Let's improve Toronto's subway

My election campaign for premier of Ontario

Map of possible Toronto subway network in the future

Note

This was easily the most effort and time I’ve spent writing an article for. Researching and learning for transit expansion projects was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the process, despite being for my home city. Map making was also very fun, despite working perhaps a little too excessively on it in hindsight.

This little project also opened my eyes to the values of public transit and especially varying forms of rail transit. It’s something I’m going to keep an eye out for as I visit different places around the world. I’ve also learnt how a lot of the key elements of a good transit network come together; rapid transit, LRT/trams, buses, and transit hubs. Maybe urban planning is something I would enjoy studying.

Note 2

The Finch West LRT, line 6, has opened in the time since I published this article! Line 5 has also passed substantial completion, which means it is almost certainly opening in January 2026 barring a catastrophe. I figured I’d update this article to account for these changes, and some other edits I want to make.

For preservation sake, here is the previous SVG transit map I had. The notable changes to the new version are:

Now back to the article.

I like good public transit. They promote good city design, reduce car dependency, and are just cool infrastructure projects to see and use. That’s why it pains me that Toronto’s public transit, specifically the metro, is very lackluster for a city of its size. Toronto’s public transit is considered as a great reference when compared to most North American cities, but it still has too many shortcomings. The infrastructure has been left to rot for decades with chronic underfunding. Locals will tell you how broken the system is; the subway reliability, bus frequency, and streetcar bunching.

So in this article, I’m going to show my proposals of how I would improve the network through my armchair transportation engineering skills. While this primarily focuses on rapid transit (metro), I will also try to integrate everything into ongoing or planned regional transit plans. There even is high speed rail involved! But before proceeding, here’s also a glossary in case I mention something confusing.

Arterial Road

Big roads that are between highways and small neighbourhood roads in terms of capacity and speed. These are often long and continuous, and the site of urban or suburban development

Transit Corridor

Some kind of line-like area on a map that you can draw where a lot of people live, move around, or activity happens. These areas are where rapid transit projects are typically installed

(At/Below/Above) Grade

Whether a transit vehicle runs on the ground, below it, or elevated. Order by increasing cost: at, above, below. Below and above grade offer more reliable and faster service, because vehicles get their own dedicated right of way. They’re also shielded from the environment and cars. “Grade separated” means either below or above grade

BRT

Bus Rapid Transit. A transit corridor where buses are used instead of trains. Benefits are flexibility, short time-to-realization, and low capital costs. Downsides are limited capacity and high operating costs

LRT

Light Rail Transit. Rail transit that uses smaller trains which are more flexible, have lower capacity, and are lower cost. The opposite is heavy rail. The “light” and “heavy” refer to passenger capacity, not physical weight

Cut and Cover

A method for building below grade transit lines or stations. Involves cutting up the ground, installing the tunnel and infrastructure, then covering it. Upsides are low costs and speed, downside is significant impact to surroundings. The alternative is boring a tunnel, which uses a massive tunnel boring machine to quietly dig a tunnel underneath even high density areas. Much less disruptive but more expensive

Infilling

Building a new station between existing stations after a transit line has already been installed. So far, the only infilled station in Toronto is North York Centre

Tail Tracks
Rail tracks that were laid down beyond a terminal station. Can be used to park trains or reverse them

Current and near-future system

As an illustration for why Toronto’s transit network can use some help, here is the current rail map. Lines 1, 2, and 4 are heavy rail, while lines 5 and 6 are light. Line 6 just opened, while line 5 is expected to open in January 2026. I also overlayed the 6 districts of Toronto.

Map with Toronto’s current rapid transit lines drawn on it

There are some big problems with the current lines.

