Sheppard–Yonge station

Sheppard-Yonge
General information
Location	20 Sheppard Avenue West Toronto, Ontario Canada
Platforms	1 centre platform (1 Y-U line) 2 side platforms (4 Sheppard line)
Tracks	4 (2 on each level)
Connections	TTC buses
Construction
Structure type	underground
Platform levels	2
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	29 March 1974 (1974-03-29) (1 Y-U line) 24 November 2002 (2002-11-24) (4 Sheppard line)
Previous names	Sheppard
Passengers
2023–2024	57,501 (1 Y-U line) 35,327 (4 Sheppard line) 92,828 (total)
Rank	3rd of 69
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station Template:TTC stations toward Template:TTC stations Template:TTC lines Template:TTC stations toward Template:TTC stations Terminus Template:TTC lines Template:TTC stations toward Template:TTC stations

Sheppard–Yonge is a subway station on the Yonge–University and Sheppard lines in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the third-busiest station in the Toronto rapid transit system, after Bloor–Yonge and St. George, serving a combined total of approximately 92,828 people per day in 2023–2024.

History

Sheppard-Yonge first opened as Sheppard in 1974, when the Yonge-University subway line was extended from Eglinton to Finch. The extension was planned to open in two stages with Sheppard as the temporary terminus, but construction north of York Mills was delayed by various problems and in 1973, York Mills was opened as the temporary terminus instead; Sheppard Station then opened together with Finch in 1974. The H-2 class subway cars delivered in 1971 included destination signs for "Sheppard via downtown" on the expectation that it would be a terminal station.

The station was expanded and renamed "Sheppard-Yonge" in 2002 with the opening of the Sheppard subway line, for which this station became the western terminus. The renaming was similar to that of Bloor-Yonge Station. Unlike Bloor-Yonge, where the signs on the Yonge line platforms still read "Bloor" and those on the Bloor line read "Yonge", Sheppard-Yonge is given its full name on both sets of platforms; all existing signs within the station were changed to give the new name. At that time, this station became accessible with elevators.

Destination signs on Line 4 trains, which operate T1 trains, have referred to the station both as "Sheppard-Yonge" and as "Yonge Street". When the voice automation system was installed in subway trains, the stop announcements on Line 1 trains referred to the station as "Sheppard" while the announcements on Line 4, however, refer to the station as "Sheppard-Yonge". This is similar to the stop announcements in trains operating on Line 2 Bloor-Danforth, which also use T1 trains whose stop announcements refer to Bloor-Yonge simply as Yonge. The new Toronto Rocket subway trains, which operate solely on Line 1, use a new computer generated stop announcement system that refers to the stations as "Sheppard-Yonge" and "Bloor-Yonge" on which they also announce connections to other subway routes, specifically "Change for Line 2/4" and which side the doors will open on, specifically "Doors will open on the left/right".

Station description

The station is located under Yonge Street at Sheppard Avenue, and is built on five levels. All seven entrances are located at street level, as well as the bus platform. The three levels below are concourse levels, which provide access to the bus platform and the two subway lines. The subway platforms are on the two lower levels, with the Yonge–University line on the bottom and the newer Sheppard line crossing above.

There are two accessible entrances, one on the east side of Yonge Street beside the Sheppard Centre and the other by a private elevator from the Nestle Canada Building at 25 Sheppard Avenue West. Other entrances with automatic turnstiles are from Sheppard Avenue West, Beecroft Road, Harlandale Avenue and one on the southeast corner of Sheppard Avenue and Yonge Street. There is also an unmanned entrance to the south end of the Yonge–University platform with stairs on both sides of Yonge Street at Poyntz Road.

Architecture and art

Spiegel's Immersion Land

The station on the Sheppard line was designed by architectural firm NORR Limited. The construction of the Sheppard line included the integration of the bus terminal at street level into the fare-paid zone.

The artwork in the station, entitled Immersion Land and created by the artist Stacey Spiegel, consists of panoramic posterized murals created from 150 digital photos rendered onto single-colour mosaic tiles. The artwork depicts rural scenery along Yonge Street somewhere between Lake Ontario and North Bay, and is located on the upper (Sheppard line) platform level.

Subway infrastructure in the vicinity

The roughed-in centre platform to be potentially used as a Spanish solution

A connecting track from the southbound Yonge-University line, used only if cars or work equipment need to be transferred between the two lines, curves around to a point 500 metres west of Yonge, where the Sheppard line tunnel actually begins. This provides an area where trains can be stored clear of the line.

In the station, the Sheppard line tracks cross above the Yonge line. The Sheppard line station has platforms on the outer sides of the tracks, but there is also a roughed-in centre platform. Should the station become a busy transport hub, this platform will be opened and trains will open all their doors, allowing riders to enter on one side and exit on the other to improve efficiency.

Trains normally pull into the southern platform to load and discharge passengers, before returning in the direction from which they came; the northern platform is used only by trains which are going out of service and so must discharge their passengers without allowing more aboard.

Just east of the station, the Sheppard line converges with a second junction track from the northbound Yonge-University line.

Surface connections

Main article: List of Toronto Transit Commission bus routes

• 84B Sheppard West to Weston Road via Downsview station

84C to Steeles Avenue via Downsview station and Arrow Road (Rush hour service)

84D to Steeles Avenue via Downsview station and Oakdale Road (Rush hour service)

• 85B Sheppard East to Toronto Zoo

85J Sheppard East to Don Mills Station

• 97B/C/F Yonge - transfer to the bus on the street
• 98A Willowdale Senlac westbound to Peckham Avenue via Senlac Road

98C westbound to Peckham Avenue via Willowdale Avenue; eastbound to Steeles Avenue via Senlac Road

• 196B York University Rocket to York University via Downsview station (Express service)
• 384 Blue Night Sheppard West to Weston Road
• 385 Blue Night Sheppard East to Meadowvale Road

External links

Media related to Sheppard-Yonge Station at Wikimedia Commons

• Sheppard-Yonge