Hey guys, welcome back to the channel! Today, we are heading to the west end of Toronto,
and we’re going to pay a visit to Dundas West station of the TTC, as well as its neighbour,
Bloor GO station. With subways, regional rail, streetcars, and local buses all serving these
two connected stations, Dundas West and Bloor are fast becoming one of the most significant
transit hubs of Toronto besides Union station, serving around 30,000 customers daily combined.
Let’s go check it out!
Thanks to Rob Neil and Philippe for becoming our newest patrons. We really appreciate your support.
For a somewhat surprising move, we’re actually going to first check out Bloor station, as,
unfortunately for Dundas West, the GO and UP station is the more interesting of the
two. Walking over to the main station entrance on Bloor, and we’re already captivated by
the trains running overhead on the overpass, as well as all the beautiful street art that
decorate the walls below. Numerous signs point to the station entrance, and signaling the
fact that it has both Kitchener line and UP Express service, serving customers traveling
to different locations including downtown Toronto, Brampton, Kitchener, and Toronto
Pearson International Airport.
Heading into the station, and we’re immediately greeted by the grand hall that is Bloor station.
The tall ceilings are decorated with beautiful wood and glass finishings, and the concrete
flooring and walls give the station building a very modern but welcoming vibe. Here you’ll
be able to find a ticketing booth, a timetable for all the trains, as well as the two staircases
that head to the two different platforms at this station.
This first staircase leads us up to the western island platform. Since UP service was added
as part of the Georgetown South Expansion, the platforms have quite a unique layout,
with the higher platforms used by the UP service directly adjacent to the preexisting lower
platforms for the Kitchener line. Before the expansion, the station had two side platforms
that were used only by the Kitchener line; now, both platforms have been converted into
combined platforms for the UP express, and the station currently has one island platform
and one side platform, with the other side of the eastern platform currently unused until
the planned fourth track is put in place for the corridor.
The platform is simple but nicely decorated, with lots of signs and timetables to indicate
the platform where the train is coming from. On the west side, you can also sometimes catch
Milton line trains blazing past the station. There has been talk about adding a stop at
this station, but so far there isn't the ridership to warrant this. Before the UP Express was
added here, Bloor station was only used by about 300 passengers per day, but now this
station has about 1000 riders daily, and it now boasts platforms that are among the longest
in the whole country. Also worth mentioning is that Bloor is one of the few stations where
there’s no parking for cars at all, as the station is served well by public transit already.
Walking down the platform, we get to this alcove where a shelter can be found. This
is also where you can find the stairs and elevators downstairs to the underground concourse,
here you can then walk to the opposite side platform. The walls and floor of the concourse
is bare and clean, and a few signs lead the way to your destination, along with helpful
Presto machines for you to purchase your fare prior to getting on the platform.
The side platform is similar to the island platform, but it is here where another important
connection can be made: the West Toronto Railpath, a 2-kilometer long multi-use asphalt path,
is located right here. This is an old Canadian Pacific right of way that was converted about
a decade ago, and in the future, it’ll hopefully extend all the way to union station. Following
the path further, you’ll find the Wallace Avenue Pedestrian Bridge, arguably one of
the best places for railfanning in the whole city, as agreed upon by the numerous parents
that brought their kids here for the trains in the short while I was here.
We’re now gonna head over to Dundas West, the TTC station of this transit hub, which
is currently a few minutes walk away on city streets. Opened in 1966, Dundas West was a
part of the original portion of the Bloor-Danforth line, and it consists of the subway service,
a streetcar loop, and a bus terminal. Since it is quite old, the station really
is nothing special, with a lot of different parts looking quite dated, and the roof of
the station building under construction. The one unique part about this station though,
is the full serve McDonald’s built right into the station, which, despite its slightly
longer wait times, is a great place to stop for an ice cream cone on a hot summer day.
The entrance of the station also serves as the concourse, with a collector’s booth
and fare gates right here allowing you to access the connected streetcar and bus terminal
very quickly. Let’s head over there first.
The bus and streetcar terminal is a long, covered section of the station, with numerous
bus bays and two separate streetcar platforms that serve 5 bus routes and two streetcar
routes. Currently, the middle streetcar platform and tracks are unfortunately closed under
construction, and the only route actually with streetcars running on it is the 504 King
route, as the 505 Dundas route is currently using buses due to the ongoing streetcar shortage.
With all this construction, the masses packed waiting for buses and streetcars, as well
as the numerous garbage bins all stacked at one end, Dundas West certainly isn’t the
most glamorous station in the system, especially compared to Pioneer Village, the station we
previously visited in this series. However, this definitely isn’t a deterrent for our
dear feathery friends, as they amass into one of the largest congregations of pigeons
I’ve ever seen right outside the station, with some even come in to wait with the passengers
for some streetcar spotting.
Let’s head on down the stairs now and go to platform level for a quick look.
This station is in a side platform layout, with sparse black support beams between the
tracks blocking some of the view of the other platform. The whole level is quite dark and
gloomy, and the fact that there is only one exit at one end of the platform makes the
rest of the platform just a bit more creepy and scary, but thankfully the whole space
is quite open without any obstructions. The decorations and design are nothing special
here, with the very plain, two-toned colour scheme that is standard across most of the
line 2 stations also present here. Line 2, of course, is still using the older T1 trains.
Right across the station building along with the pigeons is a Toronto Bikeshare location,
conveniently placed for passengers to make use of after exiting the subway.
Also worth mentioning while we’re out here, is the unfortunate lack of direct connection
between Bloor and Dundas West. An underground tunnel to connect the two stations has long
been planned, but due to there being an underground mall and garage right in between the two stations,
there’s been a lot of delays in getting that built.
Finally, as we make our way westward, following the subway tracks that emerge from the station
towards Keele, we find another prime location for railfanning. The Keele Subway Yard, originally
known as the Vincent Yard, is a 4-track subway yard that is currently used to store a few
trains and work equipment and cars, and it facilitates the western portion of the line
so trains can go into service faster. Workers can access the underground storage tracks
of the yard through Dundas West. The yard has a total storage capacity of 8 trains and
is often overlooked by passing commuters.
As we walk a bit closer to Keele station, the tracks are elevated while we slowly descend
on the ground, and this is where we got some glorious overhead shots of the subways. Enjoy
some more railfanning footage as we bring this video to an end.
Alright guys, this concludes our tour of Dundas West and Bloor stations, where we got to see
a lot of unique parts of both the TTC system and the GO Transit system. If you guys love
trains as much as we do, we highly recommend you to come out and check out the beautiful
train sightings here. If you enjoyed this video, leave a like, subscribe, and tell us
down in the comments what you liked most about Dundas West and Bloor stations. Follow us
on Twitter and Instagram, join our Facebook group, and consider supporting us on Patreon
for more content and behind the scenes footage. Thanks for watching guys, and we’ll see
you in the next one!