By: Jonathan Buckstein
The New TTC Subway line is now been open for just over four months now and everything seems to be running as planned. The 8.6-kilometre extension added six new stops and now connects Vaughan, one of the GTA’s biggest suburbs, to Toronto. Construction on the new line started back in February 2010 and was finished in December of 2017 finishing the nearly eight years of building. Of the six new stops, the York University Station is the prized one. The station now connects the 50,000+ on campus to anywhere on the tracks and will make it easier to get to York. “My bus is gone. It actually takes me longer to get home.” one Seneca student said. The buses the student is referring to are those that used to crowd the bus terminal outside York Lanes. The TTC stopped most of the bus lines that came through York, making it harder for those who need to travel east and west, where the new line only offers a north or south option. Although, as of now, most people have had positive feedback for the new line, it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing. The $3.2 billion final cost was well over budget. Tunneling problems around York University along with funding issues and harsh winter conditions moved the completion date from mid 2015 all the way to the end of 2017. Along with delays in building, tragedy struck on October 11, 2011, less than two years into construction, when a 24-year-old backhoe operator, Kyle Knox, died after a drilling rig fell over at the York University site. The death led to a stoppage in work that lasted four months. Despite all the setbacks, the line has finally opened. The TTC predicts that by 2020 there will be close to 14 million annual boardings and alightings at the two stops on campus, the main station and Pioneer Village.
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