Downsview Park Station will host TTC, GO Transit, connect line to 905

Station is one of first to operate Automatic Train Control, Presto and Wi-Fi

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 24, 2017
By Rahul Gupta



The TTC opened its doors to under-construction Downsview Park Station to give the media a peek at the project’s progress.

Not to be confused with Downsview to the south which will be renamed to Sheppard West, Downsview Park is one of six stations under construction as part of the Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE). The 8.6-kilometre extension north to Vaughan is the first TTC rapid transit line to connect the 905. After multiple delays, the line is readying to open at the end of the year, and when it does promises to represent the evolution of TTC service, said CEO Andy Byford.

“People will look at (TYSSE) as just a subway extension,” said Byford during the media tour at the station located inside of Downsview Park on Monday. “To me it’s way more than that because this will be a Presto, Wi-Fi, Automatic Train Control (ATC) equipped subway. All of those projects have to come together at the same time, which is an incredibly complex piece of coordination.”

According to Byford, TYSSE is more than 90 per cent complete, and Downsview Park is almost ready to begin safety testing once the power goes on at the station, scheduled for the first of April. Testing will include not just ATC - which will allow for the operation of subway trains remotely via computers and not a human - but all station components including ventilation, communication systems, backup power and train radios.

Like the other stations on the extension - Finch West, York University, Pioneer Village, Highway 407 and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre - Downsview Park is cavernous compared to existing stations, boasting plenty of natural light plus a quirky artistic finish depicting a spiral-like motif appearing on walls and ceilings, which if seen from a “sweet spot” comes together as a continuous image. The design scheme leads all the way down to track-level.

The station is actually two separate sides connected by track housing not just the TTC’s operations, but that of GO Transit. As TTC spokesperson Joanna Kervin explained, the TTC is building not only the subway, but a new GO station, plus track, which will operate along the regional transit agency’s Barrie Line connection.

“Essentially we are in fact building the station for them, and they are providing funding for that,” said Kervin, the TTC’s director of third-party planning for TYSSE. “It just so happened we were going to initially have the subway station separate … but it just made sense we would build (the GO station) into our single contract, and what we’ve added is construction of the train platform.”

In addition to a paid area which will be accessible via Presto, although the TTC doesn’t plan to phase out subway tokens and tickets until 2018, the station will also act as a public throughway for local residents passing through, but not intending to use transit.

Byford said negotiations were ongoing between the TTC, Metrolinx and York Region about how to allow riders to transfer seamlessly between services.