Jane Loop was an important Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) streetcar turning loop and bus station, prior to the completion of the Bloor Danforth Subway line. [1] The Jane Loop opened on December 31, 1923; [2] it was the western end of Bloor Streetcar line from 1925 to 1968. The loop was at a boundary between two zones in the TTC's zoned fare system. Half a dozen or so buses and trolleybuses terminated at the loop. [3]
In 1915, the Toronto Civic Railways, owned by the City of Toronto, opened its Bloor streetcar line along Bloor Street west from Dundas Street initially to Indian Road then later to Runneymede Road in 1917. The TCR used double-ended streetcars, so there were crossovers at each end of the line. After the Toronto Transportation Commission took over the TCR in 1921, it extended the line further west to Jane Street terminating at a newly constructed Jane Loop. At this time, there were no streetcar tracks on Bloor Street between Lansdowne Avenue and Dundas Street, and the TTC named the line west of Dundas Street as the "Bloor West" line. However, on August 25, 1925, the Bloor streetcar line was extended west from Lansdowne Avenue to Dundas Street and Jane Loop, absorbing the former Bloor West line. In 1966, the Bloor–Danforth subway line replaced the Bloor streetcar line between Woodbine and Keele stations. From then, the Bloor streetcar shuttle started running between Keele station and Jane Loop until replaced by an extension of the subway line in 1968. [4]
By the 1960s the facility had two structures. The facility had two concentric loops with a covered crescent shaped structure that protected passengers from the sun and rain as they boarded, unboarded, or waited for their vehicles. The inner loop was reserved exclusively for streetcars, which entered the inner loop in a counter-clockwise direction, so their doors opened onto the inner edge of the crescent shaped structure. Buses and trolleybuses entered the outer loop in a clockwise direction, so their doors opened onto the outer edge of the crescent shaped structure.
Passengers could ask for paper transfers when they boarded the first vehicle on their route, if they planned to transfer to another vehicle in the same zone.
A small structure in the center of the loops housed a ticket agent and coffee shop. The TTC owned and operated a subsidiary, Gray Coach, which ran intercity buses throughout southern Ontario. Tickets for intercity Gray Couch routes could be purchased there.
In 2017 Graham Jackson published a coming of age novel, entitled The Jane Loop , which revolved around the gateway the loop posed between the sleepy suburbs and Toronto's more sophisticated downtown. [5]
Line 2 Bloor–Danforth is a subway line in the Toronto subway system, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It has 31 stations and is 26.2 kilometres (16.3 mi) in length. It opened on February 26, 1966, and extensions at both ends were completed in 1968 and again in 1980.
Jane is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located just north of Bloor Street West, spanning the block east of Jane Street to Armadale Avenue, with entrances from all three streets. It opened in 1968 as part of the westerly extension from Keele to Islington Station. Wi-Fi service is available at this station.
Dundas West is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located just north of Bloor Street West at the corner of Dundas Street and Edna Avenue. The station is about 200 metres west of Bloor GO Station on the GO Transit Kitchener line and the Union Pearson Express.
Keele is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth of the Toronto subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located just north of Bloor Street West on the east side of Keele Street. The station opened in 1966, and was the western terminus of the line until 1968. Wi-Fi service is available at this station.
Broadview is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The entrance to the building is from Broadview Avenue just north of Danforth Avenue.
Woodbine is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The station is at the southeast corner of Woodbine Avenue and Strathmore Boulevard, just north of Danforth Avenue.
Toronto Civic Railways (TCR) was a streetcar operator created and owned by the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to serve newly annexed areas of the city that the private operator Toronto Railway Company refused to serve. When the Toronto Railway Company's franchise expired in 1921, its services were combined with those of the Toronto Civic Railways, and are now assumed by the new Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC). The first route of the TCR started operation on December 18, 1912.
The history of public transportation in Toronto in Canada dates back to the middle 19th century under many different private companies, organizations and owners, which were all later unified as a single government-run entity during the 1920s.
The 512 St. Clair is an east–west streetcar route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It operates on St. Clair Avenue between St. Clair station on the Line 1 Yonge–University subway and Gunns Road, just west of Keele Street.
