Wilson station (Toronto)

Wilson is a subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the median of Allen Road at Wilson Avenue. Wi-Fi service is available at this station.[4]

Wilson
Location570 Wilson Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates43°44′03″N 79°27′00″W
PlatformsCentre platform
Tracks2
Connections
Construction
Structure typeAt grade
Parking1498 spaces[1]
Disabled accessYes
ArchitectTTC in-house architects[2]
History
Opened28 January 1978
Passengers
2018[3]29,260
Rank29 of 75
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station
toward Vaughan
 Yonge–University
toward Finch

History

Wilson Station was opened in what was then the Borough of North York as the last station in the 1978 subway line extension north from St. George Station. According to historian Mike Filey, Wilson Avenue is a misspelling of Arthur L. Willson, who was a clerk and treasurer of York Township for over twelve years around 1875. Among Arthur Wilson's accomplishments were writing a "municipal manual", "which has been found of practical value as a guide to those requiring a knowledge of municipal law", according to a history of the County of York.[5]

Wilson was the northwestern terminus of the Yonge–University line for eighteen years and a major hub for TTC bus service, but with the extension to Sheppard West (then named Downsview) in 1996, many of the bus routes serving areas to the north were moved to the new station.[6]

From the station's opening in 1978 until 2017, the station had a fare collector booth where passengers could purchase legacy fare media such as tickets, tokens, and Metropasses. On December 17, 2017, this station became one of the first eight stations to discontinue the sale of legacy TTC fare media (tokens and tickets). Presto vending machines were available to sell Presto cards and to load money onto them.[7] On May 3, 2019, this station became one of the first ten stations to sell Presto tickets via Presto vending machines.[8]

In November 2018, construction began on three new elevators, automatic sliding doors, and a new accessible washroom, to make the station wheelchair accessible.[9] It was completed on December 18, 2020.[10]

Architecture and art
Canyons sculpture by Ted Bieler

Wilson is one of two Yonge–University line stations on the west side of the line, along with St. Clair West, that were designed by the TTC's in-house architects.[11]

The subway station building is a simple enclosed concrete structure built within the median of Allen Road where it crosses over Wilson Avenue. The mezzanine level connects by a maze of tunnels to the bus terminal, a kiss-and-ride facility and four commuter parking lots with a total of 2257 spaces.[1] An additional island bus platform, no longer needed for the reduced number of connecting buses after the line was extended to Sheppard West Station,[6] was mothballed and now serves as a storage area.

A wall sculpture by Ted Bieler entitled Canyons[12] is located at the mezzanine level.

Subway infrastructure in the vicinity
The crossover at Wilson station

Northwest of the station is the Wilson Yard, opened in 1977, which houses the system's largest subway marshalling yard having taken over Yonge-University line operations from Davisville Yard in 1993 and a large bus garage servicing most of the bus routes in north Toronto. The original yard access tracks form part of the mainline north to Sheppard West station, crossing under the southbound lanes of Allen Road and descending, as does the road itself, down to ground level. There is a diamond crossover south of the station, widely used to reverse trains when the station was a terminus, and still frequently used for short turning.

Nearby landmarks

Nearby landmarks include a Costco and the southern end of Downsview Park. Large events at the park, such as World Youth Day 2002 and Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto in 2003, have resulted in heavy use of Wilson station.

Tenants

Surface connections
Wilson station bus terminal
Main article: List of Toronto Transit Commission bus routes

TTC routes serving the station include:

Route Name Additional Information
29A Dufferin Southbound to Exhibition Place (Dufferin Gate)
29C Southbound to Exhibition Place (Princes' Gates)
96A/B/D Wilson Eastbound to York Mills station
96A Westbound to Carrier Drive via Kipling Avenue and John Garland Boulevard
96B Westbound to Humberline Drive and Albion Road via Westhumber Boulevard and Martin Grove Road
96D Westbound to Carrier Drive and Westmore Drive
104 Faywood Northbound to Sheppard West station via Wilson Heights Boulevard
118 Thistle Down Westbound to Thistle Down Boulevard via Tandridge Crescent
119 Torbarrie Westbound to Torbarrie Road and Clayson Road
(Rush hour service)
120 Calvington Westbound to Sheppard Avenue West and Jane Street via De Havilland
160 Bathurst North Northbound to Centre Street
(Extra fare required north of Steeles Avenue)
165 Weston Rd North Eastbound to York Mills station and westbound to Steeles Avenue West
929 Dufferin Express Southbound to Exhibition Place (Dufferin Gate)
(Weekday service)
996 Wilson Express Eastbound to York Mills station and westbound to Humber College
(Weekday service)
329 Dufferin Blue Night service; Northbound to Steeles Avenue West and southbound to Exhibition Loop. Overnight service stops on Transit Road and does not enter the station.
396 Wilson Blue Night service; Eastbound to York Mills station and westbound to Martin Grove Road and Steeles Avenue West. Overnight service stops on Wilson Avenue and does not enter the station.
108C Driftwood bus at Wilson Station

During the early morning, the following routes from Sheppard West station also operate to/from Wilson station.

Route Name Additional Information
105A Dufferin North To Steeles
107 St Regis To Pioneer Village station[13]
108C Driftwood To Pioneer Village station via Arleta[14]

References
  1. "Parking". Wilson Station. Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  2. http://archindont.torontopubliclibrary.ca/ArchindontWeb/buildingType.do?type=Subway+Stations&typeID=112
  3. "Subway ridership, 2018" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved February 5, 2019. This table shows the typical number of customer-trips made on each subway on an average weekday and the typical number of customers travelling to and from each station platform on an average weekday.
  4. "There's now free WiFi at over 40 TTC subway stations". blogTO. Retrieved 2016-12-21.
  5. Bow, James. "Wilson Station". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  6. Bow, James. "Downsview Station". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  7. "New Customer Service Agents at TTC stations". Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  8. "TTC extends sales of Presto Tickets to 10 stations". Toronto Transit Commission. 6 May 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  9. "Wilson Station – elevator construction". TTC. Archived from the original on November 24, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  10. "Wilson Station – elevator construction". TTC. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  11. Robert Moffatt (28 October 2010). "Art and architecture on the Spadina subway". Toronto Modern. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  12. "Canyons". Ted Bieler. Dittwald Toronto Sculpture. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  13. "File Info: trips.txt - TransitFeeds". transitfeeds.com. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  14. "108 Driftwood - Transit Toronto - Surface Route Histories". transittoronto.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-28.

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