The Sheppard subway line, Toronto’s first new subway in 17 years, officially opened for regular service at 9 a.m. yesterday. Until recently, Sheppard Ave. was the busiest bus route in Canada.
Twenty trains made up of four cars each will service the Sheppard subway’s five stations: Sheppard-Yonge, Bayview, Bessarion, Leslie and Don Mills. The end-to-end trip time is nine minutes, and the new line is expected to generate more than 15 million new customers and $1 million in revenue annually. The Sheppard line is also the first fully accessible subway line, with elevators at every station.
“It’s great to see that progress is being made,” said one passenger.
The new stations all feature artwork inside—different at each stop.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on Nov. 22. at the Don Mills station. The event featured speeches from federal Transport Minister David Collenette, his Ontario counterpart, Norm Sterling, Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman and community representatives.
Musicians, jugglers and clowns entertained the crowd while students from George Brown College’s culinary class served a cake big enough to feed 3,000 people.
“It’s like a coming-of-age party. We finally reached one of those marks in life,” said TTC spokesperson Marilyn Bolton.
Not everyone was pleased with the new line, however. “I think that it’s a total waste of money, because it doesn’t connect anywhere, and the people who live out there drive anyway, “ said Irene Angelopoulos, a U of T student.
The $933.9-million project has taken eight years to complete. The TTC will lose about $8-$10 million next year on the line, because the subway is located along a corridor of single-family homes.
The new line is expected to take three to five years to break even, assuming ridership climbs in the next five years. The 5.3-kilometre line only goes halfway to its original planned destination, Scarborough Town Centre, prompting some passengers to call it “the subway to nowhere.”
Photograph by Simon Turnbull
