cityscape Happy 50th Anniversary, University Line!

A look back at a half-century of serving Toronto commuters.

SHOW CAPTION  ✉ Share on:  240162 <b>Cartoon of Frederick Gardiner by James Reidford, the <em>Globe and Mail</em>, July 18, 1957.</b><br /> <br /> During a July 16, 1957 speech to Metro Toronto council, Metro Chairman <a href="http://torontoist.com/2012/02/lampy-versus-big-daddy/">Frederick Gardiner</a> attacked supporters of a Bloor-Danforth subway line. He cited studies that said surface transportation could easily handle short-distance passengers along Bloor Street and that many potential riders would use a Bloor subway to get to destinations to northwest or northeast of downtown.<br /> <br /> Gardiner pushed Metro to support a new subway line based on a “U” pattern, radiating out to the northwest and northeast. The <em>Globe and Mail</em> praised this proposal. “The diagonal subway seems sensible, convenient and not too expensive,” an editorial observed. “Does everything have to be done the stupidest way?”<br /> 20130306_gardinercartoon https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_gardinercartoon-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_gardinercartoon-e1362580793921.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_gardinercartoon-e1362580793921.jpg 565 639 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_gardinercartoon/ 20130306_gardinercartoon 0 0 240163 <b>Sketch of proposed University subway line, the <em>Toronto Star</em>, December 27, 1957.</b><br /> <br /> The TTC responded with a 270-page report issued to Metro Council in December 1957, which highlighted nine reasons why a Bloor-Danforth line should be built. The new proposal included a connection to the Yonge line via a new route along University Avenue from Bloor Street to Union Station. Through the use of a wye underneath Bloor Street and Avenue Road, trains would alternate between running straight along the east-west line or travelling onto the Yonge-University line. <br /> <br /> After much arguing, the Bloor-Danforth-University line, as it was called at the time, was approved in 1958. Both the federal and provincial governments refused to subsidize the project. The resulting tax increases irritated suburban politicians, who wondered why they had to foot the bill for a project they believed their residents would derive no benefit from. <br /> 20130306_1957map https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_1957map-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_1957map.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_1957map.jpg 534 1036 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_1957map/ 20130306_1957map 0 0 240164 <b>Toronto Mayor Nathan Phillips and Ontario Premier Leslie Frost break ground on Bloor-Danforth-University line, November 16, 1959. Photo courtesy of the TTC.</b><br /> <br /> A crowd of dignitaries gathered at University Avenue and Edward Street for a groundbreaking ceremony on November 16, 1959. Perhaps as karmic payback for withholding provincial aid for the project, Premier Leslie Frost was handed an ill-fitting construction helmet before he hopped into a crane to break the dirt. <br /> 20130306_frostphillips https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_frostphillips-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_frostphillips.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_frostphillips.jpg 1000 1253 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_frostphillips/ 20130306_frostphillips 0 0 240165 <b>TTC Chairman Allan Lamport speaks at the groundbreaking for the Bloor-Danforth-University line, November 16, 1959. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1567, Series 648, File 59, Item 2. </b><br /> <br /> While many local politicians showed up for the groundbreaking, the reeves and mayors of Long Branch, Mimico, and New Toronto boycotted the ceremony. “When the people in my municipality are paying two mills a year and a double fare to subsidize subway riders,” Mimico Mayor W.A. Edwards told the <em>Star</em>, “I don’t feel like celebrating.”<br /> 20130306_lamport1959 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_lamport1959-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_lamport1959.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_lamport1959.jpg 1000 771 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_lamport1959/ 20130306_lamport1959 0 0 240166 <b>University Avenue looking north to Queen Street, 1960. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1567, Series 65, File 286, Item 21.</b><br /> <br /> Commuters soon found themselves dodging construction. While the cut-and-cover method of building was utilized at the extreme ends of the Yonge line, tunneling was used between Osgoode and Museum stations to minimize noise and disruption around Queen’s Park and the hospitals lining the boulevard.<br /> 20130306_constructionbegins https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_constructionbegins-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_constructionbegins.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_constructionbegins.jpg 1000 765 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_constructionbegins/ 20130306_constructionbegins 0 0 240167 <b>University Avenue, stripped of monuments, <em>Coupler</em>, September 1960.