Brampton’s New Connection to the Subway Opens This Weekend

Published December 13, 2017 at 5:04 am

The day is finally upon us!

The day is finally upon us! Brampton’s new connection to the subway opens this weekend — the Toronto-York Spadina subway extension that will connect Brampton Transit riders to not one, but two stops on the subway line. 

It’s no secret that Brampton Transit ridership is at an all-time high. In fact, ridership is up 17 per cent, and Brampton Transit is one of the fastest growing public transit systems across Canada. 

Now, the TTC Line 1 Subway Extension is slated to open this Sunday, December 17, 2017. 

What does that mean for Brampton Transit riders? 

Well, it means that there will be a convenient new way to hop on the subway from this weekend on.

This is exciting for anyone who commutes from Brampton to access the subway line, since it will run between Sheppard West subway station and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, which is accessible to Bramptonians via the 501 Zum Queen.

That’s not all — Bramptonians will also have convenient access to the York University stop on the line via the 501 and the 501 A/C Zum Queen. The York U station is located south of where the 501 stops. 

So, we’ll soon be able to “Zum to the Subway” according to the city. 

Vaughan Metropolitan Centre will be at the top of the subway line, with six stops in total, at Highway 407, Pioneer Village, York University, Finch West, Downsview, and finally connect to the existing Sheppard West.

Currently, you could take a GO bus to Union or Yorkdale from Shoppers World, you could hop on a GO train to Union from Bramalea or Mount Pleasant, or you could hop on the 501 to York and take the TTC to Downsview – an abundance of options do exist to get you from Brampton onto the subway line. 

Taking Brampton’s own 501 Zum Queen to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre or York U will be a cheaper, one-bus solution to getting on the subway — in total, riders will save about $5.40 one-way if they’re using a PRESTO card (cost to take Brampton Transit to get on the subway line is $2.95 vs. cost to take the GO from downtown Brampton to Union station is $8.35). Not to mention, none of those current options involve a direct connection between Brampton Transit and the subway line.

As for fares, according to the City of Brampton, additional fares will indeed be in effect — riders will have to pay the subway fare when getting onto the subway from the Zum, and have to pay the Zum fare when getting onto the Zum from the subway.

“The six-station underground subway extension from Downsview Station to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre replaces the shuttle bus connection from Downsview Station to York University that carries a daily average of 20,200 riders,” says Metrolinx. “It will be the first subway line to cross a municipal boundary in the region and will support significant new development.”

The entire extension spans 8.6 kilometres underground, and the project is costing just over $3 billion from all levels of government.

Perhaps Brampton will have its own stop on the subway line in the (far, far…far!) future.

For more information on the entire extension, click here.

What do you think of Brampton’s new connection to the subway line?

(All photos courtesy of TTC)

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