Tip: Remember to tap your PRESTO card at the station before you start your trip and after when you…read moreget to the station that is your final destination. Last Friday, I decided to take the GO train from Pickering GO station to Exhibition GO station for the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), which is also affectionally called The Ex. I live in Markham. If I were to take the TTC, my commute would be at least 1.5 hours with four transfers to get to The Ex. I thought that a direct GO train ride would be better and it was. It took an hour. What can be confusing is how Lakeshore East and Lakeshore West routes work for a major event like The Ex. I found that what the GO Transit site was saying versus what was actually happening on this line were different. When The Ex is happening, Lakeshore West runs from Durham College Oshawa GO to Union station. The train stops for a bit, as Union station is a hub, and then continues west to Exhibition GO. It's out of convenience for tourists and locals alike for such an event, which I appreciate! When there isn't an event like FIFA or The Ex, if you are taking Lakeshore West, it stops at Union station and then goes back east, becoming Lakeshore East. If you want to continue going west, you need to transfer to a different train platform and take Lakeshore West that continues westbound. A bit weird. It is what it is. Similarly, if you are taking Lakeshore West eastbound and there isn't an event like The Ex happening, it stops at Union station. You need to transfer to get the Lakeshore East train to get you eastbound. My experience was that I took the Lakeshore West train from Pickering GO station to Exhibition GO station. The conductor made an announcement before we stopped at Union station, saying that this train would briefly stop at Union before continuing westbound, stopping at all stops, including Exhibition GO. It was the clarity that I was seeking, although I knew that this train would continue westbound. I made the mistake of looking at the GO train schedule. It told me to transfer at Union station, which is the regular schedule without The Ex. The ride to Exhibition GO was pleasant. The train was delayed by five minutes right off the bat. It was minor and we got to Exhibition GO five five minutes later than usual as a result. Everyone left the train and headed down to the main CNE exit in an orderly, civil fashion. It was nice to see. This station has a lot of stairs and three elevators. Most folks took the former. Families with strollers or folks in wheelchairs did the latter. I was trying to figure out where to tap my PRESTO card to conclude my trip. GO Transit did a good job having a ton of PRESTO machines when you exit the station and head directly to the entrance to The Ex. I tapped and felt accomplished that I completed my trip. Heading home, I entered Exhibition GO station and immediately tapped my PRESTO card. I looked at the screen and needed platform 4, which was in front of me. I took the Lakeshore East train from platform 4. Passengers left the train first. We then boarded in a civilized manner once again. My ride back to Pickering was smooth. This train did stop briefly at Union station. The conductor announced it and did a countdown four minutes before the train would continue eastbound. I hadn't taken any GO train since I last worked at Union station many moons ago. It was nice to hear that countdown again. Exhibition GO station has four tracks: - Tracks 1 and 2 are on the north side of the station. It handles westbound traffic to Mississauga, Oakville, and Hamilton. - Track 3 is an inner bypass track. - Track 4 is the south platform handling eastbound traffic to Union station (normal) and beyond if there's a major event happening, like The Ex. Other than the weird confusion between the regular schedule on GO Transit's online site versus what I had experienced heading to this station, I had a wonderful experience taking the train to and from Exhibition GO. I'd do it again when I want to go to The Ex. (378)

A work in progress but I eagerly anticipate the completion of the new station on the GO & Ontario…read moreline.

There is nothing special about this subway station. It is very dated. The subway platform is one…read morelevel above street level. There is a Gateway To Go to buy snacks at the street level. There are only a few bus routes connected to the station which has only one bench that can seat 3 people. There are two automatic doors at the bus stop that open to create a cross draft so it is extremely cold in winter and hot in summer.

Nothing overly special or wrong about this station. Easier…read moreto navigate and less people than Dundas W. Design wise, pretty drab. Sure beats having this line on Bloor than no line, so 4 stars! TTC is overwhelmed and under servicing the people; need more lines, sooner than later.. Enough discussions about what we 'could' build, build it already!

hmmmm nothing stands out at this station…read morevery similar to many others on line 2 area is ok, something different for west enders to see and walk around...

