Hey guys, welcome to our 40th station focus video! Today, we’re back in Toronto again,
and we’ll be taking a look at Finch Station in the TTC system. Finch is one of the busiest
transit hubs in the whole system, let alone the whole region, currently with around 100
thousand passengers passing by daily, ranking 6th in the TTC subway system, and first for
TTC bus terminals. With its ample use comes a huge sprawling station spanning almost an
entire city block, and we’ll take you guys today for a tour of this station, including
the subway platforms, the concourse, the two bus terminals, and everything else there is
to see at this massive station. Let’s get started!
[Intro]
Before we get to the video, we want to give a quick shoutout to our newest patrons Riley
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Alright, time to get back to the main content of the day.
Located at the intersection of Yonge Street and Finch Avenue, Finch station is the northern
terminus of the Yonge subway line in the TTC subway system, and ever since its opening
in 1974, it’s been one of the major hubs of the system, with numerous different bus
routes terminating here, as well as having a large regional bus terminal. With 8 different
entrances spread out over the area, the station is sprawling, and serves the nearby busy Yonge
and Finch community well.
We’re starting on the platform level of the station today, where we’ve just gotten
off a northbound train terminating at this station. The lone platform of the station
is an island platform, where trains come in on either side when they terminate here. Since
this is a terminus station, the next train doesn’t always leave on the same side, but
fortunately these signs will help you wait on the right side for your train. This platform
is otherwise similar to other stations with an island platform, and it especially resembles
Sheppard-Yonge station’s Yonge line platform as they were built in the same time period.
There are different vertical access options all along the platform, with elevators added
back in 1999 when the station was made accessible. Amenities on the platform include designated
waiting areas, benches, as well as TV screens showing the arrival time for the next trains.
The decor is quite dated and old, but it seems like they’re working on revamping the station;
we look forward to how much better it’ll look in the future. In addition, something
you can’t see very easily here at the platform are tail tracks extending north towards Cummer
Avenue; these are used to store trains overnight.
Heading one level up, and we arrive at the concourse of the station. This main area of
the concourse is built right on top of the platform along its length, and there’s ample
space for crowds of transit users to walk through. The concourse is cut lengthwise into
two halves, separating the fare paid area with rows of fare gates, and it has collectors
booths right in the middle. This is, in our opinion, one of the most rational arrangements
for a TTC subway concourse. We’ll first explore the fare paid zone though, since we
are already here. On this side of the fare gates you can find a few vendors, a very busy
Tim Hortons, as well as some washrooms down at the very end.
The middle of the concourse opens up on this end to a wide hallway, which leads us to yet
another large concourse, and sets of stairs and escalators leading up to the TTC bus terminal
attached to the station. We do find it annoying that this hallway is about half a storey up
from the concourse though: it’s quite an accessibility nightmare.
Finch is the TTC system’s busiest bus terminal, and that really shows when we step foot inside,
with buses coming and going at a furious rate. The large terminal spans a long plot, with
bays along each side for buses to come in and pick up passengers. The terminal serves
7 regular routes, 3 express routes, and 3 night routes, with a couple of these being
some of the busiest routes in the system including the bus routes on Finch and Steeles Avenues.
It’s no wonder that the bus terminal always looks packed no matter the time of day. Amenities
on this level include lots of payphones, departure boards, as well as Presto reload machines
for your convenience. This terminal also has new next bus screens at each platform, although
unfortunately they weren’t working at the time of filming this video around a month ago.
[Music]
Heading back down to the concourse, we’re going to leave the fare paid zone and head
to the other bus terminal attached to the station. This terminal can be reached by walking
past a *second* Tim Hortons and through a long corridor, until you get to these stairs
and escalators taking you upstairs. This terminal is the regional terminal of the station, serving
GO Transit buses as well as YRT and Viva buses, heading to various places in the region, including
Richmond Hill Centre, Mississauga, Vaughan, and Ajax. There is a terminal building for
passengers to wait in that has amenities such as a Gateway newstand, washrooms, ticketing
machines and departure boards, while shelters outside give passengers more space to shield
from the cold. The terminal also hosts one of the newest Presto readers that will be
slowly rolled out through the region, which sports a stylish black exterior. Aside from
being a little lacking in the shelter and orderliness aspect, there’s lots of room
to spread out at this terminal, although you do need to exercise caution if you need to
walk over to one of the farther bus bays as you do need to cross the road. Eventually,
with fare integration, we hope to see all the buses combine to serve a larger, unified
terminal, although this may not be necessary as the station will be rendered much less
important when the Yonge subway is extended north into York Region.
[Music]
Beside the terminal near Bishop avenue is a taxi stand where a row of taxis await passengers,
and if you walk further down the street you’ll get to the first of two parking lots attached
to this giant station: This east commuter lot houses a massive amount of parking spaces
shared by both passengers using the regional bus terminal and the subway station itself,
although it really seem to be quite a walk if you don’t get here early enough: another
reason why we prefer to take the bus here instead.
The other parking lot is on the other side of Yonge street, and this one is mainly intended
for TTC passengers, with a kiss-and-ride passenger drop off pick up building that leads directly
downstairs into the station, right near where we headed up to go to the regional bus terminal.
This parking lot is equally massive, and the two parking lots total to have 3251 parking
spaces, but at least there’s a small park embedded in this one to take the drabbiness
off a bit.
Alright, time to head back to the concourse and check out other parts of the station.
One thing we can’t forget is the piece of art that is located in this station. This
sculpture located right outside of the main faregates in the concourse is named “Rhythm
of Exotic Plants”, made by Krystyna Sadowska, and it features metal pieces arranged in peculiar
ways.
Right beside the art piece is where you’ll find one of the entrances of the station.
These heavy doors lead to North American Centre, an office building located on the west side
of Yonge Street near Hendon Avenue. Right by the entrance here though you can find various
cafes and a food court, so it’s not too bad of a place to grab a quick bite, but of
course you’ll be able to find lots of restaurants on Yonge Street itself.
On this side there’s also a few more entrances, including stairs-only ones that lead to either
side of Yonge Street.
[Music ]
And of course, surrounding us is the busy cityscape of North York and
Yonge and Finch, one of the busiest neighbourhoods in the city, with lots of offices, entertainment,
and food options around, especially of the Asian variety. Most of these buildings sprung
up after the station was built, which makes this subway extension overall a great case
for transit-oriented development.
Tapping back into the station and walking towards the bus terminal again, you’ll find
another small entrance right off the corridor, complete with fare gates and presto machines.
This one leads up to the east side of Yonge street.
And finally, if you head to the open area of the concourse that connects to the bus
terminal and turn to the left, you’ll find one last, relatively unknown entrance. This
one is a small side entrance on Pemberton Avenue that is unofficially used for passenger
pickups and drop offs, and you’ll always find a few cars waiting here.
[Music]
Alright guys, that’s the end of our tour of Finch station. This sprawling station may
not be the most glamorous to look at, but it still is one of the most important stations
in the whole TTC system, and we are proud to call this one of our most frequented stations
in the system, having used the Steeles and Cummer buses quite a lot throughout our days
in North York. Like, subscribe, and leave a comment telling us what your favourite part
of Finch station is. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and support us on Patreon or
Ko-Fi if you would like to help us keep making great videos for you. Thanks for watching,
and we’ll see you in the next one!
[Music]