Transit Toronto

Since fewer passengers — especially passengers travelling to and from colleges and universities — board GO Transit buses during the Christmas / New Year’s Day holidays, GO is temporarily adjusting bus service.

It’s decreasing service along these routes, starting Monday, December 9:

• 25 Waterloo / Mississauga; and
• 47 Hamilton / Vaughan.

GO is further decreasing service along its bus routes during the holidays, starting Saturday, December 21.

Holiday service ends and regular service resumes Saturday, January 4, 2025.

Santa Claus Parades, holiday markets and other seasonal events in the Bowmanville area of Clarington, the Jackson’s Point area of Georgina, the Long Branch and New Toronto areas of Toronto, the Port Perry area of Scugog Township, the Stoney Creek area of Hamilton, Stouffville, the Sutton area of Georgina, central Toronto and Whitby affect transit services this weekend.

The TTC is closing Line 1 Yonge - University subway between St Clair West and King stations Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8. Line 1 trains operate only between Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and St Clair West stations and between Finch and King stations those days.

Shuttle buses partially replace subway service, stopping near all stations on the closed section of Line 1.

Although shuttle buses are accessible, Wheel-Trans is also available at each station and extra Wheel-Trans vehicles operate between St Clair West and Queen stations. Since King Station is not yet an accessible station, if you’re travelling southbound on Line 1 and need an accessible connection, exit the train at Queen Station and ask any TTC customer service employee for information and help.

While this part of the subway line is closed, TTC crews are maintaining and repairing the tracks. The TTC continues to upgrade station finishes at Queen’s Park and St. Patrick stations.

Dupont, Museum, Queens Park, St Patrick and Osgoode stations are closed. Note also that the TTC is closing the Kendal Avenue access at Spadina Station. All other stations on this section of Line 1 remain open to passengers so you can load PRESTO cards, buy PRESTO tickets or connect with TTC trains along Line 2 Bloor - Danforth, TTC streetcars and buses or GO Transit trains and buses.

According to a TTC news release, “While the TTC does most subway maintenance at the conclusion of service each night, it continues to require weekend and early weeknight closures to complete critical infrastructure and state-of-good-repair work.”

Metrolinx continues to upgrade the Stouffville rail corridor as part of the GO Expansion Program.

GO Transit is replacing trains with buses along the 71 Stouffville line Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8 to accommodate Metrolinx construction along the line. GO buses replace trains to travel to and from all stations along the line except Milliken, Agincourt and Kennedy GO stations.

GO buses operate along two branches:

• the 71E branch between Mount Joy GO Station and Union Station Bus Terminal, stopping at Markham, Centennial and Unionville GO stations; and
• the 71G branch between Old Elm GO Station and Union terminal, stopping at Stouffville, Mount Joy, Markham, Centennial and Unionville GO stations.

All buses operate express — without stopping — between Unionville and Union.

Board TTC trains and buses to travel to and from Milliken, Agincourt and Kennedy GO stations. York Region Transit buses also drop off or pick up passengers near Milliken.

Metrolinx contractors are building and maintaining tracks on the Stouffville corridor to make sure that trains operate safely and reliably. They are also focussing on updating key infrastructure for the Stouffville GO Expansion. They can only complete this work when trains aren’t operating.

GO again replaces trains with buses along the line next weekend — Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, December 15.

Metrolinx and GO plan to accommodate more passengers and increase service along the Stouffville line, as part of their GO Expansion Program (formerly “regional express rail”).

Metrolinx is building the Ontario Line subway between Exhibition Place / Ontario Place and the area near the former Ontario Science Centre, through downtown Toronto.

To accommodate the future subway crews are working to expand Exhibition Station by building new station platforms and structural supports. They work entirely within the rail corridor between the tracks through Exhibition GO Station.

Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8, GO Transit decreases train service along the 01 Lakeshore West line to accommodate the work at Exhibition. Trains operate hourly between West Harbour GO Station and Union Station those days. GO is also adjusting the schedules, with some trains leaving stations earlier or late than usually. And, the times to connect with buses at certain stations may also change.

