This Subway Station is INFAMOUS | Spadina
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- Опубликовано: 11 май 2022
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Hi, my name's Reece. I'm a passionate Creator, Transportation Planner, and Software Developer, interested in rapid transportation all around my home base of Toronto, Canada, as well as the whole world!
What if we built a reeaaaaallllllyyyyy long tunnel and connected it to the new Spadina GO station, so that it could all be one Spadina Station.
I wouldn't want it unless it has all lines, in which case I'm game. Gonna want a moving walkway though . . . .
@@RMTransit I say we do it, since Dubai stole our record for tall point things we ought to steal Australia's for long walk ways, by about 14x.
I was joking of course, but it wouldn't be to hard to justify extending PATH up Spadina to Queen Street once the new GO station opens, and it wouldn't be the worst to extend it to China Town/Kensington Market for winter use. Not sure where you would connect though, maybe at King and along the GO tracks. Definitely a low priority project.
PATH is mainly extened by private partners, and each portion of PATH is really just a basement which has been opened to the public because tenants want access enough for it to be worth ot to landlords. I'm not entirely sure how expansion is planned, but I don't expect the cost would be very high for the city, which does make significant revenue from PATH.
@@neolithictransitrevolution427 You think it wouldn't be hard to justify a project that would cost billions of dollars and cause massive disruptions? I'm learning a lot about your very straight family tree.
@@shawnpitman876 I'm sorry the only time you feel powerful is in a youtube comment section.
I really like the heritage building inclusion as a station entrance. Very good idea in older neighborhoods. The other enclosed entrance looks so latter mid 20th century at street level. Not flattering. Just plain/old. I’ve always liked underground streetcar conventions. Sort of charming.
The Mount Pleasant station of Eglinton Crosstown incorporates the facade of a heritage bank building. But what's left of the original is no greater than the part of the Post Office building that was made part of the Air Can... I meant... Scotiabank arena.
Eventually the new Ontario line will have a station on King that's in an old building (where the Banknote is now).
I always felt that the long tunnel connection between Line 1 & 2 was really meant as an "overflow" interchange if the St. George platforms couldn't handle crowds, as nobody would use it otherwise. It's a bit of a joke to even call the line 1 North/South platforms part of Spadina Station, it really should be called a different name and considered separate.
It would be interesting to know the history behind this really odd design decision. It feels like they were initially designed to be separate and then someone discovered that they could be joined with a long walkway.
@@PWingert1966 exactly! I mentioned this in the video but they were originally intended as different stations.
It used to have a movator and so was easier to use. Winters were not kind to it.
I used to use the tunnel everyday as my subway station was Dupont and I needed to switch to the Spadina streetcar to go south to my classes at Uni. There was also many people doing the same thing in reverse to get to the college campus at Dupont Station.
It's barely a 4 minute walk though, it's been a bit of a help in not getting fat from the city lifestyle.
Would be nice if more heritage buildings could be used for subway entrances. Given all the thousands of people who daily use this system station I'm thinking the authorities avoided having bathrooms in part because of the fear of sexual activity taking place there, especially at that time in history when it was built. Just the opposite mindset might be today where we embrace human interactions and make accommodations for them.
Today we have a different reason for not installing bathrooms, god forbid the homeless sleep in them, so we shall inconvenience our users so we can hurt the vulnerable even more. (They still don't want people having sex in them but its not the main reason today)
The correct solution is to actually solve homelessness and install proper restroom facilities (so a large men's and women's rooms, and multiple handicap accessible single occupancy restrooms aka "restrooms for everyone" as my college called them, they are quite nice), and keep the restrooms as immaculate as possible (along with the rest if the stations).
I heard that Islington saw its bathrooms disappear because of all the gay sex in the men's washroom.
@@jasonreed7522 to be fair, bathrooms are kind of useless when a homeless guy is sleeping in there. Could just make it so Presto Card unlocks the bathroom or something, or a pay for use like Europe. $0.25 or free with Presto. Problem solved.