504 King is an east–west Toronto streetcar route in Ontario, Canada. It serves King Street in Downtown Toronto as well as Broadview Avenue on the east end and Roncesvalles Avenue on the west end of the line. The route consists of two overlapping branches: 504A between Line 2 Bloor–Danforth's Dundas West station and Distillery Loop, and 504B between Broadview station – also on Line 2 – and Dufferin Gate Loop. The two branches overlap on King Street between Dufferin and Sumach streets, both passing St. Andrew station and King station on subway Line 1 Yonge–University.
506 Carlton is a Toronto streetcar route run by the Toronto Transit Commission in Ontario, Canada. It runs from Main Street station on subway Line 2 Bloor–Danforth along Gerrard, Carlton and College Streets to High Park. Despite the route's name, less than 10 percent of its length actually uses Carlton Street.
The 505 Dundas is a Toronto streetcar route run by the Toronto Transit Commission in Ontario, Canada. The route is roughly U-shaped running mainly along Dundas Street between Dundas West and Broadview stations several blocks south of the Line 2 Bloor–Danforth subway.
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. This west entrance to the CNE can be reached by the Dufferin Street bridges across the Lakeshore West railway corridor and Gardiner Expressway.
The Toronto Railway Company Belt Line was a streetcar route that operated in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The route was created by the Toronto Railway Company in 1891 and taken over by the Toronto Transportation Commission in 1921, which cancelled the route in 1923 as part of its reorganization of streetcar routes.
522 Exhibition West was a streetcar route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission from the 1960s to 1986.
The Toronto Transit Commission operated the Bloor streetcar line along Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue, extending at its longest from Jane Street in the west end of the city to Luttrell Avenue in the east. Both Luttrell and Jane loops at the termini were transfer points between streetcars and suburban bus routes. The line was abandoned in 1966 with the opening of the Bloor-Danforth subway line, except for two stubs of the line abandoned in 1968.
The Harbord streetcar line was an east-west line within the Toronto streetcar system. The route was named after Harbord Street even though only a small portion of the route was along the namesake street. One distinct characteristic of the route was its zip-zag nature, making many 90-degree turns onto the various streets along its route. The route was retired in 1966 when the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) opened the Bloor–Danforth subway line, the city's first east-west subway line.
Toronto-gauge railways are tram and rapid transit lines built to Toronto gauge, a broad gauge of 4 ft 10+7⁄8 in. This is 2+3⁄8 in (60 mm) wider than standard gauge of 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in which is by far the most common track gauge in Canada. The gauge is unique to the Greater Toronto Area and is currently used on the Toronto streetcar system and the Toronto subway, both operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. As well, the Halton County Radial Railway, a transport museum, uses the Toronto gauge so its rail line can accommodate its collection of Toronto streetcars and subway trains. Several now-defunct interurban rail systems also once used this gauge.
The St. Clair Carhouse was a streetcar facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was located south of St. Clair Avenue on a parcel of land bounded by Wychwood Avenue on the east, Benson Avenue on its north side and Christie Street on the west side. It was opened by the Toronto Civic Railways in 1913, taken over by the Toronto Transportation Commission in 1921 and closed by its successor, the Toronto Transit Commission, in 1998. The carhouse was subsequently transformed into a community centre called the Wychwood Barns.
Starting out at Luttrell Loop at the eastern city limits of Toronto's Danforth Avenue, the Bloor Streetcar picked up passengers deposited by suburban buses stopping at the terminal. There, the car trundled west along Danforth Avenue, across the Prince Edward Viaduct and along Bloor Street to the western city limits at Jane Street. There, cars turned at Jane Loop, another terminal where passengers from west suburban buses disembarked to transfer for the journey east.
Over the years this route was extended westerly, first to Runnymede Road, then, two years after the TTC was formed, the new JANE loop that opened on the last day of 1923.
Until the construction of Toronto's second subway line in the late 1960s, the western terminus of the Bloor streetcar at Jane Street marked a psychological border. To the east, the streetcar, the bright lights and hubbub of downtown. To the west, the bus through sleepy suburbs, an escape from the city's perceived seaminess.
Media related to Jane Loop at Wikimedia Commons 43°38′57″N79°29′03″W / 43.64917°N 79.48417°W