I grew up in the Beaches. Main Street subway station is near and dear to my heart, as it was also…read morethe closest station that I used often. Did you know that it's the only TTC subway station with the type of street in its official name? Kennedy Road station? Nope. Bay Street station? Nooo. Main Street is special. Street was added to avoid calling it Main station, as in the main (primary) station in Toronto. It's funny. I grew up calling it Main station. This subway station is considered a hub, meaning that it has at least two different modes of transportation. It has always had the 506 Carlton streetcar. It also has a number of bus routes. My mom and I took the 506 streetcar to get to the Chinatown at Broadview and Gerrard Street East. It was cool doing grocery shopping on a Sunday, which was an exception back in the day. Most stores were closed. I also went to Chinese school in the neighbourhood and took Chinese classes in the summer on Leslie Street, just south of Gerrard. I have a lot of memories commuting on this route. Main 64 was the bus that I took the most to get me down to Queen Street East. I'd then walk a few blocks to get home. This route used to be split into two: southbound to Queen and northbound to Eastdale. I can still hear my mom reminding me, "Look carefully and make sure you're taking the bus southbound!" Of course, on the rare occasion that we hopped on the wrong bus, you simply continued sitting there until the bus returned you to the station. It would then go southbound. The downside is taking this bus on Sundays. It was super slow and I imagine that things haven't changed. I passed by this station on a Sunday and did not see the Main 64 bus. Figures! I believe that my odd interest with numbers and bus routes started at this station. When you are waiting for your bus to arrive at the platform, there's nothing better to do than to figure out what bus routes do. The lineup of bus routes hasn't changed since I was in high school: - 20 Cliffside - 23 Dawes - 62 Mortimer - 64 Main - 87 Cosburn - 113 Danforth - 135 Gerrard The last two routes were introduced during my high school years. It's nice that they are still alive and running. The pale yellow background when you're waiting for the subway to come hasn't changed. I have memories of meeting friends to head downtown. My friend boarded at Kennedy, so I suggested that we meet by or in the first car going westbound. It worked well. Ah, memories! This station has an elevator for accessibility needs. It's also helpful if you've got a large rolling suitcase that you are moving between the GO station nearby and this TTC station. (55)

This subway station is on Line 1, first station after Union Station, Vaughan Metropolitan Station…read morebound. It has good access to adjacent office buildings and Roy Thomson Hall through PATH. It also has access to several food courts and shops. It's an accessible station and the elevator is located on King Street West entrance at the southeast corner of University and King.

Convenient metro station in downtown near King and University. It's on line 1 of the metro…read more Which is the largest and the one that carries more passengers. The main platform has one side for northbound and one for southbound trains.

Leslie Station is on subway line 1 and is the second (last) station on Finch North direction. The…read morestation is well-maintained and clean. It's clearly signed and it's clear to passengers where to go if they want to exit the station or go to the passenger pick up/drop off area; or, if they want to take TTC bus to their destination. The station is also wheelchair accessible. You can easily access East and West side of Yonge Street from underground or take the stairs to North York Civic Centre and Empress Walk.

I've been using this stop for the last 25 years and have seen absolutely no changes. Other than the…read moreupgrades from the turnstiles to the flimsy plastic doors to enter the subway station. It is still grey and now home to quite a few homeless individuals. The glass door entering into the North York Centre is broken/shattered at least twice a year. Those plastic entry doors are so easily broken, I see kids jumping over the them all the time such a waste of money. TTC needs to be managed more efficiently.

Conveniently located, my only beef with Cooksville is it's strangely laid out…read more There's at least two kiss & ride locations, which means that when you're getting picked up you sort of have a 50/50 chance of actually being in the same place as your ride. I've only ever disembarked here, of course. As I said, it's well located in the 'Saug, so you can drive from here to square one or up to Courtney Park.

What can I say other than HOME, SWEET HOME!…read more This station is fairly big with expanded parking (that fills up quick, so don't be late!) This is one of the more central stations, so there's a plethora of people that are on the platform. The GO train itself is a pleasant ride in. Decent seating, clean and not that long of a ride from Cooksville into Union (if there are no delays - don't get me started..) My only real beef with this line (and the reason for a missing star) is the crappy, limited schedule. The last train from Union is just after 7pm! If I work late, I'm then forced to take the bus or an Uber home. The lakeshore line runs until 1:30am - c'mon GO, give us more flexibility!! In ending, I have to say that my favourite part of the whole GO train experience is watching the few nuts running at full speed off the train and into their cars to beat the others, haha. CHOO CHOO!!

