Downsview Station officially renamed Sheppard West Station

Get used to saying ‘Sheppard West Station’ starting Sunday.

The TTC has officially renamed Downsview station as of May 7 and the subway stop’s new moniker will be seen on signs and maps over the course of the next few weeks.

The name change is being made ahead of the opening of the Line 1 subway extension to York Region later this year.

The change is necessary to avoid confusion with the new and accurately named Downsview Park Station, located inside Downsview Park. Several other stations are named after streets with the epithet “West”, making the change consistent with the TTC’s current naming conventions.

Changes also need to be made to passenger information systems and train announcements as well as the TTC’s back end planning systems and the transit control centre.

The name change comes with an $800,000 price tag, the bulk of which will go towards the reprogramming of Bombardier’s proprietary announcement system on the Toronto Rocket subways. This will include the name change as well as the addition of the six new stations that will be needed when the full extension to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre opens.

Items being revised due to the name change, by the numbers:

30 – Sings in and around Downsview Station

123 – Destination signs in other TTC stations

161 – ‘You Are Here’ maps on station platforms

3,184 – Maps on subway trains

4,000 – Maps in transit shelters

250,000 – Ride Guides