New platform to be built at Bloor-Yonge station as feds pledge $1B for Toronto transit
Posted August 26, 2019 1:26 pm.
Last Updated August 28, 2019 9:22 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto’s chronically-claustrophobic Bloor-Yonge subway station will get some breathing room after the federal government pledged to invest more than $1 billion in Toronto transit projects on Monday.
The cash will be divvied up between Bloor-Yonge station improvements, and the SmartTrack Stations Program, which will see six new stations built on the Stouffville, Lakeshore East, and Kitchener GO rail corridors.
The SmartTrack Stations Program will use existing rail infrastructure to expand transit options for commuters.
Toronto city council approved both projects in April, requesting funding through the federal Public Transit Infrastructure Stream.
The province and City of Toronto will provide any additional funding.
The work at Bloor-Yonge will see the construction of an additional Line 2 platform, along with modifications to improve safety and capacity on the existing Line 1 platform. A new electrical substation will also be built.
Mayor John Tory called the cash infusion crucial in light of Toronto’s increasing population and the subsequent strain on the beleaguered transit system, especially at Bloor-Yonge where more than 200,000 passengers converge on an average weekday.
“By 2041 the region will have a population of more than 10,000,000 people and that’s a great news story … but we’ve got to make sure the infrastructure is in place to deal with those people and support that growth,” Tory said at Monday morning’s news conference in Scarborough.