  1. The only way for most people to get to core downtown (central Old Toronto) is to use lines 1 or 2, which cause overcrowding at the interchanges. In fact, line 1 is running at full capacity and needs an entirely new line to reduce its burden
  2. Line 4 (yes, not 3. That one was shut down in 2023) is too short and has poor utility
  3. The network simply doesn’t reach enough people. Lots of neighbourhoods are left to use buses or drive cars. Districts like Scarborough and Etobicoke are almost completely in a transit desert zone, which causes heavy car usage.
  4. There is almost no redundancy. Toronto’s subway known to have outages that can occur at any time. If somewhere on line 1 is affected, that will strand a lot of people

Here is the same map but with the some of the busiest bus routes (red), GO trains (commuter/regional rail, black), and streetcars (blue) shown as well. The busiest bus routes are drawn in a thicker line. Because Toronto uses a flat fare system instead of a distance-based system, it’s impossible to show usage within each transit line.

Toronto’s current subway network with busy bus routes, GO rail lines, and streetcars overlayed

Note the following:

  1. Before the pandemic, the busiest bus and streetcar routes carried over 50 000 and 90 000 people per day respectively. Despite ridership that competes with highways, the buses and streetcars get stuck in car traffic and have no signal priority, which means a transit vehicle carrying 100 people needs to wait at red lights or left turns. Luckily, this may change shortly
  2. The GO trains carry a massive amount of passengers but they all converge at Union Station, the bottom of the “U” on line 1. While there are some stops before reaching Union Station, most people still get off there. This means Union is perpetually busy and under expansion projects. The suburban commuters make the burden on line 1 even heavier, which desperately needs relief

Here is where the missing line 3 comes into the picture. Line 3 is the Ontario Line and is proper heavy rail. It serves multiple purposes:

  1. It provides an alternative route for people to move through and to/from downtown, “relieving” line 1’s capacity issues. It is the successor to the Downtown Relief Line
  2. It allows GO train riders from the two busiest lines (Lakeshore East/West, which run along Lake Ontario) to get into downtown without using Union Station, spreading the passenger load
  3. It provides a new north-south connection in mid-eastern Toronto
  4. It brings more rapid transit to high density neighbourhoods

There are also extensions on lines 1, 2, and 5 currently being built. The eastern end of line 1 is being extended north out of Toronto and into Richmond Hill, which will connect with the Richmond Hill GO line and York Region BRT. Line 2 is being extended northeast into Scarborough to replace the decomissioned, old line 3. Line 5 is being extended west to Renforth Drive, which connects to the Mississauga Transitway BRT and is a short hop away from Pearson International Airport, the largest and busiest in Canada. This airport will be mentioned multiple times in this article.

Below is a map with all extensions and line 3 complete. These are all expected to be open by 2031.

Toronto’s predicted subway network by 2031

And again, here is the map with GO trains, streetcars, and bus routes.

TOronto’s predicted subway network by 2031, overlayed by the same bus, GO train, and streetcar routes

While the network looks a lot nicer, we can always do better. Some problems still persist:

  1. Most of Scarborough and Etobicoke are still in a transit desert
  2. Lines 5 and 6 will have a lower average travel speed than lines 1, 2, 3, and 4, because the former have more stops per distance. On top of that, the vehicles are smaller. This means that the capacity ceiling is lower for these lines. A true heavy rail east-west crosstown will be valuable
  3. There is no north-south line in the western parts of the city
  4. Line 4 still sucks. Arguably even more than today’s map, because everything else except it has improved

With the flaws established, let’s see how we can improve the network.

The fantasy future

First, here’s the final map upfront. It actually looks like a proper big city transit network.

My vision for Toronto’s future subway network with multiple extensions and new lines

And here’s a list of all the stations that were renamed. This was done to make each station’s name more unique. Toronto has a habit of appending east or west to station names, which might cause some confusion. The best example is Finch West Station, which was named so because Finch Station already exists in the east. But Finch West Station is also the eastern terminal of line 6, which mostly runs on Finch Avenue West… We have enough names in the city to use each one just once.

And here’s a list of all new infilled stations.

Details and justification

Now for the fun part; the details of what and why. I’ll explain all the stations being added and reasoning. Here are some general rules I tried to follow when making this map.