Trains

Saturday, December 7

Eastbound:

• The first train from West Harbour GO Station to Union Station starts its trip at 7:23 a.m. Trains operate hourly after the first train.
• The train that usually starts in Niagara Falls VIA Rail / GO Station at 4:04 p.m. to Union starts, instead, eight minutes earlier.
  
  • The train that usually starts in Niagara Falls at 9:06 p.m. to Union starts, instead, six minutes earlier.

Westbound:

• The first train from Union to West Harbour starts at 8:44 a.m. Trains operate hourly after the first train.
• Trains leaving Exhibition from 8:52 a.m. until 12:53 p.m. leave one minute later than usually
• The train that usually starts in Union at 6:21 p.m. to Niagara Falls starts, instead, seven minutes earlier.

Sunday, December 8

Eastbound:

• The first train from West Harbour to Union starts at 7:23 a.m. Trains operate hourly after the first train.
• The train that usually starts in Niagara Falls at 4:04 p.m. to Union starts, instead, eight minutes earlier.

Westbound:

• The first train from Union to West Harbour starts at 8:44 a.m. Trains operate hourly after the first train.
• Trains leaving Exhibition from 8:52 until 11:53 a.m. leave one minute later than usually.
• The train that usually starts in Niagara Falls at 4:04 p.m. to Union starts, instead, eight minutes earlier.

GO trains again operate hourly between West Harbour and Union Saturdays, December 14 and 21 and Sundays, December 15 and 22.

Buses

Passengers aboard buses along the 12 Niagara Falls / Burlington, 15 Brantford / Burlington and 18 Lakeshore West routes may connect with GO trains from eight minutes earlier to as much as 49 minutes later than usually.

At Exhibition, crews work entirely within the rail corridor between the tracks.

During “daytime” hours, from 5:30 a.m. until 10 p.m., they use drill rigs to build piles to support new station foundations and a new island platform between the tracks. The platform will increase GO capacity and serve the new Ontario Line at Exhibition Station.

During “nighttime” hours, from 10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m., they place rebar and pour concrete. Rebars provide durability, safety and longevity for the future Ontario-Line Exhibition Station platforms. Excavators will load materials (spoils) into dump trucks. The trucks will haul the spoils off-site and dispose of them. Concrete trucks will pour concrete to reinforce the pile.

The crews use construction equipment, including piling rigs, mobile cranes, concrete and hydrovac trucks during this work. When necessary, flag personnel will guide vehicles to and from sites, ensuring pedestrian, cyclist, and motorist safety.

During this phase of construction, vehicles access the rail-corridor work zone from the north side, along Jefferson Avenue and exit back onto Jefferson. They also use a secondary entry point from the south side, off Manitoba Drive, leading through an access under the Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, exiting through the same routes.

Metrolinx will maintain pedestrian and passenger access through Exhibition GO Station to Liberty Village and Exhibition Place. Pedestrians and passengers may continue using the pedestrian bridge or accessible tunnel, during this closure.

Nearby residents and business people can expect to hear noise from piling rigs working in the active rail corridor. Crews will make sure dust and dirt don’t spread to city streets, and keep trucks and other equipment clean.

The TTC is advising passengers that, starting 11 p.m. Thursday, December 5, it’s detouring streetcars along several routes due to “streetcar infrastructure work”

• on Dundas Street West west of Lansdowne Avenue.

(The transit agency hasn’t identified the exact location where crews are working.)

Specifically, it’s detouring streetcars along these routes:

• 305 Dundas overnight;
• 306 Carlton overnight;
• 505 Dundas; and
• 506 Carlton.

Shuttle buses replace the cars west of Lansdowne Avenue. Shuttle buses operate along two routes:

• 305 / 505 Dundas; and
• 306 / 506 Carlton.

Streetcar-infrastructure work on Dundas Street West and the resulting TTC detours continue until December 19 (4 a.m.)

The TTC is advising passengers that it is temporarily cancelling streetcar service along Kingston Road from 4 a.m. Monday, December 2 until 4 a.m. Saturday, December 7 “due to [City of] Toronto Water emergency repairs taking place at Bingham Loop.”