Honestly European bathrooms were worth it
@@PSNDonutDude Charging people to use washrooms? How far will capitalism go :/
@@jasonreed7522 In the USA, the removal of public restrooms was done to discourage drug use
Wow, I've gone through Spadina station almost every day for 15+ years, and I never knew about the art at the north entrances.
I'm old enough to remember taking the subway (in 1966) east through Spadina station, then switching to the track going to upper St. George station, and from there south to Museum station and downtown. In the other direction, the train would travel west from upper St. George station, descending to Spadina station. Also, I could go from Museum station through lower Bay station to points east. The "Wye" interchange . . . those were the days!
I used Spadina Station every day for years. I can even remember when the "long tunnel" still had it's automated walkway, which allowed you to go the full length in a few seconds (it was removed when it grew old enough to need expensive repair). The tunnel often had excellent buskers. It's not too far from the Conservatory of Music, so you often got classically trained musicians. More than one busker there went on to fame and fortune. For those not in a great hurry, the tunnel had room for people to stop and listen. There is already some excellent First Nations art in the station, because it is across the street from the Native Friendship Centre, but I often thought the logical thing to do with this long corridor was to turn it into an art gallery, with a constantly changing set of pictures. The nearby Jewish Community Centre might be tapped for this, as they routinely do art exhibits.
But the real gem was the bakery, which I am horrified to learn has closed (probably because of Covid). You would expect in a place like that to find a half-assed place offering over-priced crap to a captive market. Instead, the bakery was an independent business operated by an immigrant family from Africa, and it was one of the finest bakeries in the city, offering some specialties found nowhere else and excellent pastries at a good price. Everyone loved it! RM, independent business like that, run by people who love what they are doing, can turn a subway station from a soul-less place of drudgery and alienation to a beloved place in our lives. Transit authorities instinctively want to cut deals with corporate business and install the same old stuff we see everywhere. Everything should be done to counter this instinct. One of the best little businesses you can put in a subway station is a mending shop where you can drop off a pair of pants to be hemmed, then pick it up on the the next trip.
OH, NO!! Will the African bakery be back after COVID?! Did they have coffee too?
Spadina had a bakery? The only indépendant bakery I can think of is the one in Bathurst and that one has finally reopened. To everyone’s great delight.
@@adorabell4253 I'm sorry, my mind must have slipped a cog. I was thinking of the Bathurst one. My bad. [I'm recovering from medical treatment, and my brain is not working at full speed]. Delighted to learn that it's back in business!!!!
My favourite part is the open plan streetcar access unlike Union Station where you walk into a separate space to access the streetcar. It feels like the streetcar is running through your living room.
Then you'll really feel home in the St. Clair West station. (Actually that one feels more like a dungeon.)
@@haweater1555 Yes St. Clair West is a much bigger space which helps to reduce congestion. Something that Spadina suffers from when it’s busy. But you’re right St. Clair definitely feels like a dungeon.
Spadina was definitely my most used station when I went to U of T from mid- to late -80's. It was five tokens for $4 way back then :) I can't believe they got rid of the moving sidewalk. That was a looooong walk when it was working, never mind when it wasn't. Almost made more sense to backtrack east to Bay on the Bloor-Danforth line and hop on the Yonge-University line to go north. The Spadina busses were crazy busy sometimes. There were days when you'd encounter full bus after bus zip past as you'd be left standing at the stop. I gave up and just walked to the station many times instead.
Thanks, Reece. Awesome content as always (though your music selection drives me up a wall, also as always).
Music is in the ear of the beholder! Thanks for watching!
@@RMTransit I quite like the score on most of the RM Transit videos.
Thank you for this tour. Made the transfer from the 2 to the northbound 1 many years ago when they still had the moving walkway. Good to see what I missed by not going outside.
I remember when I first moved to Toronto, using Spadina to transfer from the Bloor line to the Downsview line. LOL. Learned my lesson. 😀
A station close to my heart! Reminds me of my uni days since most of my classes where on the west side of campus
Same here! Took the streetcar to College many times!
Great vid. I know I say this frequently but I appreciate your efforts. It is a lot of work and passion.
Oh wow... five years of frequent visits to Toronto and I've never been to this station... will definitely check it out next time I'm up there.
Classic 1970s north American public architecture, nice.
