A transfer covering the premium express services, effective February 19, 2013.

Compiled by James Bow
With assistance from Mike Vainchtein

July 22, 1991

Service begins on 143 DOWNTOWN EXPRESS VIA QUEEN EAST, a new premium-fare express route connecting the Beach neighbourhood of Queen Street East with the financial district of downtown Toronto. Buses leave Neville Park Loop in the Beach area at 7:35, 7:50 and 8:05 a.m. Mondays through Fridays and pick up at all stops on Queen Street to Woodbine. Buses then run express from Woodbine and Queen to downtown via south on Woodbine, west on Lake Shore and the Gardiner and north on Sherbourne to Richmond. Buses offload at stops on Richmond Street at Church, Yonge, Bay and York. Initially, service will be provided inbound to downtown during the morning rush hour only. The service is very similar to the premium-fare BEACH COACH service offered from 1947 to 1952.

February 17, 1992

To clarify the premium-fare nature of this service, effective on this day, this route is renamed 143 PREMIUM EXPRESS VIA QUEEN EAST.

February 14, 1993

Outbound service added for the afternoon rush hour. Buses are scheduled to leave Simcoe and Adelaide at 4:40, 5:05, 5:30 and 5:55 p.m. and pick up on Adelaide at University, York, Bay, Yonge and Church and on Jarvis at King. Buses then run express via south on Sherbourne, east on the Gardiner and east on Lakeshore and north on Woodbine to Queen. Buses then operate east on Queen dropping off customers at all stops between Woodbine and Neville Park Loop.

February 18, 1996

Monday-Friday morning trip departure times adjusted. Trips now leave Neville Park at 7:05, 7:25, 7:35, 7:55, 8:15 and 8:30 a.m.

February 14, 1999

As part of a general renaming of the TTC’s 140 series premium-express services, 143 PREMIUM EXPRESS VIA QUEEN EAST is renamed 143 DOWNTOWN/BEACH EXPRESS.

February 14, 2000

The scheduled trip time is increased for the last three trips in the afternoon peak period, which have been regularly delayed by auto congestion on Adelaide Street. The new departure times from downtown in the afternoon peak period are 4:10, 4:40, 5:10, 5:40, and 6:10 p.m.

On or before this date, service is rerouted off of Lakeshore Road and the Gardiner Expressway. Inbound buses leaving Neville Park operate along Queen Street East, picking up at all stops until Kingston Road/Eastern Avenue. Buses then run express via west on Eastern Avenue and Richmond Street East, dropping off passengers at major intersections west of Sherbourne Street to Peter Street. Outbound buses start service at Adelaide and Peter and run east on Adelaide, picking up at major intersections until Sherbourne, and then running express via east on Adelaide and east on Eastern Avenue to the Queen/Eastern/Kingston Road intersection. Buses then drop off passengers at all stops on Queen Street East from Kingston Road to Neville Park.

September 3, 2000 to March 31, 2002

Service is transferred from Danforth Garage to Birchmount Garage. Buses on the 143 DOWNTOWN/BEACH EXPRESS were transferred back to Danforth Garage by mid-late 2001. When Danforth Garage closed upon the opening of the new Eglinton Garage on Comstock, this route was reassigned to Birchmount Garage.

April 4, 2005

Due to track reconstruction on Queen Street East east of Kingston Road, service on this route is diverted around construction. Inbound buses started their runs at Neville Park and operated west on Queen to Glen Manor Road, and then operated north on Glen Manor and north on Southwood to Kingston Road, and then west on Kingston Road and Eastern Avenue to its normal route. Returning buses in the afternoon rush hour operated along Eastern and Kingston Road to Blantyre Avenue, and then south on Blantyre to Queen and west on Queen, serving stops on Queen to Glen Manor.

April 19, 2005

Continuing track reconstruction shortens the loop through the East Beach area. Buses leaving Neville Park loop now travel west on Queen and north on Beech Avenue to Kingston Road and then follow Kingston Road to Eastern Avenue before rejoining the original route. Afternoon buses return via Eastern, Kingston Road, Blantyre Avenue and Queen to Beech.

April 27, 2005

Continuing track reconstruction shortens the loop through the east Beach area even further. Buses now operate west along Queen Street from Neville Park to Kingswood Road and north on Kingswood Road to Kingston Road. Returning buses follow the same Kingston Road-Blantyre Avenue loop and cover the short distance on Queen between Blantyre and Kingswood.

