Updated April 24, 2025 at 11:30 pm: TTC responses to my questions have been added at the end of the article. One questions remains outstanding.
Back in 2018, the City of Toronto bought the lands southwest of Kipling Station formerly known as the CP’s Obico Yard. This land was to be used for a new Maintenance and Storage Facility for Line 2 trains in anticipation of:
- Space at Greenwood being reallocated to serve the Downtown Relief Line,
- Greenwood’s layout being inappropriate for permanently coupled six-car trains,
- The planned increase in the Line 2 fleet to accommodate both extension and increased service.
The existing Line 2 fleet comprised 372 T-1 subway cars dating from 1995-2001, and they will reach the end of their 30-year design life starting this year. The cars are in married pairs that can be easily uncoupled from their trains. Greenwood’s layout is based on short maintenance bays, not on six-car trains. (When Greenwood was designed, operation of four-car trains was common.) Back in 2018, the expected new trains for Line 2 would be similar to the TRs on Line 1 running in permanent six-car sets.
The original plan was to buy 62 New Subway Trains (NSTs) to replace the T-1 fleet. This would give enough trains to operate Line 2 through to Scarborough, albeit likely with a short turn during peak periods at Kennedy Station. The NST order has been scaled back to 55 trains (the number required for the existing Kennedy-Kipling line) with extras to be purchased as part of the Scarborough and Yonge North subway projects.
The NST design has changed to retain the style of the 6-car TRs with open gangways, but the cars will come in married pairs. Each end of the train will have a pair with one cab plus hostler controls on the “blind” end of the pair. The middle pair will have hostler controls at both ends. This will allow the 6-car sets to be broken up for movement of individual pairs in yards and shops. (See: TTC Requests Proposals for New Line 2 Trains and Signalling)
The Ontario Line replaced the Relief Line, and will have its own fleet and MSF at Thorncliffe Park eliminating Greenwood as its home base.
These factors led to a rethink of Greenwood Shops and the need for a new yard west of Kipling Station.
In 2022, the City bought property east of the Western Yard lands at 780 Kipling as a site for their next bus garage, although current plans will not require it immediately. The two properties are adjacent, but are separated by the link between the Metrolinx Lakeshore West corridor to the CPKC Milton line at Kipling Station.
TTC proposes to use this site not just for a garage, but to consolidate other operations that are now in leased space around the city.
The map below shows the two sites. The Milton corridor is at the upper left, and Kipling Station is out of frame at the upper right.
There are two RFPs (Requests for Proposals) on the street for consulting services:
- The Master Plan for the Kipling Industrial Lands
- Consultant services for design of the proposed Western Yard
The Master Plan work entails looking at the various possible uses for the site and how they would be accommodated.
The Western Yard RFP includes two documents from the Line 2 Capacity Enhancement Program as reference information. Both were prepared by HDR and Gannett Fleming.
- Greenwood Yard Workflow and Processes Analysis, Final Report, June 13, 2023
- Western Yard Concept of Operations & Maintenance Report, Draft, January 24, 2025
The Need For Another Yard
Although it may seem like the distant past, only six years ago the subway system was bulging with passengers, and planning focused on how to accommodate more riders. This led to proposals including new trains, automatic train control and a general increase in capacity of both Lines 1 and 2. The services now operating on Lines 1 and 2 are not yet back to pre-covid levels.
| Line 1 Time Period | Trains (Headway) January 2020 | Trains (Headway) April 2025 | Capacity Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| AM Peak | 65 (2’21”) | 56 (2’52”) | -22% |
| M-F Midday | 42 (3’49”) | 35 (4’34”) | -20% |
| PM Peak | 65 (2’36”) | 54 (2’59”) | -15% |
| M-F Early Eve | 46 (3’30”) | 38 (4’11”) | -20% |
| M-F Late Eve | 32 (5′) | 26 (6′) | -20% |
| Sat Afternoon | 42 (3’41”) | 34 (4’34”) | -24% |
| Sat Early Eve | 30 (5′) | 30 (5′) | Nil |
| Sun Afternoon | 35 (4’20”) | 34 (4’34”) | -5% |
| Sun Early Eve | 30 (5′) | 25 (6′) | -20% |
| Line 2 Time Period | Trains (Headway) January 2020 | Trains (Headway) April 2025 | Capacity Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| AM Peak | 46 (2’21”) | 42 (2’38”) | -12% |
| M-F Midday | 33 (3’20”) | 30 (4’04”) | -22% |
| PM Peak | 43 (2’31”) | 34 (3’23”) | -34% |
| M-F Early Eve | 29 (3’42”) | 25 (4’52”) | -32% |
| M-F Late Eve | 20 (4’52”) | 19 (5’23”) | -11% |
| Sat Afternoon | 26 (4’15”) | 26 (4’15”) | Nil |
| Sat Early Eve | 19 (5’30”) | 19 (5’30”) | Nil |
| Sun Afternoon | 22 (4’52”) | 22 (4’52”) | Nil |
| Sun Early Eve | 20 (4’52”) | 19 (5’30”) | -13% |
TTC expects to be back to the pre-covid peak service in 2030. Line 2 will require 46 trains plus 7 spares (at TTC’s minimum of 15%) for a total of 53, or 9 spares (at 20%) for a total of 55. Spares include both trains ready for deployment as replacements or extra service (ideally 4), as well as those in maintenance programs.
Service more frequent than 140 seconds will not be possible on Line 2 until it fully converts to automatic train control in the early 2030s. The Scarborough extension’s opening date is currently claimed to be 2030, although whether like so many other projects it will come in late is unknown. Extra trains for that extension, and for ATC conversion will be needed starting in 2030.
Thus far, this article has covered basics and readers might ask about the title’s question – will a western yard ever be built?
The Western Yard design RFP incorporates the Greenwood Yard study which speaks of construction of a new yard originally planned for 2034, but now pushed to 2038 or beyond by the TTC. No reason for this is given. No estimate of construction time, and hence availability of the new facility, is given either.
Can Greenwood handle the transitional state between its current role and various steps on the way to complete delivery of the new trains, not to mention a new yard?
Back in 2018, the transition looked relatively straightforward with a planned new yard to provide capacity. Now this is constrained by several factors even allowing for the DRL/OL fleet shift out of Greenwood. There is no provision in the TTC’s 10 Year Capital Plan for construction of a western yard, only for preliminary work such as design.
The issues go beyond space for train storage. They include capacity for ongoing servicing and maintenance, major overhauls, spare parts storage and workforce scheduling. For many years, the TTC had a surplus of space and maintenance capacity, but as the number of active trains grows concurrently with delivery of new trainsets, much more will be expected from staff and facilities.
This situation arose in part because TTC management opted to defer the new yard with no acknowledgement of its critical role as the system grows. Simultaneously, contracts for new trains and ATC conversion also were pushed out into the future. This delayed capital expense, helped to keep taxes down, and left headroom for other projects.
All of this bumps into assumed go-live dates for the Scarborough extension, automatic train control and headways below 140 seconds. The pandemic pushed many dates for transit’s growth into the future thanks to lost riding. However, if events drive demand up faster than the TTC’s projections, they will not be able to handle the pressure. Considering that the City of Toronto often cites transit growth as an essential part of fighting traffic congestion, the City and TTC plans could be out of whack.
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Steve Munro 