Kipling

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See Also

VIDEO: Subway Station Walkthrough, by Damian Baranowski.
VIDEO: GO Station Walkthrough, by Damian Baranowski
Metrolinx Page on the New Kipling Terminal (Off-site)

Kipling subway station is the western terminus of the BLOOR-DANFORTH subway line. In addition to linking the subway to nearly a dozen TTC routes taking passengers further into the former city of Etobicoke (including Pearson Airport), the station provides a direct link with the Milton GO Train, and will soon provide a more extensive link with MiWay and GO Transit buses, thanks to the construction of a new regional bus terminal. Opened at the same time as the extension of the BLOOR-DANFORTH subway to Kennedy to the east, Kipling shares a lot of similarities with its contemporary, but several differences as well.

Compromise Expansion

Plans to build Kipling station materialized in the early 1970s. At the time, the TTC was building the extension of the Yonge subway from Eglinton to Finch, and planning the construction of the Spadina subway to Wilson, and making the first moves towards the construction of a Queen subway. Enthusiasm for subway construction was waning among TTC planners and Metro politicians, however, due to rising costs, and the fact that the high-density neighbourhoods that were best served by subway lines were, by and large, now served by subway lines.

However, in December 1973, the TTC approved the extension of the subway west from Islington, with the line emerging at grade beside the Canadian Pacific railway tracks and following them southwest to a station southwest of the Six-Points interchange at Kipling station. Metropolitan Council approved the extension as it balanced off the extension to Kennedy, making both Scarborough and Etobicoke politicians happy. The TTC supported the extension as it was also comparatively inexpensive, reduced bus congestion at Islington station, gave access to new parking lots with spaces for 1,300 cars, and access to a potential new yard that could house up to 200 subway cars.

The Kipling station extension slipped through the approval process, passing Metropolitan Toronto and the Ontario Municipal Board, allowing construction to begin. At the time, the TTC announced that the Kipling and Kennedy stations would be the last extensions to the Toronto subway for a while.

Aborted Plans

To serve the lower-density suburbs with less expensive rapid transit, the TTC had proposed building high-speed streetcar lines on private rights-of-way fanning out from the terminals of the subway line. Planning for such a system got very far on the SCARBOROUGH RT before the provincial government intervened and convinced the TTC and Metropolitan Toronto to switch the project to the experimental ICTS technology it was building.

A similar high-speed streetcar line was planned to extend from Kipling station, possibly running west and then north along Highway 427 to connect the subway to Pearson Airport. This proposal was taken seriously enough that the architects of Kipling Station built a platform to serve such a line into the station itself. On the bus terminal level, across from the bus roadway, a platform and trench seen today are the only evidence that such a line was under serious consideration. However, beyond this measure, the line never moved past the proposal phase, and as the SCARBOROUGH RT proved to be more expensive than originally hoped for, the Etobicoke RT proposal was quietly dropped.

To accommodate a connection with the proposed subway yard at the west end of the station, an allowance was built along the north side of Kipling station, with space enough for a track to act as a lead into such a yard. However, the need for such a yard did not materialize, as the TTC was able to make use of expanded space at Wilson Yard, revamped space at the Davisville Yard along with space already in place at Greenwood Yard. The tunnel allowance north of the station is visible to passengers as trains approach, but it may come into use in the next few years.

In 2016, as the TTC coped with a looming yard space shortage, it proposed that tracks could be laid along the allowance for additional storage. In addition to this, Canadian Pacific announced plans to abandon its Obico intermodal terminal southwest of Kipling station. The TTC and Metrolinx have expressed an interest in possibly purchasing this yard to build a subway yard here, which would be connected to Kipling station.

Station Opening and Features

Kipling station opened to the public at the same time as Kennedy station, on November 22, 1980. On that date, a special train of new subway cars (5807-5806-5791-5790-5804-5805) left Davisville station at 12:40 p.m. and proceeding through Lower Bay station to Warden for a ceremonial first run to Kennedy at 1:30 p.m. At 2:20 p.m. this train left Kennedy and ran express to Islington, stopping only at Warden and Yonge (the latter unscheduled, to let one rider off). At Islington, a ceremony was performed where Etobicoke Mayor Dennis Flynn pulled a special lever to light a signal allowing the ceremonial first run to Kipling station. Once speeches were completed here, the special train departed Kipling to enter regular service at Islington around 4:10 p.m.

