Hey guys, welcome back to the channel! Today, we’re visiting York University Station,
another station on the TTC Yonge-University-Spadina Line that is part of the recent Vaughan Extension.
Opened in 2017, York University station is quite grand and elegant just like other stations
on the extension, and unlike many other stations on the extension, this massive square footage
is actually justified with it being the busiest new station in terms of passenger traffic,
and it served almost 35 thousand passengers daily in 2018, almost as busy as a main bus
and subway terminal like Don Mills.
Let’s hop on a Toronto rocket, and head there to take a look!
[Music]
Before we jump into the video, we would like to give a huge shout out to our newest patrons:
Adam Murphy and Dan Dixon, you guys rock!
Joining us over on Patreon means you’ll be able to get earlier access to what we’re
up to, behind-the-scenes footage that you won’t be able to find anywhere else, a direct
channel of communication to us, and it’s just a great way to help support us in bringing
more videos to you guys.
Now, back to the scheduled content for today.
Located at the centre of York University’s Keele campus near the intersection of Steeles
Avenue and Keele Street, York University station is 4 stations from Vaughan Metropolitan Centre
terminus, and the southern neighbour of Pioneer Village station, which we visited before.
We arrive on the northbound platform of the station, and take the wide, spacious, and
clean centre platform into our view.
The style of this platform is quite similar to other platforms on the line, but if you
look up, you can see parts of the concourse above, as well as this wall full of small
squares sharing the same aesthetic as the art piece of this station we’ll see in just
a bit.
These walls and the ceiling are decorated with V shapes and triangle shapes, which is
a feature we’ll be seeing all throughout the design of this station.
The platform features the usual amenities such as a designated waiting area, lots of
good vertical access, and it, like the other stations on the Vaughan extension, has TV
screens showing the arrival times of the next few trains, instead of just the closest one.
[Music]
Alright, time to take one of these very long escalators up to the concourse level and take a look.
The wide open concourse is filled with pillars in the same V shape that we’ve been seeing,
and this is where we’ll be able to see the art installation that is part of this station,
on the wall closest to the platform below. This is Piston Effect by Jason Bruges Studio,
and it consists of a series of glass panels backed by LCD panels, and whenever a train
passes by underneath, the panels would light up in various different wavy patterns, super cool.
[Music]
This concourse is the bottom level of the wide V-shaped station building, and the centre
of the V dips down to reveal the large window letting in some wonderful natural light and
brightening up the whole concourse, as well as providing a little area for students to
sit and relax among the unique architecture and green bushes.
[Music]
At the centre of the concourse is a rarely seen manned collector’s booth as well as
rows of faregates, enough to handle all the traffic from the students who commute to and
from school.
Each end of the V opens up to escalators and stairs leading up to an entrance, so passengers
can access either side of the York Boulevard loop easily.
This loop is where the TTC and GO buses used to stop when they were still serving the university,
but they’ve since been all moved to Pioneer Village and Highway 407 to relieve traffic
on school grounds, and besides 3 night routes, the only regular TTC bus service still serving
the school nearby is the 41 Keele route.
YRT services were also ended at the station, leaving only Brampton Transit, or Zum, still
serving the school with its 501 Zum Queen route about 200 metres north of the station itself.
[Music]
York University lives up to its grand size by being genuinely well used by the students
at the school, and even though it doesn’t have a bus terminal anymore, it is still a
great transit connection for commuters and students alike.
Hope you enjoyed this video.
Like, subscribe, and leave a comment down below to tell us your favourite station on
the Vaughan subway extension, and where you’d like us to visit next in this series.
Follow us on Instagram and Twitter, and consider supporting us on Patreon for behind the scenes
access and extra footage.
Thanks for watching guys, and we’ll see you in the next one!
[Music]