</b><br /> <br /> Monuments such as the <a href="http://torontothenandnow.blogspot.ca/2010/11/10-south-african-war-monument-then-and.html">South African War Memorial</a> were dismantled piece-by-piece to prevent damage during construction. <br /> 20130306_universityskyshot https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_universityskyshot-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_universityskyshot.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_universityskyshot.jpg 1000 1344 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_universityskyshot/ 20130306_universityskyshot 0 0 240168 <b>Construction of University line, 1960. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1567, Series 65, File 286, Item 2.</b><br /> <br /> When construction began, the full Bloor-Danforth-University line was projected to open in 1969. That timeline shortened after the province offered a $60 million loan in 1961. The TTC decided to open the University portion first—construction was further along than on the Bloor-Danforth portion, and it made no sense to let it sit idle while waiting for the east-west line to finish. Target date: 1963.<br /> 20130306_constructionuniversity https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_constructionuniversity-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_constructionuniversity.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_constructionuniversity.jpg 1000 777 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_constructionuniversity/ 20130306_constructionuniversity 0 0

240169 <b>Rendering of St. Patrick Station produced for the TTC by Sigmund Serafin, mid-1950s. Collection of Steve Munro.</b><br /> <br /> The TTC commissioned artist Sigmund Serafin to produce <a href="http://transit.toronto.on.ca/subway/5122.shtml">a series of watercolour renderings</a> of stations along the Bloor-Danforth-University line. The original paintings are around 30 inches wide and were rescued during a TTC office cleanout.<br /> 20130306_stpatrickdesign https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_stpatrickdesign-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_stpatrickdesign.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_stpatrickdesign.jpg 1000 514 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_stpatrickdesign/ 20130306_stpatrickdesign 0 0 240170 <b>Rendering of St. George Station produced for the TTC by Sigmund Serafin, mid-1950s. Collection of Steve Munro.</b><br /> <br /> Had it not been for a group of transit fans who descended upon a TTC office cleanout, it’s possible Serafin’s renderings would have gone to the dumpster. <br /> 20130306_stgeorge https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_stgeorge-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_stgeorge.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_stgeorge.jpg 1000 507 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_stgeorge/ 20130306_stgeorge 0 0 240171 <b>Map of proposed Spadina Expressway route and accompanying rapid transit line, the <em>Toronto Star</em>, March 7, 1962.</b><br /> <br /> As construction progressed, Metro Council debated the next potential rapid transit line, which would run down the middle of the proposed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spadina_Expressway">Spadina Expressway</a>. Among the points that Metro Council approved in March 1962 were the permanent retention of the levy used to build the Bloor-Danforth-University line and the construction of three commuter parking lots near Wilson Avenue.<br /> 20130306_spadina1962 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_spadina1962-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_spadina1962.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_spadina1962.jpg 337 580 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_spadina1962/ 20130306_spadina1962 0 0 240172 <b>Tour of University subway by Metro Council, March 16, 1962. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1567, Series 648, File 101, Item 3.</b><br /> <br /> Around 160 dignitaries were treated to a tour of the south end of the University line in March 1962. “Debris litters the right of way,” the <em>Globe and Mail</em> observed, “mud and water is plentiful and the smell of construction—a sort of dusty metallic, if wet and stale, smell—fills the lungs.”<br /> 20130306_tour1 https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_tour1-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_tour1.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_tour1.jpg 1000 1000 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_tour1/ 20130306_tour1 0 0 240173 <b>Tour of University subway by Metro Council (with future Toronto Mayor William Dennison at front left), March 16, 1962. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1567, Series 648, File 101, Item 9.</b><br /> <br /> Besides wandering from St. Patrick to St. Andrew Station, the dignitaries also inspected a new parking lot built atop the subway line between King and Front Streets. <br /> 20130306_dennisontour https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_dennisontour-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_dennisontour.