Kipling station shares some architectural flourishes with Kennedy station, with a red, black and gold motif on its station platform walls, brown ceramic tiles on the floors and plain brick walls on the rest of the station. Like Kennedy, the Kipling station name is applied to the walls in Helvetica font.

Kipling station is significantly more compact than Kennedy, however. The subway platforms are a single level below the bus terminal, rather than two levels as is the case with Kennedy. The provision for the Etobicoke RT would also have required far fewer steps, located as it was on the bus level directly above the subway trains. The station does have long pedestrian tunnels, however, connecting the subway platform to parking lots north and south of the Canadian Pacific tracks as well as a passenger pick-up and drop-off pavilion. Access to the station from Kipling and Dundas Street requires some walking along either St. Albans Road or Auckland Road. A wheelchair-accessible entrance was added next to the St. Albans Road entrance at the west side of the station, and a new automatic entrance from Auckland Road at the east end of the station was added in November 2011.

The station was made accessible on March 26, 1999, but completely so. Although wheelchair users can proceed from the street to the bus terminal and the subway platform, the mezzanine at the west end of the station and the tunnels to the commuter lots, passenger pick-up and drop-off pavilion and Kipling GO station remain non-accessible, and altering them to be so was a challenge that wouldn’t be taken up for nearly two decades.

A New Regional Hub

Ever since Kipling station opened, there have been proposals to build a separate terminal to handle regional transit buses, including those from Mississauga Transit. Before, dozens of Mississauga Transit buses were connecting with the BLOOR-DANFORTH subway at Islington station. However, GO Transit, Mississauga Transit and the TTC had difficulty agreeing on plans for the terminal, or how it should be paid for. Mississauga Transit objected that Kipling Station’s location off of Dundas Street made it less convenient for buses on Burnhamthorpe and points north to serve.

Metrolinx, however, argued that Kipling should act as a mobility hub for the TTC, GO Transit and Mississauga Transit (by then, called MiWay), and set about planning such a hub. Its study was finished in February 2015. In late 2017, the provincial government issued a request for proposals to build the terminal. Construction began in 2018, with the permanent closure of the TTC’s Subway Crescent parking lot on April 2nd to make way for the facility. Construction had planned to be finished by 2019, but delays occurred, pushing the opening past the end of 2020.

The new Kipling Transit Hub is located a few metres southwest of Kipling station, and offers a multi-storey entrance building linked to a bridge connecting it with the regional bus terminal and the platforms at Kipling GO Train station. Elevators at the train platform, the regional bus terminal and the entrance building finally makes Kipling’s GO Train station wheelchair accessible. An underground pedestrian tunnel connects the entrance building to the bus terminal and then to the existing TTC tunnel leading from the subway station’s western mezzanine area to its Kiss’n’Ride facility.

The bus terminal has facilities to handle 13 routes, from both Metrolinx and MiWay. On December 14, 2020, MiWay announced that its buses would begin serving the new terminal effective January 4, 2021, ending all remaining service at Islington. The new terminal would also allow GO to extend several services, including buses to Waterloo, that had previously terminated at Square One. The facility would also allow MiWay to finally vacate Islington terminal, allowing the TTC to start work tearing it down and replacing it with an accessible facility. The Kipling Transit Hub project also upgraded parking spaces and facilities and improved access to Kipling station for cars, bicycles and pedestrians.

Two tail tracks extend west of Kipling station’s subway platform, with enough space to store one train each. Even with the new terminal, space still exists to extend these tracks west, either by tunnel to Sherway Gardens and Dixie GO station, or on the surface to a redeveloped East Mall/Dundas intersection, or to a new yard facility south and west of the station on the site of Canadian Pacific’s former Obico Yard. As yet, these proposals have not come to fruition.

But, for now, Kipling Station stands enhanced as a transit hub in the heart of Etobicoke, and it will continue to be so for years to come.

Trivia

The fact that Kipling station is open to the air through the subway tracks made the station a haven for pigeons and starlings, which contributed to an unsightly mess that made the news in 2008. The TTC took measures to try and reduce the infestation, and additional maintenance funds in 2015 helped clean up the station’s washrooms, which had been another source of complaint.
In 2017, the original vinyl slat covers on the outside walls of the platform level were removed, bringing the walls to bare concrete. The TTC replaced these with large tiles of enamelled metal. These were similar to titles placed on the outside walls of St. Andrew, York Mills, Osgoode and St. George station, here using a white background colour with black trim. Unlike the other stations, there was no precedent for these colours. The station name was also printed in the TTC’s proprietary station font, as opposed to the station’s original Univers font.