  1. Money is finite. As cool as it would be to draw 20 fantasy lines that go everywhere, I tried to be somewhat realistic. Although given Toronto’s track record, this is already pure fantasy
  2. Follow existing proposals when possible. If professional teams that design transit for their job made something, they probably have good reasons for why
  3. Consider the busiest bus and streetcar routes, GO routes, density, and transit corridors. This plan also needs to synergize with regional transit plans (other cities), not just Toronto
  4. Remember geography and physical constraints

Each extension or new line is split into phases to make cost manageable, and I’ll rate its priority. I’ll also provide alternatives to reduce costs.

Line 1: Yonge-University

Customized Yonge North Subway Extension map with Newtonbrook Station

The eastern part of line 1 follows the active Yonge North Subway Extension plan, but with an extra station between Finch and Yonge-Steeles. This station, Newtonbrook, is located at the intersection of Cummer Avenue and Drewry Avenue where high rise development is ongoing.

Line 2: Bloor-Danforth

Sherway Gardens extension

Line 2 extension to Sherway Gardens

Line 2 gets a 1 stop western extension to Sherway Gardens, a large shopping mall. This extension can use the existing GO rail corridor for most of its path, and the rest can be done cut and cover. This would also set up the line to be ready for an expansion into Mississauga later, but this is extremely low priority. There are already two GO rail corridors that do that, and line 5 is better positioned than line 2.

Milliken Park extension

Line 2 extension to Milliken Park

I am also proposing a 2 stop northern extension on the eastern end of line 2 from its future terminus of Sheppard-McCowan to Milliken Park. This extension is more expensive because it will require much more tunnelling than the western extension. It seems transit planners have decided that McCowan Avenue is the next major road to use as a transit corridor, so might as well extend the line to the city’s northern boundaries. One bonus is that this gives room for the hypothetical GO Midtown line, if it is ever decided as a project to pursue.

Line 3: Ontario

Line 3 has potential to be expanded significantly, so I’ll break it down into smaller parts.

Don Mills - Steeles extension

Line 3 northern extension along Don Mills Road to Fairview Station (renamed from Don Mills Station)

The eastern part of line 3 will terminate at Don Valley Station when it opens. While this will provide an alternative north-south transit corridor to line 1, extending line 3 further north is required to make a bigger impact. There are proposals to extend line 3 to Steeles Avenue and create a station next to Highway 404. At a minimum, an extension to Fairview Station (renamed from Don Mills Station) must be done. Line 4 already runs to here, so this creates a new transfer point. Fairview Station has good housing density and a bus terminal which would feed into line 3.

Donway Station is by Lawrence Avenue East, where a large shopping centre, high rise development, and busy bus route are. Lesmill Station is meant for the bus route along York Mills Road, as well as abundant commercial land that can be rezoned for high density communities. Graydon Hall Station will serve the high density housing around it. Oriole Station will serve its community centre, neighbourhood, and school. Seneca Polytechnic Station is where Seneca College lies, whose students would now have access to rapid transit. Seneca College also lies on Finch Avenue East, which has a busy bus route. Highway 404 Station is at the northern boundary of Toronto and is where line 3 will interchange with line 8 (red).

A large fraction of this extension and its stations can be built at or above grade. Parts of track from Don Valley to Donway, most of Fairview to Lesmill can be built elevated, and Lesmill Station and Graydon Hall Station could be done at surface level or elevated. Oriole and northward stations will likely be built underground.

Highway 7 extension

Continued northern extension of line 3 to Highway 7

A lower priority project would be to continue the extension up to Highway 7, into Markham. Ridership would be much lower on this segment. The York Region Viva BRT runs along Highway 7, which enables new transit options.

Mount Dennis extension

Line 3 western extension to Junction Triangle Station (renamed from Dundas West Station)

Now we’ll turn to the western end of line 3 from Exhibition Station. There is a proposal to extend the line to Dundas West Station (I renamed it to Junction Triangle Station), but I can’t find much details about a route. So, I mostly made this part up.

