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Explorer

Past stories Living off-the-grid New Brunswick's Saint John River Ontario's Bruce Trail Canadian Ski Marathon Elk Island National Park Rallying for rallysport Montreal - Circus city Beluga Bytes Dawson - a musical adventure Bald Eagle Confederation Trail Boning up on the badlands Ukkusiksalik National Park Geocaching Discover Cypress Hills Saint Joseph's Oratory A walk through Stanley Park Sudbury's science centre Acadia continues Toronto's underground world

Read an excerpt of the Jan/Feb '04 Exploration.

The steely snake of a subway train streaks through the labyrinth beneath Toronto's streets. For writer Allen Abel who has ridden Canada's oldest underground for a quarter century, each stop holds a memory. Navigating Toronto's "ethnic archipelago," Abel finds his attention drawn to the 70 or so people who share his car — many who are immigrants like himself.

"Who," he wonders, "has just landed the job of her dreams, and who has been let go? Who is newest to this cold, flat city, farthest from his home, farthest from her children, closest to a dream? Who is speeding toward a secret love affair, and who is running away?"

Stopping briefly at Christie Street for a bowl of bee-bim-bap and walnut cakes, we are drawn with Abel into the diverse underground world that can be glimpsed for the price of a two-dollar ticket.

Click on map for larger image

Subway at 50

Public transit began in Toronto in 1849 with stagecoaches ferrying people up and down Yonge Street. A hundred years later, the ground was broken for a subway system: a first for both the city and the country. Built during a post-war transit boom, it helped shape a burgeoning Toronto, with developers locating offices and apartments near subway stations. On March 30, 1954, the underground opened to the public (opposite, buying one of the first tickets). Fifty years later, it carries some 850,000 people a day around the city.

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Making tracks

• Increasing traffic snarls on Yonge Street prompted the big dig that began in 1949. Final cost of construction: $50.5 million.
• Every station, like that at Sherbourne, had a unique tile colour so that riders could recognize them.
• Some 100 paints were tested in subway tunnels to see how they withstood abrasion, mildew, heat and humidity. Ninety percent failed the 16-month test. The final choice had a base of chlorinated rubber.
• A second station at Queen Street was built to service an east-west Queen line that was never constructed. Today, that station still exists but is used for training and commercial film shoots.
• The first subway cars were bought from the same company that supplied cars for the London tube.

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Getting there

All 69 subway stations are clearly marked with "TTC" (for Toronto Transit Commission), and lines are colour-coded to help orient passengers: green for the east-west Bloor-Danforth line; yellow for the north-south Yonge-University-Spadina line; blue for the Scarborough line; and purple for the newest east-west line, Sheppard. Subway maps and schedules are available at stations, or can be downloaded from: www.city.toronto.on.ca/ttc/schedules/index.htm

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Cost

Adult fares, $2.25; seniors, $1.50; children, 50¢. Daily passes cost $7.75. Considering the aggravation visitors and residents avoid by not driving some of the country's busiest streets, getting around on the subway is priceless.

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Hours

Monday to Saturday, 6 a.m. to 1:30 a.m; Sundays, 9 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.

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Celebrate

The golden anniversary party is slated for March 30, 2004. The TTC plans to re-create the train's inaugural trip north from Davisville to Eglinton, then south to Union Station, where the public is invited for festivities.

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