Yer like Londons Underground stations are often huge, I don't know how anyone would cope without travelators
Are you going to make a video of the REM l’Est, and how NIMBY won.
I don't know if I can bring myself to do it....
@@RMTransit I get that but at the same time this is just the latest transit project killed by NIMBYism in North America. Talking about NIMBYs is important as their the biggest killers of transit in NA. Thier not enough YIMBYs to drown them out and we all suffer for it. If we don’t address that this will alway happen.
Paige made a good video about this on his channel.
It's more nuanced than that.
Sure, the NIMBY's won, temporarily, but good governance also won. It was impossible in the CDPQi governance structure to have a voice to avoid siloed decisions. Development of transit in the east is not dead. The city is now taking up the file and is in a position to consider its effects on in the entire transit network. As importantly, we will be building the capacity to plan the projects after the REM de l'Est rather than buying a single line, take-it-or-leave-it.
Now, what should be built is a tough discussion. At the moment, the local bus service is sufficiently atrocious that many residents imaging that only a rapid transit line could be the solution, depite the fact that the proposed REM stations were so far apart that the infrequent bus service was still going to cause problems. Others bemoan the slowness of the bus and metro (averaging about 40km/h combined) which would require even fewer intermediate stops than proposed by the REM to improve upon. Still others wondered about connectivity away from downtown, which the Blue line extension and REM 1 will make a big impact on. Finally, the REM corridors followed existing infrastructure, rather than something like the proposed pink-line cutting diagonally, which can reduce actual distance travelled and really transform connectivity without needing fewer stops.
All in all, transport 'dans l'Est' requires a significantly more thought than 'we'll just build a line' that was being proposed, and the CDPQi was incapable of engaging in the full planning process.
Interesting perspective on Spadina station. In my time at UoT Spadina was a bit west so St George was student central for campus access.
That brown tile tunnel, it looks like something out of a creepy nightmare.
I don’t know why but Spadina is fun to say. I’m moving to Canada soon btw and this channel is even more interesting now as I’m getting more familiar with Toronto and Montreal (my two choices) via transport
If you enjoy saying it, look up the song Spadina Bus by the Shuffle Demons and you can enjoy singing it too! :-D
@@toddoddity3976 thanks. I’m from Ireland and use to live in Denmark and Wales so I love a good fun to say name
if you can choose, go with Montreal. Even if the only criterion was transit, no contest. But really,… no contest
@@danieldonaldson8634 Toronto has better transit with a much more extensive bus and subway system, streetcars, and commuter rail with plans for major expansion.
The back wall behind the departing streetcar is interesting. Instead of garish adverts, its got stylish architecture! Way fancier than the rest of the waiting hall.
This brings back memories. Walmer and Kendal entrances!
Ah so you went to UofT too? Shout out to St George lol. I miss that long vertical escalator lol I used to walk on it and feel like i was running it blew my mind.
Indeed I did
I lived on Walmer Rd. just north of Kendall for several years in the late 1980s when the moving sidewalk was still in operation. Back then the north entrance was convenient for accessing the Bloor Line, but, but now I can't imagine trudging through that long depressing tunnel when it would be just as easy and more pleasant to walk up to Dupont Station or use the Davenport bus
I had a place to crash in Downsview during the week back in the mid 80s be and worked downtown. I took Line 1 to work every day. I never saw a soul in this station during the entire 2 years that I had that job.
It's criminal how the tunnel has been allowed to get into such a state of disrepair.
Have you paid attention to the state of anything in the TTC? It's all in a criminal state of disrepair. Some of the subway tunnels look like they collapse at a moments notice, big chunks of concrete missing from the ceiling with water from the streets leaking in and leaving salt residue all over everything and accelerating it falling apart.
Bring back the moving walkway!!!
I’m reminded of the church façade preserved at Berri de Montigny in Montréal
Thanks for your content.
Helping here to get you a new printer.
Thank you!
Interchange tunnels like these are quite standard across interchange stations in various metro systems in China.
Ah yes the welcoming return of Station Focus!
