Royal York is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located just north of Bloor Street West on the east side of Royal York Road.[2]

Royal York
General information
Location955 Royal York Road
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates43°38′53″N 79°30′41″W / 43.64806°N 79.51139°W / 43.64806; -79.51139
PlatformsSide platforms
Tracks2
Connections
  •  15  Evans
  •  48  Rathburn
  •  73  Royal York
  •  76  Royal York South
  •  300   Bloor - Danforth
  •  315   Evans-Brown's Line
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
AccessibleYes
Other information
WebsiteOfficial station page
History
OpenedMay 10, 1968; 56 years ago (1968-05-10)
Passengers
2023–2024[1]17,337
Rank45 of 70
Services
Preceding station Toronto Transit Commission Following station
Islington
towards Kipling
Line 2 Bloor–Danforth Old Mill
towards Kennedy
Location
Map

History

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The station was opened in 1968 in what was then the Borough of Etobicoke.

The original plan for the Bloor-Danforth extension to Islington had different stations than what was eventually built. The stations were to be at "Montgomery" and "Prince Edward", instead of Islington and Royal York. This was probably because these two streets were the ends of the Kingsway shopping district. However, it was decided to include only one station in the Kingsway, at Royal York.[3]

Until 1973 the buses and the subway trains serving the station were in separate fare zones and so the turnstiles and collector booths were on the mezzanine level between the bus bays and the subway platforms. When the zones were abolished, they were moved to just inside the street entrance, bringing the buses inside the station's fare-paid area.

A local "zone 2" bus service continued to run along Bloor Street west of Jane, paralleling the "zone 1" subway, from the station's opening through the zone abolishment in 1973, and continued to run even after the bus and subway were in the same zone. The success of the bus service may be attributed to the distances between subway stops in Etobicoke; Royal York is over 1 km west of Old Mill, and Islington is over 1 km (0.62 mi) west of Royal York. (By comparison, stops at Montgomery, Prince Edward and Old Mill would all be within 1 km of each other, as are all stops on the Bloor-Danforth from Old Mill through Main Street, an east-west corridor served almost entirely by the subway line.) The local bus service was discontinued in 1984, although the long station spacing remains; only at night are buses still seen along this stretch.

Construction began in mid-2017 to make the station fully accessible, including the addition of three elevators and accessible fare gates. On December 16, 2019, the station became accessible with the completion of the elevator construction.[4]

Nearby landmarks

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Nearby landmarks include Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church in the Kingsway and Mimico Creek.

Surface connections

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TTC routes serving the station include:

Bay Route Name Additional information
1 73B Royal York Northbound to Eglinton Avenue West and La Rose Avenue
73C Northbound to Claireport via Albion Road
73D Northbound to Albion Road and Weston Road
(Rush hour service)
2 48 Rathburn Westbound to Mill Road
Wheel-Trans
3 Spare
4 15 Evans Westbound to Sherway Gardens
76A Royal York South Southbound to Lake Shore (past Mimico GO Station)
76B Southbound to the Queensway and Grand Avenue
315 Evans-Brown's Line Blue Night service; Westbound to Long Branch

References

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  1. ^ "Subway ridership, 2023-2024" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved November 12, 2024. This table shows the typical number of customer-boardings made on each subway line and the number of customers travelling to and from each station platform on a typical weekday in Sep 2023-Aug 2024.
  2. ^ "OUR STATIONS - TCONNECT.ca". TCONNECT.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-12-22. Retrieved 2016-12-21.
  3. ^ A History of Subways on Bloor and Queen Streets, Transit Toronto, archived from the original on 2013-05-27, retrieved 2008-01-09
  4. ^ "Royal York Station: Easier Access Program". TTC. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
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  Media related to Royal York Station at Wikimedia Commons Official station page