It’s detouring streetcars along these routes to temporarily operate along Queen Street East to and from Neville Park Loop:

• 303 Kingston Rd overnight; and
• 503 Kingston Rd.

Shuttle buses replace the cars between Victoria Park and Coxwell avenues.

Friday, November 29, the Government of Canada announced that the TTC will receive nearly $1.2 billion during the next decade through the new Canada Public Transit Fund. The City of Toronto will use $758 million of this new funding to support new subway cars for the TTC’s Line 2 Bloor - Danforth.

According to a Government news release, Line 2 needs new subway cars “to maintain [current] service and expand to meet growing capacity needs. Investing in 55 new subway cars will help Torontonians get around quickly, affordably and reliably.”

In announcing the funding, the Government explains that “The Canada Public Transit Fund is the largest public transit investment in Canadian history with $3 billion in annual federal funding provided to communities across the country.” In the news release, the Government says that, “Since 2015, the federal government has already invested over $30 billion to build better public transit in Toronto and across the country. Today’s investment bolsters the government’s commitment to help workers get where they need to go, all while helping put a little more money in their pocket.”

The news release also outlines other Toronto public-transit projects that the Government says its investment has helped fund:

• New TTC streetcars (November 2023);
• Capacity improvements at Bloor-Yonge station (December 2022); and
• New Metrolinx projects, including the Scarborough Subway Extension, the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, the Ontario Line and the Yonge North Subway Extension (2021).

TTC transit control continues to ask subway operators to reduce their speed through certain areas of the subway system “as a safety precaution”. The TTC explains that the reduced speed zones (RSZs) allow trains to run safely during service hours while minimizing disruptions to [passengers]. According to the TTC, they also protect workers who may be required at track level to conduct routine or emergency inspections.

Here’s where reduced speed zones are in effect on Line 1 Yonge - University, Line 2 Bloor - Danforth and Line 4 Sheppard:

At reduced speeds, trains are moving at between 15 and 25 kilometres per hour (km/h), instead of normal speeds of 40 to 50 km/h.

TTC staff are making announcements on the trains and sharing information on the screens near the doors on trains along Line 1 to let you know why the train is travelling more slowly than normally in that area. Similar announcements are also playing at stations so you’re aware that your commute may be longer than usually before you board a train.

The TTC says, “Crews are working as quickly as possible within the available overnight and weekend windows to complete the track work. Our goal is to minimize the overall number of RSZs so the impact on trip times is minimal. While we anticipate reducing the number of current restrictions significantly over the coming months, ongoing proactive track inspections mean that the TTC will always have some slow orders in place in different locations across the network.”

The TTC is closing Line 1 Yonge - University subway between St Clair West and King stations Sunday, November 30 and Sunday, December 1. Line 1 trains operate only between Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and St Clair West stations and between Finch and King stations those days.

Shuttle buses partially replace subway service, stopping near all stations on the closed section of Line 1.

Although shuttle buses are accessible, Wheel-Trans is also available at each station and extra Wheel-Trans vehicles operate between St Clair West and Queen stations. Since King Station is not yet an accessible station, if you’re travelling southbound on Line 1 and need an accessible connection, exit the train at Queen Station and ask any TTC customer service employee for information and help.

While this part of the subway line is closed, TTC crews are maintaining and repairing the tracks. The TTC continues to upgrade station finishes at Queen’s Park and St. Patrick stations.

Dupont, Museum, Queens Park, St Patrick and Osgoode stations are closed after 11 p.m. Note also that the TTC is closing the Kendal Avenue access at Spadina Station. All other stations on this section of Line 1 remain open to passengers so you can load PRESTO cards, buy PRESTO tickets or connect with TTC trains along Line 2 Bloor - Danforth, TTC streetcars and buses or GO Transit trains and buses.

According to a TTC news release, “While the TTC does most subway maintenance at the conclusion of service each night, it continues to require weekend and early weeknight closures to complete critical infrastructure and state-of-good-repair work.”

The TTC is closing this section of Line 1 at least twice more during early December:

• Monday, December 2 to Friday, December 6 — St Clair West to King — close early — track work.
• Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8 — St Clair West to King — track work.