It seems like the Government of Ontario is preparing for a TTC Sheppard subway line extension. On Tuesday, Ontario’s Associate Minister of Transportation Stan Cho met with TTC CEO Rick Leary to tour Line 4, get a first hand look at its infrastructure and prepare for a TTC Sheppard subway line extension.
They evaluated the need for a Sheppard subway line extension in the east and in the west. This would create a brand-new public transit corridor for commuters travelling across Scarborough and North York.
“Minister Mulroney and i recently gave official direction to start early planning work for a possible Sheppard line extension connecting the current terminus at Don Mills with the future Scarborough subway extension to the east” the Associate Transportation Minister said.
“While the exploratory work will focus mostly on the eastward route, we also tasked agency officials with investigating a possible westward extension from Sheppard-Yonge Station to Sheppard West Station at Allen Rd.
Toured Line 4 Sheppard & Wilson Yard with TTC CEO Rick Leary, @RaymondChoPC, @TheThanigasalam & @hardeepgrewal.
We evaluated the need for a Sheppard Line extension which would create a brand-new #transit corridor for commuters travelling across #Scarborough and #NorthYork! pic.twitter.com/mNbikKu7XI
— Stan Cho (@StanChoMPP) May 30, 2023
The Sheppard subway line (Line 4) currently moves the least amount of riders out of all the lines on the TTC subway network (50,000 riders per day), but this could easily change with this new east-west subway extension.
A Sheppard subway line extension to the east could connect with 2 new rail lines and add 4 new subway stations (Victoria Park, Warden North, Agincourt and Scarborough Town Centre). If it’s done right it would connect with GO Rail at Agincourt GO Station and the TTC at Scarborough Town Centre.
On top of that it could connect with a planned BRT route to the University of Toronto Scarborough campus. As well as connect loads of regional bus routes. The bus routes of 129 McCowan, 43 Kennedy, 68 Warden and 24 Victoria Park have a combined daily ridership of around 67,000 people.
An extension to the west with a station at Bathurst could reach another 20,000 riders with the 7 Bathurst bus route.
This could potentially increase ridership on the line to well above 100,000 riders per day, more than double and maybe even triple current ridership numbers.
Commentary
Extending the Sheppard line west to Allen Rd and east to the Scarborough subway extension would create a new east-west rapid transit corridor for residents in Scarborough and North York.
For example, students living in Scarborough would be able to attend York University’s main campus on Keele, via rapid underground transit with only one underground transfer.
People living in North York and Vaughan, could also get to Scarborough to attend one of the many attractions in the east like the Scarborough Town Centre, the Toronto Pan Am Centre on U of T Scarborough campus or even the Toronto Zoo, easily and rapidly.
This would be a game changer in Toronto public transit and would lead to a well connected and designed public transit infrastructure system for all residents of the GTA.
In Premier Doug Ford’s Transportation Vision for Ontario release in April of 2019, he displayed a map with a Sheppard East subway extending to the new TTC Scarborough subway extension.
I am glad to hear that the Premier is continuing with these plans. Extending the line west 5 km to Allen Rd also only makes sense.
We (GTA Weekly) personally follow a YouTube channel called RM transit where a YouTuber highlights public transit from a global perspective. He released a powerful video about a month ago explaining why Toronto badly needs to extend the Sheppard subway line to the east and to the west. It seems like the Transportation ministers might also follow this guy.
Check out his video below on the TTC Sheppard Line Subway Extension and check out some of his other videos. You will be amazed. The premier should hire him as a public transportation adviser. He does great work work.
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