Dufferin Gate Loop

Last updated
Dufferin Gate Loop
Dufferin Loop station at night.jpg
General information
Location Dufferin Street
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates 43°38′04″N79°25′33″W / 43.63444°N 79.42583°W / 43.63444; -79.42583
Owned by Toronto Transit Commission
Line(s) BSicon BUS1.svg  29  929  BSicon CLRV.svg   504  
Tracks1
Construction
Structure typeterminal building with dispatcher's tower; staff facility rebuilt at west entrance in 1996
History
Opened1898;125 years ago (1898)
Rebuilt1960-1961, 2013, 2016 (poles replacement)
Services
Preceding station TTC.svg Toronto Transit Commission Following station
Terminus 504B King St. Andrew
towards Broadview

Dufferin Gate Loop, also known as Dufferin Loop, is a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) bus station and turning loop for streetcars near the southern end of Dufferin Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. During the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), the loop becomes a primary access point for visitors entering Exhibition Place via the Dufferin Gates. [1] This west entrance to the CNE can be reached by the Dufferin Street bridges across the Lakeshore West railway corridor and Gardiner Expressway.

Contents

Description

Southbound streetcars on Dufferin Street run counter-clockwise through the loop; west on Springhurst Avenue; south on Fort Rouille Street; enter the station eastbound; and exit back onto Dufferin Street northbound. Buses on layover park at the west end of the station, south of the tracks. At the corner of Dufferin Street and Springhurst Avenue, there is also a north-to-west track that allows loop-the-loop (continuous loop) movements. [2]

The structure has a small semi-enclosed waiting area, gates and office space with a dispatcher tower. To process the large number of people at the time of the CNE, the loading platform can be operated as a fare-paid area and the ticket booths, turnstiles and dispatcher control tower come into use, allowing passengers to board streetcars and buses by any door.

There are streetcar tracks on Dufferin Street from Queen Street West, crossing King Street West, ending at Dufferin Gate Loop. With the special work at Queen and King Streets, Dufferin Gate Loop can turn westbound streetcars on Queen Street and both east- and westbound streetcars on King Street. [2]

The current surface routes using Dufferin Gate Loop are:

History

Old dispatch tower c. 1920 Dufferin Loop s0071 it11021.jpg
Old dispatch tower c. 1920

In 1898, the Toronto Railway Company (TRC) built Dufferin Gate Loop to replace a crossover in Dufferin Street at Springhurst Avenue (then known as Huxley). At the time that the Toronto Transportation Commission acquired the TRC in 1921, the loop had the same configuration as the present-day loop except for a short tail track on Springhurst Avenue west of Fort Rouille Street. [6] [7]

The pedestrian entrance to the loop was originally through a wood-frame structure that was rebuilt and renovated after 1960. [8] The most recent renewal of the streetcar tracks was in 2013. [9]

29 Dufferin and 193 Exhibition Rocket buses northbound Dufferin Gate Loop TTC 9009 and 8166 departing.JPG
29 Dufferin and 193 Exhibition Rocket buses northbound

Dufferin Gate Loop used to be the terminus of the seasonal 522 Exhibition West streetcar which operated during the CNE from Dundas West station via Roncesvalles Avenue, King Street and Dufferin Street. [6] This service was subsequently replaced by the 193 Exhibition Rocket bus, a non-stop express bus running from Dundas West station along Dundas Street West and south on Dufferin Street. During the CNE in 2018, the TTC eliminated route 193 as it was considered redundant when Dufferin Station became accessible with elevators; the TTC then recommended that riders use bus route 29 Dufferin instead. [10] In October 2018, a new bus route, 929 Dufferin Express, supplemented route 29 but with fewer stops. [4]

On June 19, 2016, the TTC started service on a new streetcar route, the 514 Cherry, which ran from the Dufferin Gate Loop along King Street to Sumach Street, where it would turn south to its eastern terminus, Distillery Loop. Service began with a few low-floor Flexity vehicles in use. [11] [12] Both termini of the new route are quite near new residential neighbourhoods constructed on real estate that had previously been zoned for light industry. TTC riders in Liberty Village, near the Dufferin Loop, had experienced years of frustration because, during rush hour, they would regularly find that the vehicles they wanted to board were already too full, and they could not get on board. The nearby loops would ensure that riders from Liberty Village, in the west, or from the Canary District and the Distillery District in the east, could count on being able to board empty vehicles.

On October 7, 2018, the 514 Cherry was discontinued as part of the Toronto King Street Pilot Project, and the 504 King streetcar was split into two branches: the 504A Dundas West Station to Distillery Loop and the 504B Broadview Station to Dufferin Gate; as a result, the loop is today served by 504B streetcars. [13]

Future

In April 2019, as the first phase of the Waterfront West LRT project, the TTC proposed a westward connection through Exhibition Place from Exhibition Loop to Dufferin Street and then north to connect with Dufferin Gate Loop and the existing tracks to King Street. The loop would be modified to turn streetcars coming in both directions and a through siding would be added on the south side. [14] The City approved this work for procurement and construction. [15]

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References

  1. ↑ "CNE / Getting Here / Public Transit / TTC". Canadian National Exhibition. Archived from the original on 2014-08-20. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Forman, Roman (March 2011). "Streetcar Track Map March 2011". Transit Toronto. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  3. ↑ "TTC description of 29 Dufferin". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The 29 Dufferin bus route operates between Wilson Station on Line 1 Yonge-University-Spadina and Exhibition Place, generally in a north-south direction. It also serves Dufferin Station on Line 2 Bloor-Danforth.
  4. 1 2 "929 Dufferin Express". Toronto Transit Commission . Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  5. ↑ "504 King". Toronto Transit Commission . Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  6. 1 2 James Bow. "A History of Transit Service to Exhibition Place". Transit Toronto. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  7. ↑ Upper Canada Railway Society (June 1921). "Toronto streetcar trackage (Toronto Railway Company and Toronto Civic Railway) on the eve of the TTC takeover - June 1921" (PDF). Transit Toronto. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  8. ↑ "A History of Transit Service to Exhibition Place". Transit Toronto. A TTC PCC streetcar waits at Dufferin loop before the loop's rebuilding, in this August 1960 shot. The photographer is unknown and the image is from the Pete Coulman collection.
  9. ↑ Robert Mackenzie (April 14, 2013). "TTC repairs tracks in Dufferin Gate Loop". Transit Toronto. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The TTC is upgrading the streetcar tracks in Dufferin Gate Loop, just north of Exhibition Place.
  10. ↑ "TTC description of 193 Exhibition Rocket". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The 193 Exhibition Rocket bus route operates between Dundas West Station on the Bloor-Danforth Subway and the Dufferin Gates (West Entrance) of Exhibition Place
  11. ↑ "Relief could be coming to King streetcar in June". CBC News. 2016-03-16. Retrieved 2016-03-16. A report made public Wednesday recommends that the new route begin service on June 19. It would operate between the Distillery Loop in the east and the Dufferin Gates loop in the west via Cherry, King and Dufferin streets.
  12. ↑ "TTC 514 Cherry – New service". ttc.ca. Archived from the original on June 19, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  13. ↑ "The current section is Service Advisories 504 King and 514 Cherry route changes". Toronto Transit Commission. October 7, 2018. Archived from the original on September 25, 2018. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  14. ↑ Toronto Transit Commission, Engineering Department (April 10, 2019). "Waterfront Transit Streetcar Connection: Exhibition Loop – Dufferin Gates Loop" (PDF). City of Toronto government . Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Toronto's Transit Expansion Program - Update and Next Steps" (PDF). City of Toronto government. April 3, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2019.

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