It began with a streetcar subway line proposal by the Department of Railways and Bridges of the City of Toronto Engineers in 1911, but it was not until the 1940s that the line re-emerged.
The 1944 TTC Rapid Transit Proposals for a Queen Street route and a referendum on January 1, 1946, brought the Queen subway line back to life. The line called for an open-cut with right of way and built to the north of the existing Queen streetcar line. The Yonge line was built first and subsequently, it was decided to build an east-west subway line along Bloor-Danforth instead of Queen due to changes in traffic and population patterns. The existing Queen Street streetcar line remains one of the longest and most heavily used, running double-length ALRV streetcars at six-minute intervals. However, the volume of riders did not justify a subway line in the 1960s.
Stations
A rough platform, partial station is all that remains of a station and the proposed Queen subway line with access from a door from the existing Queen station. Stations on the proposed Queen line:
Trinity Park
Bathurst
Spadina
Grange
York
City Hall
Yonge
Church
Sherbourne
Parliament
Don
Broadview
Logan
Proposed routes
Later changes to the line would have extended the subway to the Humber Loop in the west and Eglinton-Don Mills to the north-east end:
1960 - subway from Sunnyside to Greenwood, then from Greenwood to O'Connor Drive and connect with the Bloor-Danforth subway at either Greenwood or Donlands stations
1964 - an underground streetcar line from Greenwood to McCaul to replace the existing surface route.
1964 - a route was to have the underground section from Jarvis to Spadina. The route re-surfaces between Spadina to Humber Loop and from Jarvis to either Broadview or Pape.
1968 - Queen from Humber to Victoria Park
1968 - Greenwood and O'Connor to Queen; Queen from Dufferin; Dufferin north to Weston rail corridor to Islington
1968 - Greenwood and O'Connor to Queen; Queen from Dufferin; Dufferin north to Weston rail corridor to Eglinton; Eglinton to Martin Grove
1968 - Greenwood and Danforth to Queen; Queen from Dufferin; Dufferin north to Weston rail corridor and Eglinton
1972 - GO-Urban route using railway corridors - from Eglinton and Kennedy to Don Valley; Don Valley to Union; Union to Dundas West
2016 - Yonge/City hall along Queen to Carlaw, then North to Pape Station, with potential for future northward extension
2019 - Exhibition to Queen; Queen from Lakeshore rail corridor; Lakeshore rail corridor to Pape; Pape to Overlea; Overlea to Don Mills; Don Mills north to Science Centre Station
The Queen route was not removed from plans until 1975, but a portion of Lower Queen station now contains an elevator shaft due to elevator construction in Queen station in the 1990s.