I’m building a new infilled station at Cherry Street called Distillery Station. This station is actually to be placed on the phase 1 project of line 3, which is currently under construction. This will connect to the improved streetcar service there as part of the Waterfront East LRT project by the city, which I am not covering in this article. High density residential areas and large parks will be in the vicinity.

This extension starts the western relief for line 1. Line 3 will start by going north on Dufferin Street, replacing parts of the busy bus route and serving very high density neighbourhoods. Line 3 will:

  1. Connect with the streetcar routes along King Street and Queen Street, and serve the future King-Liberty GO Station (Liberty Station)
  2. Intersect with Dundas Avenue West for the Dundas streetcar (Beaconsfield Station)
  3. Intersect with College Street for the Carlton streetcar (Brockton Station)

As you can tell, line 3 heavily prioritizes on interchanging with as many different transit stations as possible. After Brockton Station, the line travels north on Dundas Avenue West until it interchanges at Junction Triangle Station for the Milton GO line and the UP Express, which offers direct service to Pearson International Airport.

Line 3 alternative western extension to Junction Triangle Station through Roncesvalles Avenue

The biggest problem with this proposed route is the sharp bends, because I’m not sure the train could turn this sharply. It’s possible that the tail tracks at Exhibition Station are too close to Liberty Station. If this alignment is not possible, line 3 can continue west from Exhibition Station and gradually move northwest, along the intersection of King-Jameson, then turn north from Queen-Roncesvalles. This option would likely be less costly, as the GO rail corridor from Exhibition can continued to be shared to Jameson.

Once line 3 reaches Junction Triangle Station, it continues slightly northwest along Keele Street, which is another busy bus corridor. Stock Yards Station is a shopping district, where the St Clair streetcar terminates, and where the future St. Clair-Old Weston Station will be installed. The UP Express will make stop here, but I’m hoping GO trains can also make a stop once electrification makes them faster. Depending on how ridership is expected to be, Rogers Station can be eliminated.

The final station in this extension is the interchange with line 5 at Mount Dennis Station. This provides an interchange with the Kitchener GO line and the UP Express again. But the biggest benefit is that line 1 receives significant capacity relief on its western branch. The western branch isn’t used as much as the eastern one, but ridership is still quite high.

Jane north extension

Line 3’s eastern extension replacing the Jane LRT

Regardless of what route line 3 takes to Mount Dennis Station, its alignment from here is fairly simple. It will be the incarnation of the Jane LRT’s goal from the Transit City plan. The Jane LRT was supposed to run along the entirety of Jane Street from line 2 up north to line 1, but line 3 will fulfill the northern half of it. Jane Street has a very busy bus corridor, lacks good transit options, and has many low-income neighbourhoods.

From Mount Dennis Station, line 3 will follow Weston Road to Weston Station. The Kitchener GO line stops here again, and there is good high density housing nearby. Line 3 then crosses above 2 highways on an elevated guideway before going back to follow Jane Street. The next stations are all along intersections with major east-west arterial roads; Wilson Avenue, Sheppard Avenue West, and Finch Avenue West. These roads currently have good bus ridership, and Finch now has an LRT running on it. The terminus is Pioneer Village Station, where line 3 will meet line 1 again. A good bus terminal exists here, and a stop south on line 1 takes you to York University, enabling more commute options.

Most of this extension will have to be tunnelled, which means this will be expensive. But at some point, Toronto will need a new north-south transit line west of line 1, and this will do it.

Line 4: Sheppard

Line 4 is a meme because of its short length having earned it the name of a “stubway”. Several expansions are needed to massively improve its utility.

Allen - Oakdale extension

Line 4 western extension to Allen Station (renamed from Sheppard West Station)

A new infill station is built at Willowdale Avenue, between Sheppard-Yonge Station and Bayview Village Station.

