Sheppard–Yonge first opened as Sheppard in 1974, when the Yonge–University subway line was extended north from Eglinton to Finch. The extension was planned to open in two stages with Sheppard as the temporary terminus, but construction north of York Mills was delayed by various problems and in 1973, York Mills was opened as the temporary terminus instead; Sheppard and Finch stations opened in 1974. The H-2 class subway cars delivered in 1971 included destination signs for "Sheppard via downtown" on the expectation that it would be a terminal station.
The station was expanded and renamed "Sheppard–Yonge" in 2002 with the opening of the Sheppard subway line, for which this station became the western terminus.[3] The renaming was similar to that of Bloor–Yonge station. Unlike Bloor–Yonge, where the signs on Line 1 platforms still read "Bloor" and those on the Line 2 Bloor–Danforth read "Yonge", Sheppard–Yonge is given its full name on both sets of platforms; all existing signs within the station were changed to give the new name. At that time, this station became accessible with elevators. When the automated announcements were installed on Toronto's subway trains, Line 1 trains referred to the station as "Sheppard" while Line 4 trains referred to the station as "Sheppard–Yonge", the new Toronto Rocket subway trains refer to the station on both Lines 1 and 4 as "Sheppard–Yonge" followed by "Change for Line 1/4" respectively.
Station description
The station is located under Yonge Street at Sheppard Avenue, and is built on five levels. All seven entrances are located at street level,[4] as is the bus platform. The three levels below are concourse levels, which provide access to the bus platform and the two subway lines. The subway platforms are on the two lower levels, with the Yonge–University line on the bottom and the newer Sheppard line crossing above.[4]
Entrances
There are six entrances – five automated entrances (all of which are only accessible by Presto card) and one staffed entrance:[5]
An accessible automatic entrance on the northeast side of Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue beside the Yonge Sheppard Centre. This was a staffed entrance until October 21, 2019, when the collector booth was closed.[5]
An accessible staffed entrance accessed via the Hullmark Centre entrance on the southeast corner of Yonge and Sheppard
An accessible automatic entrance accessed via a private elevator in the Nestle Canada Building at 25 Sheppard Avenue West, one block west of Yonge
An automatic entrance at Harlandale and Yonge, one block north of Sheppard
An automatic entrance on the northeast corner of Yonge Street and Anndale Drive, accessed via the Procter & Gamble building (Monday to Friday 6am to 7pm, excluding holidays) or via the underground parking lot of Whole Foods Market[a]
An automatic entrance accessed via the Emerald Park building on the northwest corner of Yonge Street at Poyntz Avenue[b]
Architecture and art
Spiegel's Immersion LandCircle wall
The station on the Sheppard line was designed by architectural firm NORR Limited. The construction of the Sheppard line included the integration of the bus terminal at street level into the fare-paid zone.
The artwork in the station, entitled Immersion Land and created by the artist Stacey Spiegel, consists of panoramic posterized murals created from 150 digital photos rendered onto single-colour mosaic tiles. The artwork depicts rural scenery along Yonge Street or Highway 11 somewhere between Lake Ontario and North Bay, and is located on the upper (Line 4 Sheppard) platform level.
Subway infrastructure in the vicinity
The Line 4 platform has a roughed-in extra centre platform designed to be potentially used as a Spanish solution in the future.
The Sheppard line tracks cross above the Yonge line. Line 4 has side platforms (unique among TTC terminal stations), but there is also a roughed-in centre platform. Should the station become a busy transfer point, this platform will be opened and trains will open all their doors, allowing riders to enter on one side and exit on the other to improve efficiency.
Both lines have a crossover just beyond the platforms, with Line 1's being to the south and Line 4's to the east. As Sheppard-Yonge is a terminus for Line 4, its crossover is used to regularly reverse trains, with Line 1's being used only for occasional short turns. Trains normally pull into the south platform on Line 4 to allow passengers to board and alight before returning in the direction from which they came; the north platform is used only for passengers disembarking from trains that are going out of service.
A connecting track from the southbound Line 1 track south of the station, used only if non-revenue trains or work cars need to be transferred between the two lines, curves around to a point 500 metres (1,600 ft) west of Yonge on Line 4's single tail track, slightly more than one train-length east of the end of the track, with a second (which becomes the eastbound track) diverging from the connector, which passes under it. This provides an area where trains can be stored clear of the line. East of the station, Line 4 converges with a second connecting track from northbound Line 1.[6]
Blue Night service; northbound to Steeles Avenue and southbound to Queens Quay
(On-street stop outside the station)
384
Sheppard West
Blue Night service; westbound to Weston Road
(On-street stop outside the station)
385
Sheppard East
Blue Night service; eastbound to Meadowvale Road
(On-street stop outside the station)
Notes
^While this entrance is equipped with a private elevator from the Whole Foods Market at street level to the building's parking garages and the fares concourse level, it does not serve the Line 1 subway platform.
^While this entrance is equipped with a private elevator from street level to the building's parking garages and the fares concourse level, it does not serve the Line 1 subway platform.
References
^"Subway ridership, 2023-2024"(PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved November 12, 2024. This table shows the typical number of customer-boardings made on each subway line and the number of customers travelling to and from each station platform on a typical weekday in Sep 2023-Aug 2024.
^"Subway ridership, 2023-2024"(PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved November 12, 2024. This table shows the typical number of customer-boardings made on each subway line and the number of customers travelling to and from each station platform on a typical weekday in Sep 2023-Aug 2024.
