Wilson station (Toronto)

Wilson
Wilson
	Wilson station platform
General information
Location	570 Wilson Avenue; Toronto, Ontario; Canada
Coordinates	43°44′03″N 79°27′00″W / 43.73417°N 79.45000°W
Platforms	Centre platform
Tracks	2
Connections	TTC buses 29 Dufferin; 96 Wilson; 104 Faywood; 118 Thistle Down; 119 Torbarrie; 120 Calvington; 128 Stanley Greene; 160 Bathurst North; 165 Weston Rd North; 184 Ancaster Park; 329 Dufferin; 396 Wilson; 929 Dufferin Express; 996 Wilson Express;
Construction
Structure type	At grade
Parking	953 spaces
Accessible	Yes
Architect	TTC in-house architects
Other information
Website	Official station page
History
Opened	28 January 1978; 46 years ago
Rebuilt	2018
Passengers
2022	25,511
Rank	29 of 70
Services
Location
Location

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.^[3] The station is accessible, has two parking lots, bike parking and connects to many bus routes.^[4]

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 Willson'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]

Concurrent with the opening of the Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) on 17 December 2017, this station became one of the first eight stations to discontinue sales of legacy TTC fare media (tokens and tickets), previously available at a fare collector booth. Presto vending machines were available to sell Presto cards and to load funds onto them.^[7] On 3 May 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 18 December 2020.^[10]

By the late 1990s, over 2,000 commuter parking spaces were available. Two lots were declared surplus in 2013 and have been redeveloped.^[11] As of 2022^[update], 953 parking spaces remain at Wilson, however the city government reached an agreement with developer Tridel in October 2021 to build 1,484 new homes, a childcare centre and a new park on the main parking lot.^[12] Following the opening of the subway extension into York Region in 2017, new commuter parking lots are available farther north at stations like Highway 407 and Pioneer Village.

Architecture and art

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.^[13]

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.^[14] 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.

Wilson station is home to multiple art displays. A wall sculpture by Ted Bieler entitled Canyons^[15] is located at the mezzanine level. In late 2019, Outside the Lines was installed in multiple parts of the station.^[16] The display can be found in various locations, such as the subway platform level, walkway to bus bays, and on the second floor of the bus bays.

In October 2021, a mural named Daily Migration was unveiled.^[16] The mural is located on a wall of an entrance south of the station, west of Allen Road.

Subway infrastructure in the vicinity

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, used to reverse trains when the station was a terminus, and still frequently used for short turning.

Nearby landmarks

Nearby landmarks include a Costco store and the southern end of Downsview Park. Across Highway 401 is Yorkdale Shopping Centre. 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

Donut shop
Lottery booth
Gateway Newstands

Surface connections

Wilson station surface transit connections (upper level)
Bay number	Route	Name	Additional information
1	29A	Dufferin	Southbound to Exhibition Place (Dufferin Gate)
	29C	Dufferin	Southbound to Exhibition Place (Princes' Gates)
	929	Dufferin Express	Southbound to Exhibition Place (Dufferin Gate)
2	96A	Wilson	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
3	996	Wilson Express	Westbound to Humber College (Weekday service)
4	165	Weston Rd North	Westbound to Steeles Avenue West
5	119	Torbarrie	Westbound to Torbarrie Road and Clayson Road
6	118	Thistle Down	Westbound to Thistle Down Boulevard via Tandridge Crescent
7	128	Stanley Greene	Westbound to Stanley Greene Boulevard (Rush hour service)
8	120	Calvington	Westbound to Sheppard Avenue West and Jane Street
8	184	Ancaster Park	Westbound to De Havilland
N/A	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
N/A	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

Wilson station surface transit connections (lower level)
Bay number	Route	Name	Additional information
1	165	Weston Rd North	Eastbound to York Mills station
2	96A/B/D	Wilson	Eastbound to York Mills station
3	996	Wilson Express	Eastbound to Scarborough Centre station (Weekday service)
4	104	Faywood	Northbound to Sheppard West station via Wilson Heights Boulevard
5	Wheel-Trans
6	160	Bathurst North	Northbound to Centre Street

During the early morning, the following routes from Sheppard West station also serve Wilson station.


Route	Name	Additional information
105A	Dufferin North	To Steeles
107A/B	York University Heights	To Steeles via Keele or Alness^[17]
108C	Driftwood	To Pioneer Village station via Arleta^[18]

References

^ "Architectural Index for Ontario". Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
^ "Subway ridership, 2022" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved 4 May 2024. 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.
^ "There's now free WiFi at over 40 TTC subway stations". blogTO. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
^ "Wilson Station". www.ttc.ca. Archived from the original on 16 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
^ Bow, James. "Wilson Station". Transit Toronto. Archived from the original on 10 October 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
^ ^a ^b Bow, James. "Downsview Station". Transit Toronto. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
^ "New Customer Service Agents at TTC stations". Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
^ "TTC extends sales of Presto Tickets to 10 stations". Toronto Transit Commission. 6 May 2019. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
^ "Wilson Station – elevator construction". TTC. Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
^ "Wilson Station – elevator construction". TTC. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
^ "December 18 2013 Board Commuter Parking Lot Strategy". www.ttc.ca. 18 December 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
^ "City of Toronto and CreateTO announce development partners for two Phase One Housing Now sites to build much needed affordable and market rental housing". City of Toronto. 19 October 2021. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
^ Robert Moffatt (28 October 2010). "Art and architecture on the Spadina subway". Toronto Modern. Archived from the original on 30 July 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
^ "Parking". Wilson Station. Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
^ "Canyons". Ted Bieler. Dittwald Toronto Sculpture. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Station Fixation: Wilson". 18 April 2022. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
^ "107 York University Heights - Transit Toronto - Surface Route Histories". transittoronto.ca. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
^ "108 Driftwood - Transit Toronto - Surface Route Histories". transittoronto.ca. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.