We visited Lower Bay Subway Station as a part of DoorsOpen 2024 and it was very well-organized. All…read morethe guides were knowledgeable and helpful and friendly. It was really nice to travel in time and see how things were run not very long time ago. There were subway cars in the station for you to go inside, explore and take pictures. There were also posters available talking about the history of TTC, subway lines and stations and how streetcars improved during time.

Bay Street subway station is located on the northside of Bloor street west and west of Bay street…read more Bay station some entrances attached to buildings like 80 and 110 Bloor West but there's also one on Cumberland and one on east side of Belair south of Cumberland and the other is on the west side of Bay also south of Cumberland. This is a basically your stop for Yorkville between Bay and Avenue road. As far as proximity the two business interchange stations flank Bay station to the east and west (St. George, Bloor-Yonge) and they're not that far from one another. I had to actually use Bay station the other night as it's probably my least used station in the core. Both line 1 on the University or Yonge lines wasn't stopping at either Bloor station (St. George or Bloor-Yonge) due to a police investigation around 11pm on May 24th, 2019. Inconvenient right? It's a bit of a walk from Wellesley to Bay station but it had to be done. The only bus route connecting to this station is a transfer required board which is route 6 (Bay). The top of the route starts at Dupont and Davenport not that far from Casa Loma in fact it's not far from Dupont station. The route travels south along Davenport to Bay and south on Bay all the way to Queens Quay before turning left (east) where it eventually loops around at Lower Sherbourne by the FedEx downtown depot. On the Belair Street side entrance just next door is a business called DECIEM The Abnormal Beauty Company. They want you to know that their business is NOT BAY. Their signage kind of looks like Bay station but is not Bay. I guess they had so many people walk in by accident that they not play on that. Funny...

Tip: Taking the 510 streetcar gets you to Chinatown, The Well, and Harbourfront. It's cheaper than…read moreparking at any of these places! I recently took the line 2 (Bloor-Danforth) subway from Victoria Park to Spadina. I was heading to a Blue Jays game at Rogers Centre for a work event. It was cheaper to simply take public transportation down to the venue than shelling out for parking nearby. Spadina station holds a special place in my heart. I grew up taking the TTC with my mom to hit Chinatown at Spadina and Dundas Street West. Back then, it was the Spadina 77 bus that ran along Spadina Avenue to and from this subway station. When you leave any line 2 train, you can still see a bus image next to the station name on the platform. I also managed to see several pay phones on the subway platform, which threw me back. In my head, I had Spadina Bus, a song by The Shuffle Demons, playing on repeat as I was at this station. A classic! I may need to find the video version to reminisce about the original 77 bus. Spadina is a subway hub. I went up a set of stairs from line 2 to catch the 510 Spadina streetcar. Back in November 2024, this streetcar wasn't running. Instead, there were 510 buses. Well, I got to ride the streetcar at long last. It was waiting for me at the station. I had no problem finding a seat and taking it down to Bremner Boulevard. I then walked over to Rogers Centre. It was convenient and easy. After the game, it was weird seeing three 510 streetcars heading northbound i a cluster as I walked towards Spadina Avenue. When I got to the streetcar stop, I waited a good fifteen minutes before the next streetcar came. Some things never change. I don't get TTC schedules. Never did. Never will. This subway station is wheelchair-accessible. I saw an elevator as I was heading to the streetcar platform. This station also connects you to line 1 (Yonge-University-Spadina). I remember transferring from line 2 to line 1 as an undergraduate student. I took the subway northbound to Yorkdale to shop at the mall and hang out there. Good times. It was cool being back at this station. Some things have changed, but there are remnants from my past that prompt fond memories. (170)

Spadina while technically being an interchange station between the 1 and 2 lines is a LOOONG walk…read moreto get from one line to another. Unless you want the exercise it doesn't really make sense time-wise to change lines at Spadina versus changing stations at St. George which is one platform on top of another with only one set of steps to really separate you. Spadina's Bloor platform has Walmer Road as the west exit while the east exit up one level takes you to the street car platform which is indoors (no transfer required) for the 510 Spadina line that goes southbound to Harbourfront. Up and down Spadina ave the dedicated street car platform splits the streets north and south bound directions. There are fare purchase systems for TTC/Presto on these street platforms but it's not like they're gated or anything like that. I've seen so many people get on without necessarily tapping or paying unless they had a transfer already... hard to say and none of my business. Still, it seems that this is one of those locations if you're looking to avoid paying it would be as simple as just getting on the back doors. The new longer street cars build by Bombardier run on this line.