Islington station (Toronto)

Islington is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north side of Bloor Street West on the west side of Islington Avenue. A central platform serves trains running in both directions.

Islington
Location1226 Islington Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates43°38′43″N 79°31′28″W
PlatformsCentre platform
Tracks2
Connections
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
Parking977 spaces
Disabled accessNo
History
OpenedMay 10, 1968 (1968-05-10)
Traffic
Passengers (2018[1])41,270
Rank17 of 75
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station
Terminus
 Bloor–Danforth
toward Kennedy

History

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.

Station description

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.

Parking

Three parking lots serve Islington station, providing a total of 977 spaces: The main lot beside the station northwest of Bloor Street at Islington has 534 spaces; the lot at the north end of Lomond Drive has 283 spaces; and the newest lot beside the railway tracks on the south side of Bloor Street off Fieldway Road has 160 spaces.[6]

Subway infrastructure in the vicinity
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.

Nearby landmarks

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.

Surface connections
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]

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

Buses are accessed via the bus terminal. During the overnight hours when the subway is not running, an on-street transfer between buses is required. TTC routes serving the station include:

Route Name Additional Information
37A Islington Northbound to Woodbine Centre and Humberwood Boulevard via Rexdale Boulevard
37B Northbound to Steeles Avenue West
50 Burnhamthorpe Westbound to Mill Road
110A Islington South Southbound to Long Branch Loop via Horner Avenue and Browns Line
110B Southbound to Long Branch Loop via Horner Avenue and 30th Street
(Rush hour service)
110C Southbound to Lake Shore Boulevard
937 Islington Express Northbound to Steeles Avenue West
(Rush hour service)
337 Islington Blue Night service; Northbound to Steeles Avenue West and southbound to Lake Shore Boulevard
(On-street transfer)

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

Station modernization

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]

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References
  1. "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.
  2. "Subway Expansion". www.archives.gov.on.ca. Archives of Ontario. Retrieved March 15, 2020. Extensions of the Bloor-Danforth line to Islington Station in the west and Warden Station to the east officially opened on May 11, 1968.
  3. "New Kipling Station". The Toronto Star. November 20, 1980. p. A18.
  4. Marshall, Sean (July 14, 2016). "The TTC Used to Have Fare Zones—and They May be Coming Back". Torontoist. Retrieved March 15, 2020. Metropolitan Toronto, which was responsible for the TTC, abolished the fare zones within Metro as of January 1, 1973
  5. "TTC Islington Station". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  6. "Islington Station Parking". www.ttc.ca. Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  7. "Oxford Toronto Property Network" (PDF). Oxford Property Group. Retrieved July 9, 2017. Sun Life Financial Centre is a prestigious Class "A" asset, totalling 844,818 sq. ft. in a prime location situated at the intersection of Bloor and Islington. Three office towers are linked with a retail concourse of multiple retailers, a fitness centre and food court. This west end office complex also features direct access to the subway.
  8. White, Craig (August 5, 2010). "Kipling Subway Station's East Entrance On Its Way". Urban Toronto. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  9. "TTC Open House for Islington Station Improvements Project". Toronto Transit Commission. April 21, 2008. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  10. "Toronto Transit Commission Report (Islington Station – Temporary Bus Terminal)" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. November 18, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2014.

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