly back when the station was a terminus, but still used occasionally to short turn trains) and a centre storage track east of the station, with the crossover being situated directly adjacent to it. The centre track is immediately east of the crossover and is partially underground and on the surface, creating a triple portal unique to the subway system: the Montgomery Portal. The line then crosses Mimico Creek on a bridge and then returns underground at the Aberfoyle Portal, en route to Royal York station.

This is one of only three stations in the subway system where a track signal is publicly accessible (the others being Union and Davisville). The signal is at the east end of the platform and guards the switches for trains turning back eastbound from the westbound platform.

Sun Life Financial Centre, at 3300 Bloor St. West, has direct access to the station[7] on the east side of Islington Avenue and the neighbourhood of Islington Village is short distance north of the station at Dundas Street West.

The outdated covered bus terminal at Islington station is similar to that of Warden station and the original structure at Victoria Park station

The station is served by both TTC and MiWay bus routes. As MiWay buses have separate fares from the TTC, but the bus bays are located inside the fare-paid area, buses unload on-street outside the station entrance, and use the bus bays only for boarding. This is one of only three subway stations, the others being Don Mills and Sheppard West, where other transit agencies' buses are boarded within the TTC bus terminal rather than at a separate facility.

A new regional bus terminal is currently under construction at the adjacent Kipling station that will move all MiWay connections from Islington to Kipling station.[8]

MiWay

Mississauga Transit (now MiWay) buses waiting at Islington station in 2008

Main article: MiWay § Routes

All routes are wheelchair-accessible (). While Islington station is a TTC facility, it connects to more MiWay bus routes than TTC bus routes. It is the second-busiest terminal for MiWay, and the largest and busiest outside of Mississauga. The following Miway routes serve the terminal:

Route	Name	Additional Information
1	Dundas	To Vega Boulevard
1C		To South Common Centre via University of Toronto Mississauga
3	Bloor	To Mississauga City Centre Transit Terminal
11	Westwood	To Westwood Square Mall via Highway 427
20	Rathburn	To Erindale GO station via Mississauga City Centre Transit Terminal
26	Burnhamthorpe	To South Common Centre via Mississauga City Centre Transit Terminal
35	Eglinton	To Ninth Line
35A		To Tenth Line (Rush hour service)
70	Keaton	To Milverton Drive (AM rush hour service)
71	Sheridan-Subway	To Sheridan Centre (AM rush hour service)
76	City Centre-Subway	To Mississauga City Centre Transit Terminal (No weekend service)
101	Dundas Express	To South Common Centre via University of Toronto at Mississauga
101A		To Vega Boulevard (Rush hour service)
108	Meadowvale Business Express	To Meadowvale Business Park via Highways 427 and 401 (AM rush hour service)
109	Meadowvale Express	To Meadowvale Town Centre via Highway 427, Mississauga Transitway, and Mississauga City Centre Transit Terminal

The TTC had plans to renovate this station, as part of their station improvement project in 2008. The key improvements listed as part of the project included the demolition of the current bus terminal and construction of a new, wheelchair-accessible one on the north side of the station, easier access plans, a new entrance with public art, a new passenger pick up and drop off area, and overall modernization. An open house was held on April 22, 2008, and the scheduled completion time was 2011–2012, but work is still far from finished.[9] A completion date has not been released, and is being pushed further into the future as time goes by.[10]

Media related to Islington station at Wikimedia Commons

• Islington station at the Toronto Transit Commission