Toronto Transit Commission Bay Station

	Westbound to Kipling	Bay	Eastbound to Kennedy
	Next Station: St. George		Next Station: Bloor-Yonge

Bay
Rapid Transit	Line 2 Bloor-Danforth
Surface Routes	6, 300
Presto	Yes
Opening Date	February 26, 1966
Platform	Centre
Ridership (2018)	32,690

Bay Station is a rapid transit station operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 1240 Bay Street north of the intersection of Bay Street and Bloor Street West. This station serves the Yorkville district.

History

Bay Station was built and opened with the original segment of the Bloor-Danforth subway between Keele and Woodbine Stations on February 26, 1966.

Lower Bay Station

Subway interlining in 1966.

Prior to the opening of the Spadina Subway extension when the Bloor-Danforth subway was built in 1966, the Toronto Transit Commission had planned to interline service between the Bloor-Danforth and Yonge-University subways; therefore, the TTC built an Upper and Lower Bay Station. Bloor-Danforth trains would use Upper Bay Station and travel between Keele and Woodbine Stations; westbound Yonge-University-Danforth trains from Woodbine Station would use Lower Bay Station then travel south to Union Station and north to Eglinton Station; and eastbound Yonge-University-Bloor trains from Keele Station would transfer to the Yonge-University tracks after St. George Station and travel south to Union Station and north to Eglinton Station.

Unfortunately, there was great difficulty in managing the complex interlined service and it also inconvenienced riders that wanted to travel east and west along the Bloor-Danforth line. In addition, since service on both lines were interlined, if a subway train had broken down on the Bloor-Danforth line, it would hold up the entire subway system. As a result, this short-lived service arrangement was abandoned after only six months of operation and Lower Bay Station fell into disuse. To this date, Lower Bay Station can still be seen from the front window of a westbound Bloor-Danforth subway at Yonge Station, but it is not used for revenue service nor is it open to the public. A permanent wall with a locked door blocks the former stairway that linked Upper and Lower Bay Stations. Currently, Lower Bay Station is primarily used for shooting movies or commercials with subway scenes, testing station improvement implementations, and storing equipment. Also, TTC work cars transferring from the the Bloor-Danforth tracks to the Yonge-University tracks pass by the station.

After more than 40 years of being out of the public eye, Lower Bay Station was brought into use during the weekends of February and March 2007. Tunnel repair work had to be done between St. George and Bay Stations and it caused Bloor-Danforth trains to be diverted via Lower Bay Station to Museum Station where passengers transferred between the western and eastern branches of the line. Lower Bay Station is also open to the public during Doors Open Toronto and Nuit Blanche events.

Easier Access Project

Bay Station was part of TTC's Easier Access Program. One new elevator was to be constructed between the existing underground concourse and the subway centre platform. In conjunction with the existing elevator connecting street level at the Cumberland Terrace entrance and the concourse, this would create an accessible and barrier-free path from street level to the subway platforms. Construction on the elevator began in mid-August 2019 with completion scheduled for the end of 2020.

On December 30, 2020, the elevator was opened to the public and Bay Station was declared the TTC's 52nd accessible station. In addition to the new elevators, improvements such as new automatic sliding doors, improved signage, CCTV security cameras, and a new sloped floor at the Cumberland Terrace entrance were completed. Public art is planned to be incorporated into the station with the pre-qualification process expected to commence in 2021.

Station description

The station's architecture is comprised of three levels: street entrance level, an underground concourse level, and platform level. Bay Station has five entrances; four entrances lead to the underground concourse level and one is an automatic entrance that leads directly to platform level.

Station entrances exist at:

• West side of Bay Street north of Bloor Street West. Connects to the southbound 6 Bay bus
• East side of Bay Street north of Bloor Street West (Cumberland Terrace). Connects to the northbound 6 Bay bus
• 80 Bloor Street West lower level: north side of Bloor Street west of Bay Street
• East side of Bellair Street between Bloor Street West and Cumberland Street
• South side of Cumberland Street between Bellair Street and Avenue Road (automatic entrance)

The only barrier-free path between street level and the subway platforms is from the Cumberland Terrace entrance on the east side of Bay Street.

The station has no bus terminal so connection to the 6 Bay buses can be made at the stops outside the exits on the west and east sides of Bay Street. Connection to the 300 Bloor-Danforth Night buses can be made at the intersection of Bay Street and Bloor Street West.

Routes

Rapid Transit

• Line 2 Bloor-Danforth

Surface Transit

• 6 Bay
• 300A,B Bloor-Danforth (Night Bus)

Schedule

Bay Station
Bloor-Danforth	Monday to Friday	Saturday	Sunday
First Train eastbound	6:03am	6:11am	8:25am
Last Train eastbound	1:53am	1:53am	1:53am
First Train westbound	5:56am	6:01am	8:10am
Last Train westbound	1:53am	1:53am	1:53am