The first phase of line 4 extensions is to reach Sheppard West Station, now named Allen Station. This will solve the missing crosstown link in northern Toronto. The line will connect to the busy bus route on Bathurst Street (Earl Bales Park Station), and the massive Wilson train yard south of Allen Station. Line 1’s trains are stored here, and they currently have to go around the U to get to the eastern part of line 1. Making a connection through line 4 will massively speed this process up. Line 4’s tail tracks already extend out about halfway to Bathurst, which means the actual distance is even shorter.

The biggest challenge will be crossing the large valley between Sheppard-Yonge and Earl Bales Park. Sheppard Avenue runs across on a bridge, so this would have to be retrofitted to support a subway underneath it.

Line 4 then continues to interchange with line 6 (which I’ll talk about soon), then southwest to line 3. Line 4 first curves north to Downsview GO Station (renamed from Downsview Park), which provides seamless transfers to line 6 and the Barrie GO line. This is a massive open area with zero housing nearby, so construction will not be expensive. The surrounding Downsview Park is also being used as a venue for large concerts and gatherings, so there is value in making this place more accessible.

Line 4 then heads down Keele Street and then turns west on Wilson Avenue to interchange with line 3 at Oakdale-Beverley Station. As for why I didn’t extend line 4 directly west from Downsview GO Station, there are a few reasons.

  1. Housing density becomes lower on this part of Sheppard Avenue
  2. Line 4 would be competing with line 6 ridership
  3. Sheppard Avenue terminates shortly west of Glenfield-Jane Station and is blocked by a massive park, so it has to turn north or south soon anyways
  4. There are more bus corridors south of Sheppard to serve, while not fully competing with line 5’s ridership
  5. This alignment allows line 4 to continue west to Pearson International Airport

Pearson extension

Line 4 western extension to Pearson International Airport

And speaking of Pearson International Airport, that’s where line 4 ultimately ends up. If you’re curious why there are 4 lines all converging at the airport, it’s because this area is planned to become a massive transit hub. Good reasons for doing this include:

  1. Two neighbouring cities, Mississauga and Brampton, are nearby and already have BRT service that runs close to the airport
  2. Using an airport as a transit hub is standard across the world in many cities
  3. The nearby land is undeveloped or all commercial, which means development isn’t constrained by residential zoning
  4. There is a nearby GO rail corridor (you can see it in the map, the thin black-and-white line running mostly straight east-west) that can be used to bring GO service to the airport
  5. This is a good place for the Alto high speed rail to make a stop for the Greater Toronto Area. While Union is probably the better location for traffic, it is very space constrained and would be expensive. Building near the airport with its massive parking lots would be more efficient and allow for better designs
  6. Accessing the airport from Toronto is currently rather inconvenient for most people. You either use the UP Express from downtown or use the highways, which are always congested

In short, it just makes sense for a lot of transit services to connect here.

Line 4 follows Wilson Avenue to Pelmo Park-Humberlea, then dips south on a rail corridor to St Phillips Road, and continues west on Dixon Road. There is a corridor of high density residences along this road. West of Kingsview Station can mostly be built elevated to save costs, because no one lives west of the highway.

The issue with this plan, of course, is that line 4 might compete slightly with line 5’s ridership. But this section of line 4 is more built as an exress connection to the airport rather than a crosstown train that line 5 is, so they serve different purposes. Plus, I want to maximize the train service the airport hub can get.

Rouge Hill extension

Line 4 eastern extension to Scarborough Town Centre, Malvern Centre, Meadowvale, then Rouge Hill

Line 4 also needs an eastern extension to really shine. The bus route along Sheppard Avenue East is busy; it intersects with multiple popular north-south bus routes and Agincourt Station, where the Stouffville GO train makes a stop. There are also many high density housing clusters along the road, and two big destination hubs to hit; Scarborough Centre and Malvern Centre.

