Woodbine station


Woodbine is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The station is at the southeast corner of Woodbine Avenue and Strathmore Boulevard, just north of Danforth Avenue.

Description

The main entrance, collector, and bus platform are at street level, the concourse is on the second level, and the subway platforms are on the lower level. Wi-Fi service is available at this station. Automatic sliding doors, accessible fare gates and the addition of elevators, made the station fully accessible in late September 2017 which also coincided with the opening of a new secondary automated entrance on the northwest corner of Woodbine and Danforth.
The artwork titled Directions Intersections Connections by Marmin Borins hangs on the exterior wall at the station's bus platform. Covering, the artwork consists of brightly-coloured coated metal panels arranged in geometric patterns. According to the TTC's Public Art page, the geometric patterns "express the motion and directional routes of transit, the intersections of communities and place, and the connections of site to both the present and the past".

History

Woodbine station was opened in 1966 as the eastern terminus of the original Bloor–Danforth line. Although the station was a terminus for two years, it was known that this would be temporary, so it was built with side platforms rather than a single centre platform that would have conveniently served departures from either track.
The Bloor–Danforth subway line replaced the Bloor streetcar line, which ran from Jane Loop to Luttrell Loop, near the present Jane and Victoria Park stations. With the opening of the subway from to Woodbine in 1966, streetcar service was reduced to a short Bloor route from Jane Loop to Keele station, and a Danforth route from Woodbine station to Luttrell Loop. These portions were in turn eliminated when the subway was extended in 1968 to run from to. However, evidence of the temporary loop at Woodbine station for Danforth streetcars still exists: a single disconnected streetcar track runs west from Cedarvale Avenue along Strathmore Boulevard, curving towards the east end of the station, and an irregular wall in the station's mezzanine indicates the former passage to the streetcar platform. The walled-off section of this passage has been partially converted into a staff room and storage area.

Surface connections

TTC routes serving the station include:
RouteNameAdditional Information
91CWoodbineNorthbound to York Mills Road
91DWoodbineNorthbound to York Mills via Railside Road
92Woodbine SouthSouthbound to Lake Shore Boulevard East
93Parkview HillsNorthbound to Parkview Hills

Automatic entrance

In June 2010, the TTC announced plans to add secondary entrances and exits to 3 subway stations on Line 2. They were recommended after a fire safety audit due to the stations only having one primary means of emergency access and egress. The plan was to construct a new unmanned automated entrance at surface level on Strathmore Boulevard. In order to build these new access points, the TTC expropriated residential land and demolished a home on the northwest corner of Woodbine and Strathmore. The decision to do so proved controversial in the neighbourhoods affected; although the TTC stated it would review their plan, it ultimately went ahead. Construction of the new unstaffed automated entrance was completed in September 2017. It is accessible to Presto card holders only.