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_dennisontour.jpg 1000 997 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_dennisontour/ 20130306_dennisontour 0 0 240174 <b>Bedford Road entrance to St. George station on opening day of the University line, February 28, 1963. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1567, Series 648, File 131, Item 1.</b><br /> <br /> <br /> “This is a day to celebrate; to note in the diary, to store as souvenirs the newspaper reports of an exciting event in the history of Toronto. Life is not so full of preoccupations that time cannot be taken by the citizens of this city to reflect upon the great civic achievement that the opening today of the University extension of the Yonge subway constitutes.”—Editorial, the <em>Telegram</em>, February 28, 1963.<br /> 20130306_stgeorgeentrance https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_stgeorgeentrance-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_stgeorgeentrance.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_stgeorgeentrance.jpg 1000 999 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_stgeorgeentrance/ 20130306_stgeorgeentrance 0 0 240175 <b>Toronto Mayor Donald Summerville addressing the opening ceremony for the University line at St. George Station, February 28, 1963. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1567, Series 648, File 131, Item 10.</b><br /> <br /> “The lifeblood of any large urban area is good public transportation with a reasonable fare structure and with a judicious combination of expressways and subways in order that the community as well as the province may grow and prosper.”–Donald Summerville.<br /> 20130306_summerville https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_summerville-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_summerville.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_summerville.jpg 1000 999 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_summerville/ 20130306_summerville 0 0

240176 <b>Ontario Premier John Robarts throws the signal switch at St. George Station, February 28, 1963. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1567, Series 648, File 131, Item 15.</b><br /> <br /> At 11:45 a.m., Premier John Robarts threw the signal switch. When pressed about provincial funding for future subway construction, he noted that Ontario must explore new transportation concepts and ideas. <br /> 20130306_robarts https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_robarts-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_robarts.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_robarts.jpg 1000 1002 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_robarts/ 20130306_robarts 0 0 240177 <b>The first in-service University line train, February 28, 1963. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1567, Series 648, File 131, Item 3.</b><br /> <br /> Opening day had a few hitches. The ceremony was delayed 15 minutes due to the late arrival of Lieutenant-Governor J. Keiller Mackay. There were more dignitaries aboard the first train from St. George to Union than seats. The first non-ceremonial northbound train was delayed when its door refused to shut after holding for three hours at St. Patrick Station. <br /> 20130306_firsttrain https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_firsttrain-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_firsttrain.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_firsttrain.jpg 1000 1000 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_firsttrain/ 20130306_firsttrain 0 0 240178 <b>Advertisement, the <em>Globe and Mail</em>, February 28, 1963.</b> <br /> <br /> Among the significant service changes made when the University line opened was the demise of the <a href="http://transit.toronto.on.ca/streetcar/4117.shtml">Dupont streetcar</a>, whose route ran from Dupont and Christie Streets along Dupont, Davenport Road, and Bay Street to Queen’s Quay. It was replaced by the Bay bus. <br /> 20130306_routechanges https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_routechanges-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_routechanges.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_routechanges.jpg 1000 1671 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_routechanges/ 20130306_routechanges 0 0 240179 <b>Cartoon by Mike Jones, the <em>Telegram</em>, February 28, 1963.</b><br /> <br /> Cartoonists couldn’t resist having a little fun at the new subway line’s expense.<br /> 20130306_telycartoon https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_telycartoon-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_telycartoon.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_telycartoon.jpg 1000 849 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_telycartoon/ 20130306_telycartoon 0 0 240180 <b>Simpson’s ad marking opening of University line, the <em>Globe and Mail</em>, February 28, 1963.</b><br /> <br /> Downtown retailers like Simpson’s saw the new subway as a means of bringing a few more customers to their stores. Simpson’s benefited when the Spadina line opened years later, as it serviced its Yorkdale store and Lawrence West warehouse (now Lawrence Square mall). <br /> 20130306_simpsons https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_simpsons-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_simpsons.