The solution to Toronto’s downtown transit nightmare could lie just beneath our feet.

Bay Lower Station, built under Bay Station in 1966 but later abandoned, could be integrated into the current subway system to relieve congestion on the Yonge-University line, says one transportation expert.

Dr. Josef Kates, an award-winning engineer and member of the Order of Canada, has devised a detailed plan to revive the station, which is in working condition and sometimes used in movie sets and training.

“If the Bay Lower station were activated and integrated properly in the current system, it would significantly increase the capacity of the subway during rush hour,” he wrote in a thorough briefing of his plan.

The affable 93-year-old shared his proposal with the Star as part of our Big Ideas series, which is exploring innovative suggestions to fix our city’s most pressing concerns ahead of October’s municipal election.

Kates’s idea targets what he calls the Bloor Bottleneck: the crush of passengers crowding Bloor-Yonge Station every morning. The unloading and loading of trains at this station takes too long, slowing down the entire system, he said.





The long waits reduce the number of trains the TTC can send down the tracks. Relieving the congestion at Bloor-Yonge would allow the TTC to operate at least six more trains per hour, Kates argued.

Here’s his plan: Half of all morning peak-period trains heading north on the University line would be short-turned at Bay Lower Station, which is already connected by tracks to Museum Station.

Passengers on the Bloor-Danforth line transferring to the Yonge-University line could board at Bay Lower instead of Bloor-Yonge, which Kates estimates would divert about 5,000 of the current 9,000 peak morning southbound travellers.

Those who boarded at Bay Lower would travel south on the University line. This would also help relieve the crush of passengers transferring at St. George Station, he added.

Kates said his solution could be up and ready to go in one to two years, at a cost of between $25 million and $50 million — a fraction of the estimated $6 to $8 billion downtown relief line.

“You don’t use a long-rage plan that is full of uncertainties to solve an immediate crisis,” he said in an interview. “Everything about the (downtown relief line) is extremely uncertain.”

For those who shudder at the words “short turn,” it must be pointed out that the TTC already short-turns half of all morning peak-period trains at St. Clair West station. Kates’s plan would replace this system, which he said is inefficient.

He said TTC data shows that short-turned trains passing through Dupont station were loaded only to 22 per cent of capacity. The through-trains coming from Downsview station are better utilized, loaded to 87 per cent of capacity.

This suggests that short-turning trains at Bay Lower, several stops south of St. Clair West, would not affect too many passengers. Kates said his plan would allow for the number of morning peak trains to increase from 22 per hour to 28.

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Kates’s Bay Lower idea is actually the third stage of three solutions he has invented to fix the Bloor Bottleneck. However, he was reluctant to share details of the first two stages after “disappointing” meetings with Metrolinx and the TTC about Bay Lower, he said.

He presented the idea to the TTC in 2012. The TTC carefully considered the proposal but rejected it for a number of reasons, said director of communications Brad Ross.

The TTC estimates the cost of the plan — including refurbishing the station, tracks and signals, and installing a “crossover” that allows trains to be turned around — will cost “hundreds of millions,” said Ross.

Plus, the plan would involve “interlining,” or moving trains from the Yonge-University line to the Bloor-Danforth line. The TTC tried interlining for six months in 1966 with Bay Lower Station and dropped it because passengers found it confusing and delays could choke the entire system, he said.

Above all, the TTC isn’t convinced Kates’s plan will solve the capacity problems on the line. Instead, Ross said the solution will be a combination of the new automatic train control signaling system, new trains and eventually a downtown relief line.

“That is where you’re going to deal with the capacity issues at Bloor-Yonge — not by tinkering with track and moving people off one line to another, and short-turning and emptying trains,” he said.

New trains with 10 per cent more capacity are expected to be fully operational on the Yonge-University-Spadina line by the end of the year. The new signaling system — expected to improve train frequency — will be in place by 2018.

However, using Bay Lower station is one of more than 150 ideas on Metrolinx’s long list as part of its Yonge Relief Network Study. In coming weeks, Metrolinx will be asking for more ideas from the public and stakeholders, said spokesperson Vanessa Thomas.

Metrolinx will narrow the long list down to an intermediate list of 15 to 20 options, and then down to a final short list of three to five bundles of options (each including options for the short, medium and long term), with one of those long-term options being a relief line.

“Transit crowding along the Yonge corridor is a regional problem that needs a regional solution. It’s about new and integrated ways to improve people’s travel options, not just new transit lines,” said Thomas.

“We appreciate that members of the community are also passionate about sharing their ideas for solving transit crowding on the Yonge corridor.”

Video Throw: see Dr. Josef Kates talk about his idea.