Hey Reece, thanks for the tour of this station. I have never been to Toronto, so if I ever go I know what to look out for. Before watching this video, I would have walked straight past those station buildings, they all looked like old 7/11 stores to me! Nothing visually alerted me to them being transport stations. Also, were you there on a particularly quiet day? Those stations were super empty, and that bus terminal area was a ghost town. Is it always like that? Glad they kept the old house, that's a nice touch. Cheers from Santiago.
You just have to look for the TTC sign for subway and bus in TO. What is transit like in Chile?
@@michaelrmurphy2734 Hi Michael. Depends where you go in Chile. In regional and rural areas, you're limited to buses and "colectivos", which are a kind of shared taxi. In bigger cities there are rail services. There are no trams here, but the port city of Valparaiso still has around 15 functioning trolleybuses, which are kind of cool in a vintage way. In the capital, Santiago, there is an excellent metro system, as well as frequent buses. However, the system is kind of a victim of its own success, as in peak times there is serious overcrowding on both the buses and metro services. At these times it's not really fun to use, it's stressful. All metro stations are very well sign-posted, with big bright signs of the metro logo, and the name of the station. You can easily tell it's a metro station too, by the constant stream of people leaving and entering, at any time of day.
I really hated this station for interchange and when I last used it it still had the moving sidewalk. It’s often faster to just take a 1 stop ride to St George and walk up/down the stairs to change lines.
Amazing that a surface parking lot exists here. I can't imagine that happening at a major interchange in London. Developers and TFL would be all over it, building apartments or a tower block on top for TOD.
There's pubs by there, I don't think the lot is really used for park and ride.
No washrooms? In the ttc? What a shock!
It is worth mentioning the 510 Street car that uses Spadina station has a dedicated ROW, so its more then just a regular street car stop here, its more like a connection to a N/S LRT.
Except that the ridiculously close stop spacing and lack of transit priority signalling at intersections makes it no faster than a streetcar regardless. :-(
I sometimes forget to mention these things because I have in so many videos at this point but yes, though it's still very slow and unreliable.
who needs N/S LRT on Spadina? It's so close to University.
@@shawnpitman876 People going to and from places on Spadina that don't want to walk 7 blocks over maybe?
@@KevinT3141 Oh yea so much better to waste an additional 30M stuck on the Spadina streetcar. It's literally a 5M walk, stop being obese and take a walk.
From perspective of outsider, station entrances seem to be small knowing after this video what's underneath the ground. Integration with heritage building is very unusual, compared to very fast-food like architecture of main entrance.
Can you make an explain video about Bangkok?
I can, but it's going to take some time. I am working on a lot of explainers and each one is not a small project!
Thank you, I am looking to more quality videos from you.
Solid video. Just a few critiques: some of the points you mention are vague, eg. at 0:54: do you mean 14 out of 75 stations on the entire TTC? Some of the shots were kinda disorienting too, eg. the mix of pans from different angles at 1:27-2:25 while going in/out/around the building (don't take this one to seriously tho, it's probably my coffeeless birdbrain struggling to put 2 and 2 together lmao). I like how you did it at 3:23, though, since that shot establishes how the subway level looks as a whole. Also a petty nitpick: you use the words station and infamous a bit too much early on lmao.
P.S. I love how the zoom at 1:50 synced perfectly with the music. And oh boy, it's interesting to still see public phones available but my nostalgia-ridden brain absolutely does not mind it.
I watched the Spadina Station video from Vanishing Underground and found it weird the station looked like a house
Honestly sometimes when I have to transfer from Spadina, I just take line 2 to st George and then run up the steps to line one lmao
Line 1: Arriving at, Spadina. Spadina station. Change for line two. Doors will open on the right. Line 2: Ariiving at Spadina, Spadina station.
And of course, Spadina Bus! The Shuffle Demons are so groovy, Daddy-O! BA-BA-BA-BA Spadina Bus!!
So any news when the Line 1 stop will be fully accessable? I don't think people like transferring elsewhere if they prefer to get off at Spadina.
It would be useful to make the line 1 platforms accessible so you don't have to transfer lines via St George.