Service Notes (as of December 5, 2020):

Off-Site Resources:
- The official TTC Kipling Page**
- Station Fixation - Kipling, by Nathan Ng
- VIDEO: Subway Station Walkthrough, by Damian Baranowski.
- VIDEO: GO Station Walkthrough, by Damian Baranowski.
Line: 2 BLOOR-DANFORTH
Hours of Operation:
First Train Eastbound: 5:41 a.m. weekdays, 5:48 a.m. Saturdays/holidays, 8:00 a.m. Sundays.
Last Train Eastbound: 1:31 a.m. every day.
Address: 950 Kipling Avenue
Opened: November 22, 1980
Average Weekday Ridership: 49,340 (2018), 49,870 (2016), 52,930 (2015), 58,100 (2014); 52,930 (2013), 50,130 (2012), 49,720 (2011), 53,640 (2010), 53,640 (2009), 49,890 (2008)
Entrances:
- Aukland Road Entrance (south from Dundas Street West), Accessible Automatic (near Dundas Street West and Aukland Road)
- Saint Albans Road Entrance, Accessible Automatic (near Saint Albans Road and Kipling Avenue, south side of St. Albans)
- From Kipling GO Train Station (not wheelchair accessible)
- West Passenger Pick up and Drop off Entrance (near Aukland Road and Subway Crescent) (staircase to an enclosed waiting area, not accessible)
- Subway Crescent (near Aukland Road and Subway Crescent)
Wheelchair Accessible: Since March 26, 1999
Elevators (click here for maintenance schedule): Bus level to Subway platform, Street to Concourse levels
Escalators (click here for maintenance schedule):
- East End - Train Platform To Bus Level (Up At All Times)
- Centre - Train Platform To Bus Level (Down At All Times)
- West End - Train Platform To Bus Level (Up At All Times)
- West End Lower Concourse To Train Platform (Down At All Times)
- West End - Lower Concourse To Train Platform (Up At All Times)
- Lower Concourse To Street Level (Aukland Rd) (Up At All Times)
Washrooms
Passenger Pick-up and Drop-off
Centre platform
Parking (2 lots, 1229 spaces, $6 per day on weekdays ($2 after 3 p.m.), free on weekends and holidays)

Inter-regional Connections:

TTC Surface Connections:

Former TTC Surface Connections:

Document Archive

Metrolinx Display boards on the Kipling Terminal construction, July 15, 2014 - 14.7 Mb PDF
Appendix of BA Group Feasibility Study about the Kipling Terminal, January 22, 2015 - 5.3 Mb PDF
Metrolinx’s Preliminary Drawings for the Kipling Intermodal Terminal, February 2015 - 21.4 Mb PDF
Kipling Terminal Feasibility Study, February 2015, 5.3 Mb PDF
Kipling Terminal Construction Update, April 4, 2017, 1 Mb PDF & Kipling Mobility Hub Update, May, 11, 2017, 385 Kb PDF