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_simpsons.jpg 585 757 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_simpsons/ 20130306_simpsons 0 0 240181 <b>Map of interlined subway routes, the <em>Telegram</em>, February 25, 1966.</b><br /> <br /> As originally planned, <a href="http://jbwarehouse.blogspot.ca/2013/03/past-pieces-of-toronto-subway.html">interlining was implemented</a> when the Bloor-Danforth line opened on February 26, 1966. Stations were equipped with bells and overhead flip signs to indicate which train was arriving. Signal problems and drivers too jittery to go through the wye caused service delays. At times, all trains were stopped at the wye if one missed its scheduled entry time. Passengers were confused by the barrage of signage they faced, especially when determining the right platform to wait at on either level of Bay or St. George Stations.<br /> <br /> Some, at the time, wanted to do away with the wye, but there were also defenders of the system, who thought the problem was the refusal of TTC management to improve service. A six-month trial of separate subway line service launched in September 1966 turned permanent, which resulted in the closure of lower Bay station.<br /> 20130306_interlined-map https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_interlined-map-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_interlined-map.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_interlined-map.jpg 640 384 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_interlined-map/ 20130306_interlined-map 0 0 240182 <b>Cartoon of William Davis slaying the Spadina Expressway by James Reidford, the <em>Globe and Mail</em>, June 4, 1971.</b><br /> <br /> Meanwhile, the Spadina subway line was ensnared in the controversies surrounding the Spadina Expressway and its potential destruction of neighbourhoods along its southern portion. Protests by groups like Stop Spadina mounted until Premier William Davis halted the freeway on June 3, 1971. “If we are building a transportation system to serve the automobile,” Davis told the legislature, “the Spadina Expressway would be a good place to start. But if we are building a transportation system to serve people, the Spadina Expressway is a good place to stop.”<br /> 20130306_davislayer https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_davislayer-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_davislayer.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_davislayer.jpg 800 439 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_davislayer/ 20130306_davislayer 0 0

240183 <b>Ravine lands, from Spadina Road bridge, looking northwest towards St. Clair Avenue West, June 12, 1974. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1257, Series 1057, Item 8393.</b><br /> <br /> When the Spadina Expressway was cancelled, alternate routes were proposed for its subway line. Bathurst, Christie, and Clinton streets were among the 18 proposed alignments. The route that was approved in 1973 followed the completed W.R. Allen Road (the renamed Spadina Expressway) from Wilson Avenue to Lawrence Avenue, continued along the unfinished ditch to Eglinton Avenue, then proceeded south along the Cedarvale Ravine to hook up with Spadina Road and link with the University line at St. George. The provincial government funded 75 per cent of the construction cost.<br /> 20130306_ravinelands https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_ravinelands-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_ravinelands.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_ravinelands.jpg 1000 796 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_ravinelands/ 20130306_ravinelands 0 0 240184 <b>Construction of streetcar entrance to St. Clair West, <em>Coupler</em>, August 1977.</b><br /> <br /> It took a five-hour debate and a 15-14 vote before Metro Council approved the Spadina route in the early hours of February 7, 1973. Metro Chairman Albert Campbell cast the tie-breaking vote. All but one of the City of Toronto’s representatives preferred a route that followed Bathurst Street from St. Clair Avenue to Bloor Street. Bathurst proponents like William Kilbourn predicted that future redevelopment along Bathurst would create more passengers for the line. Campbell noted that visions of extending a Bathurst subway south of Bloor were unlikely.<br /> 20130306_stclairwestconstruction https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_stclairwestconstruction-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_stclairwestconstruction.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_stclairwestconstruction.jpg 1000 1251 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_stclairwestconstruction/ 20130306_stclairwestconstruction 0 0 240185 <b>“Summertime Streetcar” by Gerald Zeldin, Eglinton West station, <em>The Traveller’s Encyclopaedia of Ontario</em>, 1979.</b><br /> <br /> Unlike previous lines, Spadina’s stations would be decorated with, as the <em>Star</em> dubbed it, “a $580,000 underground art show.” Each station was fitted with pieces ranging from porcelain murals to Michael Hayden’s <a href="http://spacing.ca/toronto/2006/03/05/yorkdale-rainbow/">"Arc en Ciel"</a>, a series of neon tubes lighting the ceiling of Yorkdale’s stop. “Art on the Spadina subway makes the TTC less of a cultural wasteland,” noted <em>Globe and Mail</em> columnist Dick Beddoes. “The stations give a feeling of space and sense of height, none of that burrowing animal sensation you experience upon entering the rat-warrens on the University run.”