While I can semi understand your argument, it also makes ZERO sense when you think about it fully. If you're in need of accessible platforms that's because you have a mobility issue, which means you want to use St George anyways because you don't want to use the long walkway of Spadina. It's not like you're going a massive distance out of your way to do that transfer either, it's one additional stop(or maybe one less), or transfer if you're coming off the 510.
Are you going to London for the Elizabeth Line Opening ?
I still have no idea what is line 1 or line 2. To me, they're the Bloor-Danforth or Yonge-University lines. (Of course, I'm a suburbanite, so have had little need of using the subway in recent years.) Also, does that station on the east side of Spadina have any markings on it to indicate it's a station? (I do see the post with the subway symbol, but if one didn't know that the building was a subway entrance, one would assume that it's just a redundant bus stop marker.)
In the house next door there lived a serial killer who was caught recently
a station this big should really have washrooms
They should have designed that long tunnel with retail/commercial space on the sides. Then they could have made money from the leases and the businesses would have guaranteed foot traffic. It seems like a wasted opportunity.
Is the other station that's open at night Union Station, for the other end of the 310? 😂
Are skateboards and scooters allowed in the tunnel?
"Surprisingly, no washrooms in sight." Washrooms are only installed in Toronto terminal stations, as well as Bloor-Yonge station because of its high volume. So whenever you see a washroom, that station was (or still is) a terminal station. Spadina has never been a terminal station, so no washroom.
Eglinton would like a word.....
@@nickanand8087 Huh? Eglinton has washrooms. I can attest to this personally, because I have used them myself. And it was the original terminal station of the Yonge line.
@@kevinlove4356 My point was that Eglinton has a washroom, so I was questioning your point. I think you understand that given your second statement, so your "Huh" doesn't really make sense if I'm being honest.
Okay, if you're going back to 1968, it was a terminal station. Does this logic apply to Woodbine and keele too? How about St. George? Union?
@@nickanand8087 I do not quite understand what you are getting at. Do you believe that when the Yonge line was extended Eglinton should have had its washroom ripped out? The TTC has a different policy. TTC policy is that terminal stations get washrooms and that those washrooms stay if the line is then extended.
The City of Toronto is not very good at consistently maintaining policy over many years, but this is an exception. The examples you mentioned all conform to this rule. Union Station has had washrooms since it was opened as a railway station in 1927. The others you mentioned were not planned as terminal stations, but were only temporarily so as a stage in line extension. So no washrooms.
If you have a problem with this policy, then I suggest that you contact your municipal councillor. There are plenty of people who believe that all stations should have washrooms. This is an election year, which tends to be the only time when politicians actually listen to the people.
@@kevinlove4356 Your original point was that only terminal stations have washrooms. I pointed out Eglinton in a light manner. You said "that was once a terminus" in kind of a defensive manner. I pointed out other such stations that were termini at one point. Not really hard to understand my question since your original point wasn't true. The washrooms at Union aren't within fare paid area so you're kinda wrong on that one. Even if you exclude Keele and Woodbine for your arbitrary reason, it doesn't explain Union or St. George or Islington based on the criteria you established. Also doesn't explain Sheppard-Yonge. I think what you really meant to say was that, all terminal stations have washrooms (which is evidently true except for McCowan) rather than "only terminal stations and bloor-yonge have washrooms". What I don't get is why you think I'm complaining about the policy. Like how are you this shitty at reading comprehension?
SpaDinner
"... and it's automated, so no ticket booth is present" 2:11 immediately pans past ticket booth. Granted, it's no longer in use, but there *is* technically a physical ticket booth there. Could perhaps have been phrased, "and it's automated, so the ticket booth is no longer active".
You have TERRIBLE eyesight if you thought you saw a ticket booth there, because there was none.
@@shawnpitman876 You may want to look more closely. At 2:11 the old ticket booth is on the right side of the image. The windows have been covered with a screen mimicking tile. If you don't believe me, go to the exit yourself.
@@shawnpitman876 The ticket booth is s leftover from before the Presto fare gates were installed. There was usually a fare agent there so you could buy the old paper tickets or pay cash back in the day. It's still there but the windows have a plastic wrap applied to them now. Anyone who's been there knows it's there.