Kipling Station Image Archive

	A model of Kipling subway station, commissioned by the Toronto Transit Commission circa 1973. This image is courtesy the Toronto Archives, Fonds 16, Series 836, Subseries 4, File 71. Thanks to Nathan Ng's Station Fixation project.
	A cutaway of the elevations of Kipling and Kennedy station, showing planned LRT platforms. Image courtesy the Toronto Archives and Nathan Ng's Station Fixation web site.
	An aerial view of Kipling station as it nears completion. This image is from the Toronto Archives, Fonds 16, Series 836, Subseries 4, File 71. Thanks to Nathan Ng's Station Fixation project.
	An TTC advertisement, taken before or after November 21, 1980 shows major route changes in relation to the opening of Kipling station that affects the 3 KINGSWAY, 30 LAMBTON, 32B EGLINTON WEST, 44 KIPLING SOUTH, 45 KIPLING, 46 MARTIN GROVE, 49 BLOOR WEST, 80 QUEENSWAY, 87 MALL CIRCLE, 111 EAST MALL, and 112 WEST MALL routes.
	A view of Kipling station and its bus terminal, looking west from Kipling Avenue, taken for the Toronto Archives on October 29, 1981. Image courtesy Nathan Ng's Station Fixation web site.
	A view of Kipling station's bus terminal, looking west, taken for the Toronto Archives November 19, 1981, just days before opening. Image courtesy Nathan Ng's Station Fixation web site.
	The passenger pick-up and drop-off kiosk at Kipling station, taken for the Toronto Archives circa 1985. Image courtesy Nathan Ng's Station Fixation web site.
	TTC H4-class subway car #5615 is the lead car of a train ready to head eastbound out of Kipling station. This photo was taken in the year 2000 by David Cavlovic.
	An aerial photograph of Kipling station, looking northwest, taken for the Toronto Archives circa 2008. Image courtesy Nathan Ng's Station Fixation web site.
	This picture shows the connection between Kipling GO station and Kipling subway station via an underground passageway. The only way out for GO patrons is through the station, though they do not enter the fare-paid zone. The subway station building with its bus terminal is on the left. Photo by James Bow on June 12, 2009.
	Passengers head through the doors of Kipling GO station, in the passageway between the TTC collector booths and the southern parking lot. This photo was taken on June 12, 2009 by James Bow.
	A view of the northern platform at Kipling station, showing the original yellow vinyl siding tiles, taken on March 31, 2010. The photographer is unknown.
	A TTC map showing the locations of Kipling's parking lots relative to the station building, effective August 2014.
	A view of the connection to the Kipling GO station platform, looking north to the fare collection booths. This photo was taken on Saturday, October 18, 2014, by James Bow.
	The modest entrance structure connecting passengers from the southern park'n'ride lot to the fare collection area at the west end of Kipling station. This photo was taken on Saturday, October 18, 2014 by James Bow.
	A view of the southern tail track extending west from Kipling Station, one train length. This photo was taken on Saturday, October 18, 2014 by James Bow.
	A view of the west end of Kipling subway station and the tailtracks, shot from the platform of Kipling GO station on March 25, 2017. Photo by Damian Baranowski.
	The passageway leading from the south parking lot to the main concourse at Kipling station. Kipling GO station lets out here. This photo was taken on March 25, 2017 by Damian Baranowski.
	A view of the stairs leading from the Kipling GO station platform into Kipling subway station, taken by Damian Baranowski on March 25, 2017.
	Damian Baranowski caught this image of new enamelled metal tiles being added to Kipling station's southern platform wall on November 8, 2017.
	A view of the south side of the Kipling subway station building, showing the distinctive roof-line of the bus terminal, and the unused LRT platform. This photo was taken by Damian Baranowski on November 10, 2017.
	The exit stairs leading from the waiting room to Kipling Station's mezzanine. This photo was captured by Damian Baranowski on November 10, 2017.
	A shot of the Kipling station name on the new metal cladding adorning the outside walls of the subway platform. The original Univers font has given way to the traditional TTC Subway font. This photo was taken by Damian Baranowski on November 10, 2017.
	A train of T1 cars pulls into the southern platform of Kipling station on November 23, 2017, its headlights shining off the new enamelled metal tiles on the wall. Photo by James Bow.
	TTC T1 train #5219 pulls into the northern platform of Kipling station on the afternoon of June 26, 2018. Photo by James Bow.
	A view of the bridge across the railway tracks, leading from Kipling GO station's platform to the Kipling Mobility Hub. This photo was taken by Andre Truffi on October 13, 2019.
	A close-up view of the stairs and elevator shaft leading to the Kipling Mobility Hub at Kipling GO Station, looking west. This shot was taken on October 13, 2019, by Andre Truffi.
	A view of the Kipling GO station platform, with construction underway on the bridge to the Kipling Transit Hub terminal. This photo was taken by Andre Truffi on October 13, 2019.
	A view of the Kipling terminal and the bridge, looking south. This shot was taken by Andre Truffi on October 13, 2019.
	A view of the construction of the new Kipling terminal, looking south, taken by Andre Truffi on October 18, 2019.
	Preparing the ground for the terminal This shot was taken in the year 2020, looking east, by Andre Truffi.
	A view of the bus entrance to the Kipling Regional Terminal, taken by Andre Truffi in early October 2020.
	A view of the main passenger entrance of Kipling's regional bus terminal, looking south in this early October shot by Andre Truffi.
	A closer view of the main entrance of the Kipling Regional Terminal, taken early October 2020, looking south, by Andre Truffi.
	A view of a MiWay sign in the Kipling Regional bus terminal. This photo was taken early October 2020 by Andre Truffi.
	A view of one of the long platforms at Kipling Regional Terminal, looking East. This shot was taken by Andre Truffi in early October 2020.
	A view of the Kipling Regional Terminal, nearing completion, looking southwest. This photo was taken by Andre Truffi in early October 2020.