Wellesley station explained

Wellesley
Symbol Location:toronto
Symbol:1big
Style:Toronto Transit Commission
Address:16 Wellesley Street East
Toronto, Ontario
Country:Canada
Coordinates:43.6653°N -79.3839°W
Structure:Underground
Platform:Side platforms
Tracks:2
Accessible:Yes
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Custom:
Shape:none
Line:none
Marker:rail-metro
Marker-Color:
  1. FFCB0C
Zoom:15

Wellesley is a subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Wellesley Street East, east of Yonge Street. Wi-Fi service is available at this station.[1]

History

Wellesley station opened in 1954 as part of the original stretch of the Yonge line from to stations, and was listed as a heritage property by the City of Toronto in 1984.[2] The address given for this listing of 16 Wellesley Street East/15 Dundonald Street, which differs from the TTC address, more accurately describes the location of the station structure which runs between those streets, to the rear of the properties fronting on the east side of Yonge Street.

On February 6, 2006, the only baby to be born on the subway, Mary Kim of Scarborough, was delivered on the Wellesley platform. Her mother Sun Hee Paik took the subway with her family to St. Michael's Hospital from their Scarborough home. She did not make it to the downtown hospital, going into labour on the train. Her husband delivered the baby after they disembarked at Wellesley and Toronto EMS arrived later to help finish the birth and send the mother and child to St. Michael's. TTC officials later promised to provide Mary with lifetime transit access.[3]

Construction began in early 2018 to make the station fully accessible, including the addition of two elevators and accessible fare gates. On July 22, 2020, the station became accessible with the completion of the elevator construction.[4] As part of the enhancements for accessibility, provision was made for the future installation of an artwork on the curved wall opposite the two new elevators.[5]

Wellesley was the last downtown TTC subway station with only one street entrance. In July 2020, a secondary entrance was opened on Dundonald Street (entry or exit here is by Presto card or Presto ticket only).[4]

Station description

This station is located on the north side of Wellesley Street East east of Yonge Street. It is built on two levels, with the main Wellesley Street entrance and bus platform at street level and the subway platforms located on the lower level.[6] There are elevators from street level to the two platforms.[4] A Gateway Newstands can be found in the station. There is a second automatic entrance on Dundonald Street.[7] [8] [9]

Subway infrastructure in the vicinity

North of the station the tunnel was constructed by cut and cover into Bloor station, where it crosses over Yonge station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth. South of the station, the tunnel is mostly of a similar construction towards College station. The strip of land occupied by this section of the subway is distinguished by being used mainly for public parks or parking lots.

Surface connections

See main article: List of Toronto Transit Commission bus routes.

Bus routes below can be boarded at a curbside stop with a valid transfer.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Wi-fi Now Available At . TCONNECT . Each of the 65 underground stations will have wireless and Wi-Fi service by 2017 . January 1, 2015 . December 4, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141204204305/http://www.tconnect.ca/stations.php . dead .
  2. Web site: Heritage Property Detail – 16 Wellesley St E., Wellesley Street Subway Station . February 26, 2024 .
  3. News: Woman gives birth on subway platform . . February 7, 2006 . November 10, 2023.
  4. Web site: Wellesley Station - Easier Access project. TTC . July 22, 2020. July 25, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200928171940/http://www.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Construction/Wellesley_Stn.jsp . September 28, 2020.
  5. Web site: TTC celebrates accessibility at Wellesley, Chester stations . . October 1, 2020 . October 2, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201002210822/http://www.ttc.ca/News/2020/October/01_10_20NR_Easier_Access.jsp . October 2, 2020.
  6. Web site: TTC Wellesley Station . Toronto Transit Commission . February 2, 2022 . December 16, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211216014600/https://www.ttc.ca/subway-stations/Wellesley-station . live .
  7. Web site: Wellesley Station Second Exit and Automatic Entrance . Toronto Transit Commission . August 19, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140820091824/http://www.ttc.ca/PDF/Transit_expansion_PDFs/WellesleyStation-ConstructionNotice_v2_web.pdf . August 20, 2014.
  8. Web site: TTC Wellesley Station – Second Exit and Automatic Entrance . Toronto Transit Commission . August 19, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140724051241/http://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Projects/Station_Improvements/Wellesley_Station/index.jsp . July 24, 2014.
  9. Web site: CEO's Report August 2020 . . August 23, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200823004301/http://www.ttc.ca/PDF/About_the_TTC/CEO_Report/CEO%27s%20Report-August%202020.pdf . August 23, 2020.