Kipling station

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, where passengers can connect with MiWay and GO Transit bus services. It opened on November 21, 1980, as part of the extensions west, to this station, and east to Kennedy station. 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 900 Airport Express bus route connects Kipling to the Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Kipling
General information
Location	950 Kipling Avenue Toronto, Ontario Canada
Coordinates	43°38′14″N 79°32′10″W
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	1,067 spaces
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Website	Official station page
History
Opened	November 21, 1980; 43 years ago (November 21, 1980)[1]
Rebuilt	2017
Passengers
2022[2]	31,220
Rank	17 of 70
Services
Preceding station Toronto Transit Commission Following station Terminus Line 2 Bloor–Danforth Islington towards Kennedy
Location

History

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

An official opening ceremony for Kipling and Kennedy stations, in what was then the Borough of Etobicoke, was held on November 21, 1980. This pair of one-stop extensions at opposite ends of the Bloor–Danforth line were opened to the public the following day.^[1][3] 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.^[4] 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.^[5]

In 1999, this station became accessible with the addition of elevators, one of the first accessible stations in the city.

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 spaces (over 1,300) and a roughed-in platform for a future light rail or light metro line, like the Scarborough RT at Kennedy.^[6]

In the early 2020s, a new regional bus terminal was built on the site of the Kipling North commuter parking lot. Serving both MiWay and GO Transit, the bus terminal opened in 2021.^[7] An underground tunnel links the subway station to the regional bus terminal, and an accessible link bridge connects to the Kipling GO Station. As of 2022^[update], 1,067 commuter parking spaces remain, located south of the station in the hydro corridor.^[8]

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.^[9] Fares can be paid for at this station by using tokens, tickets, passes, as well as the Presto card.^[10] 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.^[6]

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.^[11]

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.^[11] 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.^[12]

Surface connections

Kipling station concourse

Main article: List of Toronto Transit Commission bus routes

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

The TTC bus platform is in the fare-paid zone, allowing passengers to quickly transfer between the subway and the following TTC bus routes:^[13]

Bay	Route	Name	Additional information
1	111	East Mall	Northbound to Eglinton Avenue West (Willowridge & Richgrove)
2	112B	West Mall	Northbound to Renforth station
	112C		Northbound to Disco Road
3	123B	Sherway	Southbound to Long Branch Loop via Shorncliffe Road and the East Mall
	123C		Southbound to Long Branch Loop via Shorncliffe Road and North Queen Street
	123D		Southbound to Sherway Gardens via Shorncliffe Road and the East Mall
	123F		Southbound to Sherway Gardens via the West Mall (Rush hour service)
	Wheel-Trans
4	900	Airport Express	Northbound to Toronto Pearson International Airport
	300A	Bloor–Danforth Blue Night	Westbound to Toronto Pearson International Airport
	300B		Westbound to the West Mall & Burnhamthorpe Road
5	40A	Junction–Dundas West	Eastbound to Dundas West station
	49	Bloor West	Westbound to Markland Wood (east of the Etobicoke Creek)
6	44	Kipling South	Southbound to Lake Shore Boulevard and Humber College Lakeshore Campus
	944	Kipling South Express	Southbound to Lake Shore Boulevard and Humber College Lakeshore Campus (Weekday service)
7	927A	Highway 27 Express	Northbound to Humber College North Campus
	927B		Northbound to Steeles Avenue West
	927C		Northbound to Humber College via Attwell Drive (Rush hour service)
	927D		Northbound to Steeles Avenue West via Royalcrest Road (Rush hour service)
8	46	Martin Grove	Northbound to Steeles Avenue West
	300A	Bloor–Danforth Blue Night	Eastbound to Warden Avenue & Danforth Road
	300B		Eastbound to Kennedy station
9	45A	Kipling	Northbound to Steeles Avenue West past Etobicoke North GO Station
	45B		Northbound to Carlingview Drive via Belfield Road
10	945	Kipling Express	Northbound to Steeles Avenue West (Rush hour service)

• Some 300 Bloor–Danforth trips do not enter the bus terminal, but can be accessed at Aukland Road at Dundas Street.
• A courtesy bus used to be operated by IKEA between Kipling station and the IKEA Etobicoke store.^[14] However, service was discontinued due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[15]

References

1. "The Built Subways". Transit Toronto. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
2. "Subway ridership, 2022" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved May 4, 2024. This table shows the typical number of customer-trips made on each subway on an average weekday and the typical number of customers travelling to and from each station platform on an average weekday.
3. "New Kipling Station". The Toronto Star. November 20, 1980. p. A18.
4. Blackett, Matthew (March 25, 2008). "Ride the Rainbow of the Bloor–Danforth". Spacing Toronto. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
5. Bow, James. "Kipling: Trivia". Transit Toronto. Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
6. Bateman, Chris (June 23, 2012). "Whatever Happened to the Etobicoke RT?". blogTO. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
7. Wanek-Libman, Mischa (May 21, 2022). "Construction of Kipling Transit Hub complete". www.masstransitmag.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
8. "Kipling Station". www.ttc.ca. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
9. "Kipling: Accessible Alternative". Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
10. "PRESTO card". Presto card official Twitter feed. July 21, 2010. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
11. "Kipling - Transit Toronto - Subway Station Database". Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
12. "Old Time Trains". Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
13. "Kipling Station: Connections to". Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
14. "IKEA Etobicoke: Store information". Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
15. "Does IKEA offer Shuttle bus service? - IKEA Canada".

External links

Media related to Kipling station at Wikimedia Commons

• Official station page