Sheppard line

Sheppard
Don Mills station platform
Route length:	5.5 km
Gauge :	1495 mm
Power system :	600 V  =
Sheppard-Yonge Yonge University Line Bayview Bessarion GO Transit (Richmond Hill Line) Leslie Don River Don Mills

The Sheppard Line (officially called Line 4 Sheppard ) is a subway line in the Canadian city ​​of Toronto . It is part of the Toronto Subway and is operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). The line is 5.5 km long and has five stations, the track width is 1495 mm. It follows Sheppard Avenue along its entire length and serves as a feeder to the Yonge University Line . The Sheppard Line is used by an average of 49,070 passengers every day (2015).

history

In the 1970s, traffic flows gradually began to change in northern Toronto, as more and more workers no longer commuted to the city center but to other suburbs. The poorly developed tangential connections required long detours, so that many switched to the car and mainly used Highway 401 . There were concrete plans for a tangential underground line for the first time in 1982. The line was to connect both outer ends of the Yonge University Line in the then independent city of North York and lead to the center of Scarborough .

After Bill Davis's progressive-conservative provincial government was voted out of office in 1985 , planning stalled for almost a decade. In 1994, the NDP provincial government led by Bob Rae promised to build four subway lines in the suburbs. At the Eglinton West line should be part of the tangential line, were Bauvorleistungen provided. But in 1995 the progressive conservatives won the elections, whereupon the new administration under Mike Harris ordered the suspension of all subway plans due to massive increases in costs. Mel Lastman , the influential mayor of North York (from 1998 of Toronto), exerted political pressure and was finally able to get at least the Sheppard Line built.

Construction work began at the end of 1998 and lasted almost four years. Operations on the route between Sheppard-Yonge and Don Mills began on November 24, 2002; the official opening took place two days earlier.

Route and stations

Bridge over the Don River

The stations and the western end of the line were built using the open construction method , as was customary in Toronto . For the first time ever, two tunnel boring machines were used to build the rest of the completely underground route . First they dug from the already excavated Leslie station westwards to Doris Avenue just before Yonge Street . They were then transported back to the starting point, from where they advanced eastwards to Don Mills . The two parallel tunnel tubes are 15 to 18 meters below the surface of the earth and are 13 meters apart. The Don River is crossed by a completely enclosed bridge. Another station called Willowdale was planned between the Sheppard-Yonge and Bayview stations . Although this was prepared, it was not implemented due to the low density of the buildings.

All subway cars used on the Sheppard Line are parked on the line (mostly at either end). As a rule, there are four four-car trains that run every five and a half minutes; a fifth train is kept in reserve. If the trains have to be maintained, it is reached by a track connection to the Yonge-University line and continue to the depot Davisville Yard at the station Davisville .

criticism

In the media, the Sheppard Line has been referred to variously as the " subway to nowhere ". With the exception of Sheppard-Yonge and Don Mills, the stations are not very busy, even during peak hours. However, the average number of passengers on working days has increased by around a third since the opening and now corresponds to that of the bus and tram lines with the highest loads in downtown. Also, the Sheppard Line sparked billions in investments along the route, mostly in multi-story residential buildings, so further growth is expected. A disadvantage of the Sheppard Line is the fact that it only connects to the Yonge University Line, which in turn is reaching its capacity limits. During the budget crisis in 2007, the city administration considered the possibility of closing the line on weekends or even completely, but then decided against it.

Deferred extensions

Planned route of the eastern section of the Sheppard Line to Scarborough Center

Planned course of the western section to Downsview

In 2003 the TTC published a report that extended the Sheppard Line eastwards towards Scarborough Center as the highest priority, because this was the only way the line could develop its full potential. On the other hand, they postponed the western extension to Downsview , as the low population density on this section does not justify a subway.

The Province of Ontario changed its priorities for subway construction, instead supporting the extension of the Yonge University Line to Vaughan , construction of which began in 2009 and was completed in 2017. Annoyed by the lack of progress in the Sheppard Line, the city of Toronto and the TTC implemented a change of strategy in March 2007 and relied on the construction of much more cost-effective light rail vehicles as part of the Transit City program . The eastern extension of the Sheppard Line was postponed well into the future. Instead, the Sheppard East LRT light rail line is planned, which will begin in Don Mills and run to Scarborough. After the first preparatory construction work began in November 2009, it was suspended indefinitely in December 2010 by order of the new Mayor Rob Ford . The city reactivated the light rail project in 2012, but work has not yet been resumed.

Web links

• Toronto Transit Commission

Individual evidence

1. ^ Subway. Toronto Transit Commission , accessed December 7, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Subway ridership, 2015. (PDF; 84 kB) Toronto Transit Commission, accessed December 7, 2017 (English). 
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} The Sheppard Subway. Transit Toronto, 2007, accessed May 12, 2010 . 
4. ↑ Will Sheppard forever be the subway to nowhere? National Post , July 19, 2007.
5. ↑ Still a subway to nowhere? Toronto Star , November 24, 2007, accessed May 13, 2010 . 
6. ↑ TTC eyes shutting Sheppard subway. (No longer available online.) National Post, July 20, 2007, archived from the original on March 24, 2016 ; accessed on October 7, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ^ Delay to Sheppard East LRT raises hopes of possible subway line. Inside Toronto, August 24, 2012, accessed June 19, 2014 .