The government is considering an extension of line 4 to the future Sheppard-McCowan Station. This would take the line straight east on Sheppard Avenue without any bends, but I think that making a diversion south to Scarborough Centre is more important. While Sheppard Avenue continues as an easy-to-follow arterial road, Scarborough Centre is already a major transit hub, has existing and emerging high density residential buildings, and is a visitor destination. A regional BRT that connects to Durham Region in the east is proposed to terminate at Scarborough Centre. It just makes sense for rapid transit to serve this area, and the old line 3 used to do this. Getting to Scarborough Centre means tunnelling under Highway 401, a 14 lane monstrosity. It might be possible to use the commercial land around Agincourt Station to go elevated instead, or use the rail corridor that already passes underneath the highway.

East of Scarborough Centre is Malvern Centre, another high density neighbourhood. Because this place is north of Highway 401, line 4 will have to cross it again. Again though, there is plenty of commercial land that shouldn’t object to a bridge. Slightly north of White Haven Station, I left room in case the GO midtown line may build a station here.

After passing Malvern Centre Station, line 4 resumes following Sheppard Avenue. Density is lower from here on, so stations are more spaced out. Line 4 will pass the Toronto Zoo (Meadowvale Station), Rouge National Park (Rouge Park Station), cross Highway 401 south once more, then continue south to Lake Ontario. The terminus is Rouge Hill Station, where the Lakeshore East GO trains make a stop. Within this series of extensions, priority should be given to connect with Scarborough Centre. The extension to Malvern Centre and Morningside Station is next, then finally the Rouge Hill extension is last. The segment between Meadowvale Station and Rouge Park Station could be built elevated to save costs.

And with that, most of Scarborough finally has access to rapid transit.

Line 5: Eglinton

Extension of line 5 to Pearson International Airport

Line 5 gets a simple 1 stop extension to the airport, north from its future terminus at Renforth Station. Once the transit hub begins to grow, additional surface level or elevated stations can be built.

Renforth Station is the eastern terminus of the Mississauga Transitway, which provides a highway-like BRT into Mississauga. It provides a perfect corridor for extending line 5 into Mississauga. Unlike line 2, there aren’t alternative intercity transit services like GO trains between Toronto and Mississauga at this latitude, meaning line 5 will be a good candidate. I haven’t included a plan for upgrading the BRT to LRT, but it’s something to keep in mind.

Line 6: Finch West

Airport extension

Line 6 extension to Pearson International Airport

Line 6 is extended south towards the airport as well, but gains two new stops. From its current terminus at Humber College, it stops at Woodbine Mall (Highview Station) and the future Woodbine GO Station (Racetrack Station). Line 6 will allow airport users to head to northern Etobicoke straight by train, and vice versa.

Downsview GO extension

Line 6 southeastern extension to Downsview GO Station (renamed from Downsview Park Station)

Line 6 should also get a short extension to Downsview GO Station from its current terminus at Four Winds Station (formerly Finch West). As line 4 and 6 don’t offer a truly seamless crosstown travel, it’s important to reduce the time it takes to hop between one and the other. This extension will pass through commercial land, then turn south on the Barrie line GO rail corridor. There should be no disturbance to any neighbourhoods, making it cheap and easy.

Cancelled Finch extension

Line 6 eastern extension to Finch Station

I want to also mention line 6’s original plans. It was meant to interchange with line 1 at Finch Station (and line 4 was never meant to be extended west), but this was cut due to budget constraints. While I can see this western extension providing benefits, I’m not sure if it’s a great idea with a proper subway on the next arterial road south, and with another LRT (line 8) that will run on the next arterial road north. If I had to choose just one to extend, I would choose line 4 because of its greater potential.

Line 7: Scarborough

Shortened route of line 7 through Scarborough from Kennedy Station to Morningside

This is a proposed LRT by the city of Toronto with some big changes. Their proposal for line 7 assumes line 4 will terminate at Sheppard-McCowan Station, so line 7 loops back west from Morningside Station. My version of line 7 modifies it to work with line 4’s alignment to Scarborough Centre and Malvern Centre. My version also removes quite a few stations along the way, because I think the original proposal has far too many for a rapid transit line.

