Kipling station

Kipling
Location	950 Kipling Avenue Toronto, Ontario Canada
Coordinates	43°38′14″N 79°32′10″W / 43.63722°N 79.53611°W / 43.63722; -79.53611Coordinates: 43°38′14″N 79°32′10″W / 43.63722°N 79.53611°W / 43.63722; -79.53611
Platforms	Centre platform
Tracks	2
Connections	TTC buses  40A  Junction–Dundas West  44  Kipling South  45  Kipling  46  Martin Grove  49  Bloor West  111  East Mall  112  West Mall  123  Sherway  300   Bloor–Danforth  900  Airport Express  927  Highway 27 Express  944  Kipling South Express  945  Kipling Express Kipling Bus Terminal Kipling GO Station
Construction
Structure type	At grade
Parking	1465 spaces[1]
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	November 21, 1980[2]
Passengers
2018[3]	49,340
Rank	11 of 75
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station Terminus Bloor–Danforth Islington toward Kennedy

Kipling is the western terminus station of Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway system. The station is served by buses and subway trains operated by the Toronto Transit Commission and is adjacent to the Kipling GO Station on the Milton line of GO Transit and the Kipling Bus Terminal, a Metrolinx-owned regional bus terminal where passengers can connect with MiWay bus services connecting to Mississauga. It is located in the Islington–City Centre West neighbourhood on St. Albans Road at Aukland Road, west of the overpass of Kipling Avenue, after which the station is named. The Toronto Parking Authority operates three commuter parking lots near the station.^[4] The 900 Airport Express bus route connects Kipling to the Toronto Pearson International Airport.

History[]

A train in the station, with the original wall slats visible, in 2009

Kipling station, in what was then the Borough of Etobicoke, officially opened on November 21, 1980—along with Kennedy station, as a pair of one-stop extensions at opposite ends of the Bloor–Danforth line—but was not opened to the public until the following day.^[2][5] Kipling and Kennedy were designed similarly, with both stations having an island platform that is typical of terminal stations. The outer platform walls at Kipling were originally two rows of vertical yellow vinyl slats separated by a black strip showing the station's name in Univers font.^[6] This wall treatment was replaced by off-white fitted enamelled panels using the traditional Toronto Subway font with black trim with smaller lettering along the top in a 2017 renovation, evoking the older stations along the line.^[7]

As a result of the initial lack of density near the station, and its location near a hydro substation, it was originally designed around commuter travel, with a large amount of parking space and a roughed-in platform for a future light rail or light metro line, like the Scarborough RT at Kennedy.^[8] Due to this design, the area around Kipling station is considered to be a travel hub and it is being further developed to contain a regional bus platform, as well as improved access to the adjacent Kipling GO Station.^[9]

In 1999, this station became accessible with the addition of elevators.

Facilities[]

The main entrance is located at the west end of the station, with access to the GO station, commuter parking lots, and a kiss and ride area for passenger drop-off. An entrance at the east end makes the bus platform level accessible by way of a ramp, with an elevator providing a connection with the train platform below.^[10] Fares can be paid for at this station by using tokens, tickets, passes, as well as the Presto card.^[11] Currently it serves the high density residential and commercial developments that are being built, while acting as a hub for commuter travel.

Above the subway tracks on the south side of the station, opposite the bus bays on the same level, is an unfinished platform for a proposed but never-built Etobicoke RT line similar to Line 3 Scarborough.^[8]

East of the station towards Islington, the line continues on the surface alongside the railway right-of-way which parallels Dundas Street at a distance. It crosses over Bloor Street to the north side alongside the railway tracks, then dives underground below the tracks and turns parallel to Bloor.

Kipling Yard[]

Currently the tail end tracks west of the station can be used to store 2 cars sets.^[12]

There were plans to establish a yard to replace Greenwood Yard (and allow Greenwood to be dedicated to the since-abandoned Relief Line) and potential exists for Metrolinx and the TTC to purchase land on the former CPR Obico Yard bounded by Shorncliffe Road and North Queen Street for a shared storage facility for subway cars and GO trains.^[13] Most of the former CPR intermodal yard, an open area not occupied by structures, is now owned by the City of Toronto and been partially used to store TTC buses since 2019 as North Queen Yard and other yards were leased out.^[14]

The former CP Express shed is not part of the TTC property; it is located on Lockport Avenue just east of Shorncliffe Road.

Tracks within the former yard have been removed but tracks leading in are still present and could be reconnected for use by standard-gauge cars. The use of the facility by the TTC fleet would require new tracks using TTC gauge to branch into the yard.

Surface connections[]

Bus bays are a level above the subway trains on the north side of the station.

The bus platform is in the fare-paid zone, allowing passengers to quickly transfer between the subway and the following TTC bus routes:^[15]

• Some 300 Bloor–Danforth trips do not enter the bus terminal, but can be accessed at Aukland Road at Dundas Street.
• A courtesy bus operated by IKEA between Kipling station and the IKEA Etobicoke store departs from Subway Crescent north of the kiss and ride area.^[16]

MiWay and GO bus terminal[]

Kipling Bus Terminal
Location	120 Subway Crescent, Toronto, Ontario Canada
Owned by	Metrolinx
Bus routes	MiWay buses  1  Dundas  1C  Dundas–Collegeway  3  Bloor  11  Westwood  20  Rathburn  26  Burnhamthorpe  35  Eglinton  70  Keaton  71  Sheridan–Subway  76  City Centre–Subway  101  Dundas Express  101A  Dundas Express  108  Meadowvale Business Express  109  Meadowvale Express GO buses  29  Guelph / Mississauga
Bus stands	16
Bus operators	MiWay
Connections
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	January 4, 2021 (2021-01-04)

The regional bus terminal under construction in April 2020

A new 16-bay regional bus terminal opened on January 4, 2021, to serve MiWay buses.^[17][18] GO Transit bus route 29, which operates between Mississauga and Guelph, also serves the station. Previously, MiWay buses connected to the subway at Islington station, although Route 26 Burnhamthorpe still serves that station before arriving at and after departing Kipling.

The subway station's parking facilities were reconfigured to allow for the terminal's construction. The modernization project also includes landscaping and revitalization of interior and exterior station finishes and lighting.

Passengers transferring between MiWay and the TTC subway or buses are required to pay separate fares, as are those transferring between TTC and GO Transit services, including GO Transit's Milton Line trains; however, MiWay customers aged 13 and over who transfer to or from GO Transit and pay single MiWay bus fares using a Presto card are eligible for a "double-fare" discount of $0.80.^[19][20]

All MiWay routes are wheelchair-accessible and the following serve the terminal:

Beginning September 4, 2021, GO Transit's Route 29 between Guelph and Mississauga was extended to serve Kipling GO Terminal. The bus also serves Renforth and Dixie stations on the Mississauga Transitway.^[21]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kipling station.

• Kipling station at the Toronto Transit Commission