Yorkdale is a station on the Yonge–University–Spadina line of the subway system

Toronto subway and RT

The Toronto subway and RT is a rapid transit system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, consisting of both underground and elevated railway lines, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission . It was Canada's first completed subway system, with the first line being built under Yonge Street, which opened in...

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is located on William R. Allen Road just south of Highway 401. It opened in 1978 in what was then the Borough of North York

North York, Ontario

North York is a dissolved municipality within the current city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the central part of the northern section of Toronto. As of the 2006 Census, it has a population of 635,370. The official 2001 census count was 608,288...

, and was named for the nearby Yorkdale Shopping Centre

Yorkdale Shopping Centre

Yorkdale Shopping Centre is a large shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It contains over 250 stores and is located in the community of Downsview, in North York. It is the fifth largest shopping mall in Canada and also enjoys the highest sales per square foot of any mall in Canada, with...

, to which it connects by an enclosed walkway. Connections are available to GO Transit

GO Transit

GO Transit is an inter-regional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada. It primarily serves the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area conurbation, with operations extending to several communities beyond the GTHA proper in the Greater Golden Horseshoe...

 buses (as well as Greyhound

Greyhound

The Greyhound is a breed of sighthound that has been primarily bred for coursing game and racing, and the breed has also recently seen a resurgence in its popularity as a pedigree show dog and family pet. It is a gentle and intelligent breed...

 and airport shuttles) at Yorkdale Bus Terminal at the south east corner. 1144 parking spaces are also available for commuters.

Entrances

• Yorkdale Mall west entrance, next to Yorkdale Bus Terminal
• Ranee and Allen Road south entrance
• Onramp to Highway 401 and Allen Road

Architecture and art

Yorkdale was designed by Arthur Erickson

Arthur Erickson

Arthur Charles Erickson, was a Canadian architect and urban planner. He studied Asian languages at the University of British Columbia, and later earned a degree in architecture from McGill University.-Biography:...

. The station is above ground, and also above street level. It has two tracks, northbound and southbound. A dramatic vaulted glass roof spans the length of the single centre platform. It terminates symmetrically at escalators and stairs at both ends of the platform, creating the appearance of a glass dome. The interior walls of the station at platform level are unfinished concrete, but artistically cast, and curve over the tracks to form the ceiling. The shape of the windows on these walls recalls the oval windows of subway trains. On the exterior, these concrete walls are clad with stainless steel

Stainless steel

In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....

.

Handrails on stairs leading to the platform are backlit. Platform shelters are unique to the station, designed in the oval shape which dominates many features in the station, with large windows. Like the centre pillars which hold X shaped structural supports—distinctive in Toronto's rapid transit system to the station—they are clad in unpainted metal panels.

Yorkdale station won a Governor General's Award for Architecture in 1982, and is listed as a heritage structure in Toronto's inventory of heritage properties.

The station's glass roof originally featured an artwork by Michael Hayden—also responsible for the Sky's the Limit installation at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport

O'Hare International Airport

Chicago O'Hare International Airport , also known as O'Hare Airport, O'Hare Field, Chicago Airport, Chicago International Airport, or simply O'Hare, is a major airport located in the northwestern-most corner of Chicago, Illinois, United States, northwest of the Chicago Loop...

—called Arc en Ciel (French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 for "rainbow"). This piece consisted of a large number of mercury-vapor lamps painted in various colours that would light in a pattern, running along the station in the appropriate direction whenever a train went through. In the mid-1990s, it stopped working because of damaged water transformers caused by water leakage. Each transformer would have cost just $28 to repair at the time; however, because the TTC had not budgeted for its continued maintenance, it was removed at the artist's request.

At a TTC meeting in September 2010, a deal was made for Oxford Properties

Oxford Properties

Oxford Properties is an investor, owner, developer and manager of commercial real estate of more than . of commercial & industrial space, more than half of it in the city of Toronto and its suburbs, from where the company is based, but also has regional head offices in New York and London...

, owner of Yorkdale Mall which connects to the station, to pay for the restoration of the installation. The plan calls for the rebuilt piece to use LED

LEd

LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....

 lights, allowing for a broader range and customization of colours and patterns. Hayden requested that a maintenance contract be included, and for the piece installed by a Toronto-based company. The cost of the original installation was $100 000, however it is unknown what the cost would be to re-install the piece.

Subway infrastructure in the vicinity

South of Yorkdale station, Allen Road descends into a shallow open cut below the surrounding ground level, and the subway descends with it until Eglinton West Station

Eglinton West (TTC)

Eglinton West is a station on the Yonge–University–Spadina line of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Allen Road/Everden Road at 1300 Eglinton Avenue West....

. North of Yorkdale the tracks remain elevated and cross Highway 401 to Wilson Station

Wilson (TTC)

Wilson is a station on the Yonge–University–Spadina line of the subway system of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the median of Allen Road at 570 Wilson Avenue.2257 parking spaces surround the station in four commuter lots.-History:...

.

Surface connections

A transfer is required to connect between the subway system and these surface routes:

• Route 47: Lansdowne - North entrance

47B to Queen via Bridgeland and Caledonia

47C to Queen via Orfus and Caledonia

• Route 109: Ranee - South entrance

109 to Neptune

109B to Neptune via Marlee & Flemington

Yorkdale in the movies

Yorkdale station was used as the Transit Hub station in the film The Last Chase

The Last Chase

The Last Chase is a 1981 science fiction film starring Lee Majors, Burgess Meredith and Chris Makepeace, and directed by Martyn Burke. It was produced by Argosy Films.-Plot:The setting is the USA at an unspecified future time...

(1980) because of its futuristic look. It also appears in the movie, Scanners

Scanners

Scanners is a 1981 science-fiction horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Michael Ironside, and Patrick McGoohan...

(1981).

External links