Line 7 starts by interchanging with lines 2 and 5 at Kennedy Station, then again with line 2 at Danforth Station, then heads east along Eglinton Avenue East. It connects to the Eglinton GO and Guildwood GO Stations (Bellamy and Cedar Ridge Stations, respectively), which are for the Lakeshore East GO line. The VIA train from Union Station also stops at Cedar Ridge Station, which means some people would be able to board the trains while avoiding busy Union. The line continues northeast on Kingston Road until it reaches Lawrence Avenue East (West Hill Station), at which it turns north onto Morningside Avenue. It then goes to the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, interchanges with line 4 at Morningside Station, then continues a little further north up Morningside Avenue.

If you’re wondering why line 7 doesn’t connect with line 8 (the red one), it’s because basically no one lives in the area between the lines. It can be done, but it’s very low priority. Buses already run along the terminus, so that is always an option. If this extension happens or is possible, then it begs the question of why line 7 is separate in the first place. Because the line is so short compared to the other rail lines, why not make line 8 take over line 7? Because of uncertainty, I’ll assume line 7 terminates where it does on the map.

And in case you’re wondering why line 5 can’t simply be extended to replace line 7, it’s because of poor planning. Line 2 is currently being extended to Sheppard-McCowan Station, and the alignment of its tunnel means that line 5 cannot proceed past line 2. This means someone making a full east-west trip will have to get off line 5 trains at Kennedy Station, walk a little, then board the trains for line 7. If possible, a solution should really be found to prevent this from happening.

Line 7 is an odd existence: short, almost unnecessary (as a separate line), and planned to be slower than a bus (using the city’s plans).

Line 8: Steeles

Line 8 will be an LRT that runs along Steeles Avenue, the northernmost east-west arterial road in Toronto. This line is one of two in this article with no official proposal as far as I know of.

North York

Western part of line 8 from Pioneer Village Station to Highway 404 Station, along Steeles Avenue

The more important phase is the western portion between lines 1 and 3. The ongoing extension of line 1 (and hopefully line 3 later) will bring rapid transit to this area along Steeles Avenue, so it’s a good idea to establish an east-west crosstown line while development hasn’t made it too difficult. Line 8’s western terminus is Pioneer Village Station. It travels east along Steeles Avenue and terminates at Highway 404 Station.

Scarborough

Eatern part of line 8 from Highway 404 Station to Sheppard-McCowan Station, then to Markham Road

The second phase is to extend line 8 further west to Milliken Park Station and interchange with line 2, then terminate a little beyond that at Markham Road. If a line 2 extension to Milliken Park will not happen, line 8 can replace it by going south on McCowan Road. It would then terminate at Sheppard-McCowan Station and interchange with line 2.

Line 9: Golden Horseshoe

This is another fantasy LRT of mine as well. It was made using these points as reference:

  1. There are emerging transit corridors along:
    1. Highway 427. This area is lies south from the airport, down to line 2
    2. Humber Bay Shores. This is by the lakeshore, west of downtown. Only a streetcar line provides transit through here
    3. Victoria Park. This street runs parallel, slightly west from the line 3 Don Mills extension. While line 3 will probably will absorb most of the demand for the Victoria Park bus, I think there is enough room for another transit line
  2. There should be a heavy rail line that runs from the airport towards the city centre
  3. I want to provide more downtown relief, transit to the eastern lakeshore area, and connect to the future East Harbour transit hub

The name refers to the Greater Golden Horseshoe Area, which is a large area roughly within a 50 kilometre radius of western Lake Ontario and forms a horseshoe shape.

Pearson - Highway 427

Line 9 route south from Pearson International Airport to Kipling Station

We’ll start at the airport and go to Kipling Station. Line 9 will share the corridor with line 5, both stopping at Renforth Station. The Mississauga Transitway connects to here. Line 9 then goes underground to Centennial Park and then approaches Highway 427. West Mall and East Mall are stations to serve the high density housing along the highway. The stations can be built at grade, and line 9 will cross the highway on an elevated guideway as it goes south. Because this highway is another 12 lane monster, noise pollution will be a big issue near these stations. Maybe we can encase the highway in a concrete tunnel.

