Hey guys, welcome back to the channel!
Today, we’re visiting our second station on the Vaughan Subway Extension, Highway 407.
This station is one of only two stations, along with Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, that
are outside of Toronto proper, as it is located north of the Jane and Steeles intersection
just south of Highway 407, the station’s namesake.
Similar to Pioneer Village, the station we visited before, Highway 407 is gigantic and
modern, and features interesting artwork and design choices, and is probably the single
largest building for any station in the TTC.
Despite its size, however, this is one of the lesser-used stations on the extension
and even in the entire system, as there are not a lot of walkable residential and commercial
development around the station. Riders from the closest residential areas would be more
likely to use the other stations in those areas, such as Vaughan Metropolitan Centre
or Pioneer Village.
Although, now that all GO buses have been moved from York University to this station,
ridership is likely to go up, though there has been some controversy created since York
University students now have to pay an additional TTC fare to get to school.
Alright, enough overview, let’s go check out the station.
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Arriving at the station on a northbound Line 1 train, we are greeted by much of the same
raw, concrete colour scheme as the other new subway stations.
The island platform is wide, allowing for significant passenger traffic, which, unfortunately,
the station does not currently experience.
One interesting fact is that because of the proximity to Black Creek and the high water
table in the area, the platform doesn’t actually have any weight-supporting columns,
and all the weight of the station building falls onto the sidewalls, which better distributes
the weight of the station onto the soft soil, as it is essentially floating on it.
The platform features the usual amenities including benches and a designated waiting
area, although it also has the newest kind of departure boards that the stations on the
extension all have, which show multiple next train departure times instead of just one.
In order to go up to the concourse, you have the option of taking these very cool escalators
with light strips, this tall elevator, or the set of stairs that snake around the elevator
shaft.
We’re gonna use the escalators today to get up to the concourse.
The concourse is, again, wide and spacious, with curved ceilings and beautiful stained
glass windows letting in ample sunlight to brighten up the whole concourse. The stained-glass
skylights here, as well as panels on the bus terminal level, are all part of an artwork
titled Sky Ellipse by Toronto artist David Pearl, which serves as the anchoring artwork
for this station, as all of the new subway stations have.
We really like how this station has a single large concourse, which is beneficial for transfers
and security.
The height of the whole station really adds to the grandiosity of the building, along
with the many lights on the walls and ceilings, and it gives off a very futuristic vibe.
Located on the concourse include numerous Presto fare gates, the collector’s booth,
and several of the newest Presto machines.
Here, you can then find two separate sets of stairs and escalators that lead to the
entrance of the station on the ground level and the bus terminal on the second and highest
level respectively.
We’ll start by exploring the entrance level first.
Stepping outside of the station, we find ourselves in the midst of a giant parking lot with 600
spots, currently quite full as it is a weekday.
The parking lot is separated into different sections with well-landscaped medians and walkways
Turning around, and we can finally see the station building in its entirety.
Highway 407 station is shaped like a boomerang, and it reminds me of a spaceship about to
jump to warp speed or a baseball diamond with the parking lot as the outfield. This is definitely
my favourite station on the Vaughan subway extension, as I really love the futuristic look it has.
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Alright, finally, we’ll check out the bus terminal.
Heading up one level on these very blue escalators, we first find ourselves at the centre of the
boomerang, with the buses stopping at the two arms of the boomerang.
We immediately spot the other half of the stained glass art piece, as well as a GO service
counter and public washrooms. There is a set of departure boards here that remind me of
the ones they have in an airport or in Union station, which is a nice touch.
A neat feature of the station is these small plaques detailing the exact address of the
station, especially here at the AED station, where it is quite crucial to have the address
for calling 911 in emergency situations.
With 18 bus stands serving 9 GO bus routes and 2 YRT routes, the bus terminal was quite
busy when we were there even though it was the middle of the day.
The addition of GO bus routes added a lot of traffic, plus more amenities to the bus
terminal, with the same wooden seating as they have in Union station, numerous signs
pointing passengers to the correct bus bay, as well as departure boards for all the routes
here at the station.
Attached to the western arm of the bus terminal is also a 17-bay bus layover area, for when
the buses need to take a nap during the day.
One route worth mentioning is definitely the YRT bus that’ll take you to Canada’s Wonderland,
which is probably one of the reasons for this station’s rising popularity in the summer.
Another route that is quite unique to this station is an Ontario Northland bus route
that travels to North Bay, with two inbound and two outbound trips per day.
In the future, there’ll be an underground bus rapid transitway that’ll travel along
the length of the highway from Durham region across the GTA to Burlington. This will be
a great east-west connector at the north end of the GTA, but unfortunately, it is still
a long way from starting construction. Hopefully, this will bring even more traffic to the station
to fill up these relatively empty halls.
Alright, guys, this marks the end of our tour of Highway 407 station, a beautifully designed
station with lots of potential to grow.
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for some scenic photos taken during our adventures in the Six!
Thanks for watching guys, and we’ll see you in the next one!
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