Line 1 Yonge–University

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Line 1 Yonge–University is Toronto’s main subway line. It is run by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and serves Toronto and parts of Vaughan, Ontario. The line has 38 stations and runs about 38.4 km, making it the longest TTC line. It forms a rough “U” shape, with a southern hub at Union Station in downtown Toronto and two northern termini: Finch in North York and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre in Vaughan. The line connects with Line 2 Bloor–Danforth and Line 4 Sheppard at key points along its route.

Ridership on Line 1 is very high. In the 12 months ending August 2024, it averaged about 625,000 riders per weekday.

History in brief
- Opened March 30, 1954, as Canada’s first underground passenger rail line, originally called the Yonge subway.
- Extended to St. George in 1963, then northward in stages to Finch by 1974.
- The Spadina extension to Wilson opened in 1978, and the line reached Downsview (now Sheppard West) in 1996.
- The western extension to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre opened in 2017 as part of the Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE).
- In 2013–2014, the line was officially named Line 1 Yonge–University (the Spadina portion became part of Line 1).

Trains, signaling and operations
- Line 1 uses Toronto Rocket trains, which run in fixed six-car sets.
- The TTC moved to one-person train operation (a driver only) in 2021–2022.
- The line has been upgraded with Automatic Train Control (ATC/CBTC) signaling. ATC work rolled out from 2017 and was completed across the line by 2022, improving capacity and reliability.
- To ease crowding at busy stations, the TTC can use “gap trains” (empty trains stored on pocket tracks) as needed.

Service patterns
- Daytime headways are typically 2–3 minutes during peak periods and 4–5 minutes off-peak.
- Overnight service on the Yonge segment is provided by the 320 Yonge Blue Night route; the University segment does not have overnight service.

Accessibility and future growth
- The TTC has been upgrading stations to be accessible, with the goal of all Line 1 stations meeting accessibility standards by 2025.
- A major future project is the Yonge North Extension (YNSE), which would extend the line from Finch to Richmond Hill with five new stations (three underground, two at surface). Construction work began in the 2020s, with tunneling contract awards in 2025. The extension is expected to reduce car and bus traffic, serve thousands of daily riders, and create tens of thousands of jobs by the 2030s.