Humber Shores

Line 9’s route as it interchanges with Kipling Station, travels south on Islington Avenue, then follows the lakeshore to downtown

From Kipling Station, line 9 can either tunnel or run elevated to Norseman Station, after which it will likely tunnel along Islinton Avenue to Queensway Station. Once the line encounters the Lakeshore West GO corridor, it turns west and runs parallel. It stops by Mimico GO Station, then heads to the Humber Bay Shores area to serve the very high density neighbourhoods here. A new GO station, Park Lawn Station, is planned to be built. Line 9 runs along the Humber Bay south of High Park, then tunnels into downtown and interchanges with line 3 at Liberty Station. Most of the lakeshore part should be able to be built elevated, reducing costs.

Downtown

Line 9 passing through downtown along Queen Street, College Street, Carlton Street, then south to East Harbour. It then runs northeast to Victoria Park Station

Next is the downtown phase, from Liberty Station to East Harbour Station. This is to provide more capacity and connections through downtown. There are lots of high density residential areas east of College Station, and East Harbour Station will be a big transit hub that the Lakeshore East GO train makes a stop at. This part of line 9 may seem redundant because of the existing streetcar network, but I’m adding it regardless for redundancy and better capacity. Line 9 will act more of a cross-downtown transit line, whereas the streetcars make much more frequent stops.

Victoria Park

Line 9 running along the eastern lakeshore from East Harbour to Woodbine Beach, Glen Stewart Ravine, then to Main Street, Victoria Park, and terminating at O’Connor Station

Passing East Harbour, line 9 runs along Queen Street to serve areas that only have access to a streetcar. Several attractions such as the Leslie Spit and multiple beaches are along the lakeshore. Line 9 then heads to Main Street Station, where the Danforth GO Station is. While Main Street Station is part of line 2, the subway and GO station are separated by several minutes of walking outside. Line 9 will run right up to the GO rail corridor, enabling seamless transfers. It then goes to Victoria Park Station, where a busy bus route lies. Finally, line 9 heads north and terminates at O’Connor Station, interchanging with line 5.

As for extensions north from here, I can imagine line 9 either continuing north to line 8, or it turns east to Scarborough Centre. But I wasn’t too sure where to take it, so I’m terminating the line at O’Connor.

Actual feasibility: 😂

Now that fantasy time is over, it’s time to make a more realistic judgement of my proposals. Ideally, government would just force through public transit projects and actually get them done. Both the province and country could really benefit from large projects at a time like this. But instead of progressing society, the important people want to remove bike lanes, prevent congested buses from getting a priority lane, and even build a $100 billion tunnel that runs underneath and parallel to Highway 401. You can probably fund everything on this map with that money and still have billions left over. But then again, the unavoidable cost increases and delays make it feel like even $100 billion won’t be enough for this single city.

On the other hand, Toronto and the GTA, or even the Greater Horseshoe, have most of the pieces in place to fulfill ambitious transit dreams. Toronto has an existing streetcar network that just needs a few policy changes to be so much better. There is increasing pressure to get vehicles transit signal priority, which would be amazing. GO expansion will (in the distant future) bring European-style regional rail transit, and most of the rail corridors are ready for electrification. GO expansion is honestly exciting enough that it deserves its own article. Transit expansion in Toronto is mostly held back by lack of political will and car-centrism.

Large investments like rapid transit need to be ambitious. These aren’t a congestion relief project, like how most public transit is treated in North America. Transit is multi-generation defining investment and should absolutely be top priority for any growing city. Instead of building where density and congestion already exists, public transit should be how cities plan land development; a “build it and they will come” mentality. While it’s frustrating to seeing movement that is so opposite to this idea, hope still persists even in the worst of times. And don’t worry; if progress doesn’t happen soon enough, the inevitable congestion will eventually force it to happen. See you in 2080, assuming NIMBYs don’t completely tear this to shreds.