Queen (TTC)

Queen
Location 3 Queen Street East
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates 43°39′09″N 79°22′45″W / 43.65250°N 79.37917°W / 43.65250; -79.37917Coordinates: 43°39′09″N 79°22′45″W / 43.65250°N 79.37917°W / 43.65250; -79.37917
Platforms side platforms
Tracks 2
Connections
Construction
Structure type underground
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened 30 March 1954
Traffic
Passengers (2014[1]) 52,300
Ranked 9th of 69
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station
toward Downsview
 Yonge–University
toward Finch

Queen is a subway station on the Yonge–University line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[2] It is located under Yonge Street north from Queen Street to Shuter Street. Wi-fi service is available at this station.[3]

History

Queen Station opened in 1954 as part of the original stretch of the Yonge subway line from Union to Eglinton stations. The original address given to the station, 171 Yonge Street, is still commonly used in TTC system maps, but this address is not used for any nearby buildings and points to the actual intersection. The address provided by the TTC website, 3 Queen Street East, is located across from the Maritime Life Tower, by the 1 Queen Street East subway entrance.

In 1997, this station became accessible with elevators.

On 13 December 2013, the Toronto Police were called in after gun shots were fired on board a subway train at the station. The Passenger Assistance Alarm was pressed, and the station was evacuated soon after. A man in his 20s was shot and was rushed to nearby St. Michael's Hospital[4] in life-threatening condition, but stable on the day after. The station continued to be closed on 14 December 2013, with subway service from Bloor to Union stations being replaced by shuttle bus service.[5]

Lower Queen

Early subway expansion plans called for an east-west subway for streetcars under Queen Street, and a lower Queen station for these was roughed in under the subway station. Priorities changed and the line was never built, but many people unknowingly pass through this lower station every day; the tunnels that go under the station so that riders can move between northbound and southbound platforms use portions of this intended station, with most of the excess infrastructure walled off.[6]

Strictly speaking, it is only a roughed-out second set of platforms built underneath a currently-operating station. It is located directly underneath the existing station. The station was designed as part of a planned but never-built streetcar subway that would have run east and west along Queen Street. A similar station was planned underneath the existing Osgoode station (also situated along Queen Street). Although underground pipes and conduits were specifically routed around this intended site, construction was never started.[6]

The trackway was planned for streetcars rather than dedicated subway trains, similar to the much newer streetcar-only underground track originating at Union Station used for the 510 Spadina and 509 Harbourfront routes. The Queen subway would have allowed streetcars from the Queen line (now route 501), King line (now route 504), Kingston Road line (now routes 502 and 503), and Dundas lines (now route 505) to avoid centre-city traffic, and then surface to run on regular streets in outlying areas.

The plan to build a streetcar subway under Queen Street was delayed and then cancelled in favour of an east-west line further north, which became the Bloor-Danforth line. As a result, the Lower Queen Station was never put into service. Unlike the abandoned platform at Lower Bay, this station is not used in any way save as an occasional storage facility and film set, and the aforementioned passageway.

Station description

Entrance on the north side of the Maritime Life Tower is the designated Wheel-Trans pick up location

The station lies under Yonge Street north of Queen Street to Shuter Street. The station has seven entrances from street level, which includes accessible entrances from inside the Eaton Centre and the Maritime Life Tower. Other entrances include a sidewalk staircase entrance from Shuter Street, and other entrances from 1 Queen Street East, 8 Queen Street West, by The Bay, and from the north entrance outside the Eaton Centre.

Below street level are the concourses, with one above and across the north end of the platforms and at the south there is one on each side at track level with an underpass to connect them.

The only tenant in the station is Gateway Newstands, and there is one located on both platforms inside the fare-paid area.

Architecture and art

Our Nell by John Boyle

The station contains painted murals by John Boyle at the platform level entitled Our Nell,[7] featuring depictions of Nellie McClung, William Lyon Mackenzie, as well as the former Simpson's and Eaton's department stores.

Nearby landmarks

Nearby landmarks include the Hudson's Bay Company's Queen Street store, the south end of the Eaton Centre, the Old City Hall courts, Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto City Hall, the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres, and Massey Hall.

Surface connections

A transfer is required to connect between the subway system and these surface routes:

A 501 Queen streetcar stops outside the station entrance
97B southbound to Queens Quay
301 westbound to Long Branch
301A westbound to Humber
320A northbound to York Mills Station
320E northbound to Eglinton Station
320 southbound to Queens Quay
501 westbound to Long Branch
501H westbound to Humber Loop
502 westbound to McCaul Loop

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Subway ridership, 2014" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved September 12, 2015. This table shows the typical number of customer-trips made on each subway on an average weekday and the typical number of customers travelling to and from each station platform on an average weekday.
  2. ↑ "TTC Queen Station". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  3. ↑ "Wi-fi Now Available At". TCONNECT. Retrieved January 2015. Each of the 65 underground stations will have wireless and Wi-Fi service by 2017 Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  4. ↑ "Man shot on Queen subway platform". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  5. ↑ Nguyen, Andrew (14 December 2013). "SIU investigating Queen subway shooting". Toronto Star. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  6. 1 2 Bow, James. "Toronto's Lost Subway Stations". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  7. ↑ Sandy Fairbairn (18 September 2013). "Boyle's 'Our Nell' has historic value". Readers' Letters. Toronto Star. Retrieved June 2015. they are titled “Our Nell” and depict Nellie McClung, women’s rights activist Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

Media related to Queen Station at Wikimedia Commons

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