@@kutter_ttl6786 Even the Spadina extension to VMC has booths, but they were never used as such as they were put in during construction before the collector removal policy was made
Does anyone know why they didn't route Line 1 to just bypass spadina station and cut underneath the East Annex to connect from Dupont to Museum? Museum could then have been the transfer station... This would have been a shorter route for line 1, and got rid of those horrible screechy curves required to align with bloor...
I never understood why they insisted on building an inconvenient and expensive tunnel to change lines when the much more convenient interchange at st. george is just 1 stop down on either line.
ALWAYS, always take the yellow line to St. George to transfer to green, the tunnel is not worth it
Frankly, that looks kinda depressing 🤔 Dark, bleak colours, not filled with people, signs of previous infrastructure that got dismantled... Feels a bit like New York subway for some reason.
It's the opposite of the iconic Toronto trams.
Same as wynyard in Sydney, old decrepid
@@Kolan_Koala The platforms at Wynyard aren't anything special, but they have certainly upgraded and opened up the station access. If you remember the old Wynyard ramps, with the shops lining them, well, it's not like that now. Give them a few decades though, and it may well end up like that again - think of all the lease money they are missing out on.
Isn’t “north-south” confusing where Line 1 is concerned, since it’s a U-shaped line?
Never found it confusing. Except for that bit at the bottom between King and St. Andrew's station (3 out of 38 stations) it's pretty much north-south bound line. And that's in relation to the Bloor line, which is the East-West line so it's easy to differentiate between the lines.
Unless you ride around the U through Union, then no.
@@alistairlogie1815 Ah…then how are the directions identified at the three stations since all passengers are technically headed north to either terminus?
On the Yonge, (eastern) half the signs say northbound to Finch, and southbound to Vaughan via Union, on the University (western) half, the signs say northbound to Vaughan, and southbound to Finch via Union. At Union the Halves are treated as different lines, though the train still through-run.
@@davidthaler7018 At King it’s still south to Union because you’re still heading south, and at St. Andrew it’s the same since St. Andrew is also located on King Street.
So basically, it's the Bank/Monument of the Toronto Subway. Got it.
Toronto's subway.
Not just clean
Poitively antiseptic.
Why is Spadina named Spadina?
Because it crosses Spadina Ave. At least Line 2 does.
Because it's on Spadina Avenue, which in named after the Ojibwa word ishpadinaa, meaning high place or ridge.
I'm trying to not be negative but the look and ambience of this station complex makes me feel miserable.
Like living in an old house that hasn't been renovated recently or properly so things are a mismatch of materials and clashing retrofits.
This same miserable complex reminds me of Adelaide Railway Station...Beautiful old building with impressive concourse but dingy, dark and claustrophobic plalform area that hasn't changed in decades.
What was the infamous part
The former walkway.
The Spadina Line (I don't use numbers) was the consolation prize for the Spadina Expressway. The City was going to build an expressway, using a number of ravines right downtown. Part of it was built down to Eglinton but the Nimby's in Forest Hill blocked it from going below Eglinton and instead built the Spadina Line. The Spadina Line was also the scene of the only fatal train collision on the TTC. Also that heritage building that is used for the Kendal entrance was to be torn down but the neighbourhood fought to save it.
@@captainjoshuagleiberman2778 Spadina line > Spadina Expressway anyways. Not everyone in this city can afford to drive, and this serves more people than that expressway would have.
Why is Spadina station "infamous"? The only bad design is the nutty tunnel connecting the line one and two platforms, made worse by the removal of the walking stairs. But the one at the island airport works well, so why not put them back in Spadina?
TTC loves salt too much, which leads to people having VERY salty feet in the winter, which gets into the moving walkway and causes massive repair bills.
Why is it nutty? It gets a lot of use.
Real ones know you don't transfer subways at spadina ever.
I always transfer at Spadina, you get first serve for a seat before you hit st. George.
It's better than NY Grand Central because CHAIRS and better than Shinjuku because GARBAGE BINS
okay i really thought you were gonna tell us something cool about the station. i’ve used it a lot throughout my life and man…when you see it on the tube - it’s a dog lol. just fugly!