Line 1 Yonge–University part of Toronto subway
Route description
The line forms a rough 'U' shape, with two portions running generally north–south that meet at Union in the southern part of the city's downtown, and then gradually spreading farther apart as they proceed northward. From Union station, the eastern portion of the line runs straight under or nearby Yonge Street, sometimes in an uncovered trench, for 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) to its northeastern terminus at Finch Avenue, connecting with Line 2 Bloor–Danforth at Bloor–Yonge and Line 4 Sheppard at Sheppard–Yonge. This eastern portion, often just called the "Yonge Line", serves Downtown Toronto, Midtown Toronto and York Mills before ending at Finch Avenue, the northern edge of North York Centre.
The western portion snakes northwesterly from Union, initially running straight under University Avenue and Queen's Park Crescent to Bloor Street, where it turns westerly to run under Bloor Street for about 700 metres (0.43 mi). Along this stretch, it interchanges with Line 2 at St. George and Spadina stations. At Spadina Avenue, it turns north to run for roughly 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) under Spadina Road before curving northwesterly to continue along the Nordheimer and Cedarvale ravines to the foot of Allen Road at Eglinton Avenue. It reaches the surface and continues northward in the road's median for 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) past Wilson Station, after which it moves underground again and runs northwesterly on an off-street alignment below suburban industrial areas and the York University campus until Steeles Avenue. From there, it turns to parallel Jane Street for roughly 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) until its northwestern terminus in the neighbouring city of Vaughan's planned downtown core, the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, at the intersection of Jane Street and Highway 7. This western portion serves the Annex and Forest Hill neighbourhoods in Old Toronto; Humewood–Cedarvale in the former York; Glen Park, Downsview, the York University Heights–Northwood Park areas in the former North York; and the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre in Vaughan.Operations and extensions from 1954 to 2017
Trains operated at average speeds of 32 kilometres per hour (20 mph). The plan to operate two-car trains during off-peak hours was abandoned in favour of four-car trains, and six-car trains were standard during most periods, with some eight-car trains used during peak periods.On February 28, 1963, an extension was added to curve north from Union Station, below University Avenue and Queen's Park to near Bloor Street, where it turned west to terminate at St. George and Bloor Street.On February 26, 1966, the Bloor–Danforth line opened, from Keele to Woodbine. For six months, as a trial, the Yonge–University line operated as 2 branches, Eglinton-Keele, and Eglinton-Woodbine. The interline was determined not worthy, and the Yonge-University line was cut back to St. George on September 4, 1966.On June 23, 1969, the University subway service from St. George to Union stations was discontinued entirely after 9:45 p.m. from Mondays to Saturdays and all day on Sundays and holidays. The 5B Avenue Road buses runs in place between Eglinton and Front Street whenever the University subway did not operate, with side-jaunts to St. George station to capture passengers from the Bloor subway. This arrangement remained in place until January 28, 1978, when the Spadina subway opened north to Wilson Station.On March 31, 1973, the line was extended north from Eglinton to York Mills, and on March 29, 1974, to Finch. These two extensions were part of the North Yonge Extension project, bringing the subway to North York.Stations were also planned for Glencairn (between Eglinton and Lawrence, though another Glencairn station would be built later on the Spadina section), Glen Echo (between Lawrence and York Mills) and Empress (between Sheppard and Finch, later opened as North York Centre station).On January 27, 1978, the Spadina segment of the line was opened, going from St. George station, the north terminus of the University line, to Wilson station. From St. George station, the 9.9 km (6.2 mi) segment ran north and northwest to Eglinton Avenue and William R. Allen Road, then north along the median of the Allen Road to Wilson Avenue. This extension had been proposed as part of the Spadina Expressway, but when the expressway portion south of Eglinton Avenue was cancelled after massive protests, the subway was still built following the route through Cedarvale Ravine. Hence, it was called the Spadina line, though it follows Spadina Road for less than 2 km (1.2 mi).Names and terminal designation
On the Yonge portion of the line, nearly all stations located at cross streets are named after said streets, while on the University portion, they are either named for local landmarks with the cross street subtitled below (e.g. Osgoode – Queen Street) or after cross streets but with a "West" suffix for stations at streets that have counterparts along Yonge, though Dundas West station is on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth. The pattern of using landmarks as station names was exclusively used on the original (southern) section of the University branch, and the West designated street-naming convention is typically used on the former Spadina (northern) section. The two interchange stations on the University branch where it intersects Line 2 Bloor–Danforth are named St. George and Spadina after the north–south cross streets of Line 2, which runs below Line 1 between these stations. Due to various factors, some stations along the Spadina portion are named, formerly were named, or are proposed to be renamed using landmark or district names, albeit without subtitles: the stations at Steeles Avenue and Highway 7 (which have no corresponding stations along the Yonge branch) are respectively named "Pioneer Village" (after the nearby Black Creek Pioneer Village) and "Vaughan Metropolitan Centre" (after Vaughan's new downtown core, based on the precedent set by North York Centre and Scarborough Centre stations). Sheppard West was originally called "Downsview" but was renamed in 2017 to avoid confusion with the adjacent new Downsview Park station, and Eglinton West will be renamed "Cedarvale" (after the Cedarvale neighbourhood to the south) when it becomes an interchange station with the opening of Line 5 Eglinton in 2022.
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