May 11, 2005

Continuing track reconstruction on Queen East shortens the loop further still. Morning buses enter service at Queen and Blantyre and operate one block west to Victoria Park Avenue before heading north on Victoria Park to Kingston Road. Afternoon buses operate along Kingston Road to Blantyre, south on Blantyre to Queen and west to Victoria Park.

June 6, 2005

Following the morning rush hour, Queen Street East is reopened to traffic, and regular service resumes on the 143 DOWNTOWN/BEACH EXPRESS

February 13, 2006

The departure time of the last afternoon eastbound trip from downtown will change from 6:13 p.m. to 6:18 p.m., to improve the reliability of the service.

May 8, 2006

A later trip is added to the morning peak period, departing from Neville Park Loop at 8:45 a.m.

April 7, 2007

The times of two morning peak period westbound trips departing from Neville Park Loop are changed to even out the intervals between buses. The 7:35 a.m. trip is changed to 7:40 a.m., and the 8:25 a.m. trip is changed to 8:30 a.m. Buses now depart westbound from Neville Park Loop at 7:05 a.m., 7:25 a.m., 7:40 a.m., 7:55 a.m., 8:15 a.m., 8:30 a.m., and 8:45 a.m.

February 15, 2009

Service rendered accessible using low floor buses.

April 1, 2013

An additional afternoon run is added to this route. Buses now leave Simcoe and Adelaide at 4:10, 4:34, 4:58, 5:22, 5:46 and 6:18 p.m. The schedule is also revised to allow additional running time and provide more reliable service.

September 3, 2019

Due to track construction closing the intersection of Queen Street East and Kingston Road, buses on this route temporarily divert to avoid the obstructions. Buses will divert in both directions via Parliament, Lake Shore Boulevard and Woodbine Avenue. Stops at Kingston Road and Lockwood/Sarah Ashbridges are not served during this period. Buses stop in both intersection at King and Parliament to allow customers to transfer to and from 504 KING streetcars.

Service on this route operates with nine inbound trips from Neville Park in the morning and four in the afternoon, and seven outbound trips from Yonge and Adelaide in the afternoon.

November 25, 2019

Service on this route is changed to operate on the King Street Transit Priority Corridor on a trial basis. Buses on the 143 dOWNTOWN/BEACH EXPRESS are changed to operate westbound from Neville Park Loop via west on Queen Street East, southwest and west on Eastern Avenue, west on Richmond Street East, south on Parliament Street, west on King Street, north on Spadina Avenue, east on Adelaide Street, south on Charlotte Street to King Street West. Eastbound buses follow from Charlotte Street and King Street West via east on King Street, north on Power Street, east on Adelaide Street East, east and northeast on Eastern Avenue, east on Queen Street East to Neville Park Loop.

A new express stop is added on Eastern Avenue at Carlaw Avenue, in both directions to provide new express service to the Leslieville neighbourhood.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Service is adjusted in the afternoon peak period so that buses enter service eastbound at Charlotte Loop instead of operating a westbound trip from Neville Park. Buses now deadhead via east and north on Danforth Road, south on Birchmount, south and west on Kingston Road, west on Eastern, west on Richmond, south on Spadina, east on Adelaide and south on Charlotte to King Street.

Tuesday, March 23, 2020

As with other express services on the TTC, all service on this route is suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Buses on this route are reallocated to local routes until further notice.

143 Downtown / Beach Express Image Archive

	TTC Orion VII "Next Gen" bus 8182 is seen heading eastbound on Eastern Avenue, at Carlaw in 143 DOWNTOWN/BEACH EXPRESS service. Photo taken on October 6th, 2017, by Marcus Danchuk
	A map of 143 BEACH EXPRESS operations circa February 2020.
	An official map of the TTC's 143 DOWNTOWN/BEACH EXPRESS operations, effective April 1, 2013.
	An official map of the TTC's 143 DOWNTOWN-BEACH EXPRESS service, effective June 7, 2017.
	Orion bus VII "Next Gen" #8124 runs eastbound along Adelaide Street East, operating on 143 BEACH EXPRESS service. Photo taken by Roman Fomin on February 8, 2013.
	TTC Orion VII "Next Gen" bus #8130 crosses Yonge Street on Adelaide, in service on the 143 DOWNTOWN/BEACH EXPRESS route. The date is February 19, 2013, and the photograph is by James Bow.
	TTC Orion VII "Next Gen" #8144 crosses Church Street eastbound on Adelaide in 143 DOWNTOWN-BEACH EXPRESS service on the afternoon of June 22, 2017. Photo by James Bow.