Yonge Street Subway Construction.
Today, Toronto is a very fast-paced and forward moving city. Our booming population as well as each person's increasingly busy schedules requires a rapid transit system that matches its demands for inner-city travel. These demands rest on the shoulders of the Toronto Transit Commission, also known as the TTC. The TTC provides various forms of transportation both above as well as underground such as street buses, streetcars, and of course, the subway. The development of this formidable and heavily depended on transportation system has a long and complex history...
The predecessors of the Toronto Transit Commission were privately owned companies that provided transit services in the city beginning in 1849; in 1921 municipal government took control over these private companies and transit in the city became public under the newly formed Toronto Transportation Commission. [1]Coinciding with this new development was the usage of new technologies, and public transit shifted from horse car lines to street busses and streetcars. Thanks to an intricate array of railway lines laid by the Toronto Railway Company (one of the private companies), the Toronto Transportation Commission now had a transit system that reached not only the inner city but its surrounding area: “lines reached Richmondhill, Aurora and Newmarket.” [2] As a result of city transit belonging to the public domain, street congestion began to undergo scrutiny and as scholar J W Boorse notes, the idea for a faster way to travel—a subway—was theorized about as early as 1910.[3] Due to The Great Depression this demand for faster travel in the city went unnoticed, yet, Boorse continues by stating that this idea was revisited in 1941 with the organization of a Rapid Transit Department.[4]
Construction on Toronto's subway first began on September 8th, 1949. This was a huge media event and the day received a massive amount on coverage; it was even broadcasted live on the radio! Construction of the subway was divided into seven parts and each section was subcontracted to four different companies (Pitts, Johnson, Drake and Perini) so that the construction would begin all at once. The TTC has estimated the total cost of the subway to be $50.5 million dollars in 1954.[5]
[1] Bronley, John F. Fifty Years of Progressive Transit: a History of the Toronto Transit Commission. (New York: Electric Railroaders’ Association), 1973, pg. 17
[2] Filey, Mike. The TTC Story, the First Seventy-Five Years. (Toronto: Durham Press) 1996, pg 37
[3] Boorse, j w. and Jack May. Rapid Transit in Canada. (Philidelphia: Almo Press) 1968. pg 4
[4] Boorse and May, Rapid Transit, pg 4.
[5]"Canadas First Subway" http://www.toronto.ca/archives/canada_first_subway/groundbreaking.htm
The predecessors of the Toronto Transit Commission were privately owned companies that provided transit services in the city beginning in 1849; in 1921 municipal government took control over these private companies and transit in the city became public under the newly formed Toronto Transportation Commission. [1]Coinciding with this new development was the usage of new technologies, and public transit shifted from horse car lines to street busses and streetcars. Thanks to an intricate array of railway lines laid by the Toronto Railway Company (one of the private companies), the Toronto Transportation Commission now had a transit system that reached not only the inner city but its surrounding area: “lines reached Richmondhill, Aurora and Newmarket.” [2] As a result of city transit belonging to the public domain, street congestion began to undergo scrutiny and as scholar J W Boorse notes, the idea for a faster way to travel—a subway—was theorized about as early as 1910.[3] Due to The Great Depression this demand for faster travel in the city went unnoticed, yet, Boorse continues by stating that this idea was revisited in 1941 with the organization of a Rapid Transit Department.[4]
Construction on Toronto's subway first began on September 8th, 1949. This was a huge media event and the day received a massive amount on coverage; it was even broadcasted live on the radio! Construction of the subway was divided into seven parts and each section was subcontracted to four different companies (Pitts, Johnson, Drake and Perini) so that the construction would begin all at once. The TTC has estimated the total cost of the subway to be $50.5 million dollars in 1954.[5]
[1] Bronley, John F. Fifty Years of Progressive Transit: a History of the Toronto Transit Commission. (New York: Electric Railroaders’ Association), 1973, pg. 17
[2] Filey, Mike. The TTC Story, the First Seventy-Five Years. (Toronto: Durham Press) 1996, pg 37
[3] Boorse, j w. and Jack May. Rapid Transit in Canada. (Philidelphia: Almo Press) 1968. pg 4
[4] Boorse and May, Rapid Transit, pg 4.
[5]"Canadas First Subway" http://www.toronto.ca/archives/canada_first_subway/groundbreaking.htm