<br /> 20130306_eglintonwest https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_eglintonwest-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_eglintonwest.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_eglintonwest.jpg 640 327 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_eglintonwest/ 20130306_eglintonwest 0 0 240186 <b>Article on ceremonial opening of the Spadina subway. <i>Toronto Star</i>, January 28, 1978.</b><br /> <br /> In front of 200 dignitaries and the University of Toronto's <a hrf="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Godiva_Memorial_Bnad">Lady Godiva Memorial Band</a> at St. Clair West Station, Premier William Davis opened the Spadina subway. The line wasn’t opened to the public until the following morning.<br /> 20130306_davisopenspadina https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_davisopenspadina-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_davisopenspadina.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_davisopenspadina.jpg 800 1120 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_davisopenspadina/ 20130306_davisopenspadina 0 0 240187 <b>Opening day revellers on the Spadina subway, the <i>Toronto Star</i>, January 29, 1979.</b><br /> <br /> The bubbly was flowing when the first train pulled out of Wilson Station at 6 a.m. on January 28, 1978. Or at least, it was flowing for university students Bernie Gray and Penelope Stewart. They were among thousands of riders who took advantage of free trips along the new line until 5 p.m. Some people missed the fine print: when TTC employees at Yorkdale started charging regular fares, frustrated riders hopped the turnstiles. <br /> 20130306_spadinaopening https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_spadinaopening-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_spadinaopening.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_spadinaopening.jpg 1000 538 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_spadinaopening/ 20130306_spadinaopening 0 0 240188 <b>Downsview Station, 2009. Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chewie007/3301401855/">chewie2008~</a> from the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/torontoist/">Torontoist Flickr Pool</a>.</b><br /> <br /> Unveiled on March 29, 1996 and opened for regular service two days later, Downsview marked the first extension of the University-Spadina line in 18 years. The station name was chosen via a mail-in vote by 2,500 nearby residents. The original proposed name, Sheppard West, will be restored when the extension to Vaughan is opened in 2016, to avoid confusion with the new Downsview Park Station.<br /> 20130306_downsview https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_downsview-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_downsview.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_downsview.jpg 1000 662 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_downsview/ 20130306_downsview 0 0 240189 <b>Construction on Spadina subway extension, 2012. Photo courtesy of the TTC.</b><br /> <br /> Work currently continues on <a href="http://torontoist.com/tag/spadina-subway-extension/">extending the University-Spadina line</a> northwest through York University into Vaughan. The northwest tack of the route would have pleased Frederick Gardiner, vindicating his “U”-shaped vision.<br /> 20130306_spadinaextension https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_spadinaextension-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_spadinaextension.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130306_spadinaextension.jpg 1024 610 https://torontoist.com/2013/03/happy-anniversary-university-line/slide/20130306_spadinaextension/ 20130306_spadinaextension 0 0



The TTC quietly marked a historical milestone last week: the University subway line (that’s the part between St. George and Union stations) turned 50. Though it failed in its early goal of providing smooth, interlined service between the Yonge and Bloor-Danforth lines, the University line aided the commutes of government workers and financial district employees, and also provided a base for linking the Spadina line (which marked its 35th anniversary in January) to downtown. It has witnessed champagne toasts and fatal collisions. Now, construction is extending the University-Spadina line into York Region, a move that would have satisfied early proponent Frederick Gardiner, who saw a “U”-shaped subway system as the logical way to serve commuters.

Our gallery toasts the line’s birthday by taking a ride along its history. Click through for more details about its development over time.

Additional material from the November 1994 edition of Coupler; the July 17, 1957, July 18, 1957, November 17, 1959, March 17, 1962, February 7, 1973, and January 30, 1978 editions of the Globe and Mail; the December 27, 1957, November 16, 1959, March 7, 1962, February 27, 1963, February 28, 1963, January 27, 1978, January 28, 1978, and January 29, 1978 editions of the Toronto Star; and the February 28, 1963 edition of the Telegram.