Danforth Division was one of Toronto Transit Commission's surface divisions that operated streetcar and bus lines. It was located at 1627 Danforth Avenue, at the southeast corner of Danforth & Coxwell Avenues. The division opened in 1921 as a streetcar facility and converted to a bus garage in 1967. After 87 years, Danforth was decommissioned as a surface division on March 30, 2002.
The Toronto Civic Railways opened the Danforth Carhouse as an operating streetcar carhouse in September, 1915. The Civic's DANFORTH and GERRARD routes were operated from this facility.
This carhouse was taken over by the Toronto Transportation Commission on September 1, 1921. Broadview, the first streetcar line to be operated by Peter Witt cars, was hosted by this facility when the Witts commenced revenue service on October 2, 1921.
Danforth Carhouse ceased operating streetcars on February 26th, 1966, with the opening of the Bloor-Danforth subway. Streetcar operations were transfered to Russell Carhouse.
Sherbourne Garage operated buses for Danforth Division while the carhouse was being converted to a bus garage. The garage reopened on April 23, 1967. The 60,000 (5,500 m2) facility accommodated 134 buses. The depot included a wash rack, a diesel fueling station, six 40-foot hoists and eight inspection pit stations. A enlarged storage area was added after 1988.
As Danforth has completely ran out of space for expansion, the areas surrounding the property had been built up years ago along with the portions of the property had even been leased to the Toronto Public Library, or even sold to private owners. After the opening of the New Eglinton Garage on Comstock Road in Scarborough, Danforth Garage closed as an operating division on March 30, 2002.
Today, the Danforth Division remains the name for the operations for Line 2 Bloor-Danforth (formerly Route 601). Danforth also operated Line 3 Scarborough (formerly Route 603) until its closure in 2023. The building continues to be used as offices for station collectors and subway operators. A portion of the garage is used to store electrical and communications equipment while another portion has been leased to Habitat for Humanity. A mixed-use development and cultural hub is planned by the City for the former garage site as part of the CreateTO initiative along with the new Toronto Police 55 Division.[1]
