The Yonge subway, Canada’s first underground rapid transit line, opened on March 30, 1954 and ran 7.4 km (4.6 mi) beneath Yonge Street from Union Station to Eglinton Avenue. The Toronto Transit Commission built it between 1949 and 1954, according to the City of Toronto Archives, and the Toronto Public Library records that more than 100,000 people rode it on the first day.
The line was short, and it was not the end of the streetcar. It nevertheless changed how the city grew, because it pulled apartments and offices toward Yonge Street intersections. The sources read for this article differ on its cost, and that difference is set out below.
Breaking ground in 1949
The Canadian Encyclopedia dates the start of construction to September 8, 1949, when Ontario Lieutenant Governor Ray Lawson started work at Yonge and Queen streets. It places the idea in the years after 1945, when Toronto’s growth, held back by 15 years of depression and war, surged again.
Most of the line was built by the cut-and-cover method, which cost much less than boring a tunnel. Crews dug a trench in Yonge Street, moved the pipes, wires, and sewers beneath it, and built a deck so traffic could use the street again while the station boxes and tunnel were built below. The City of Toronto Archives holds a record of that work: photographers from Canada Pictures Limited followed the project from the first pile to the first subway car, and Series 381 of the Archives contains about 2,400 of their images.
Opening day, March 30, 1954
Ontario Premier Leslie Frost and Toronto Mayor Allan Lamport opened the line at Davisville Station, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia. The Toronto Public Library’s local history blog, drawing on the Toronto Daily Star and the Globe and Mail, supplies the details. Frost invited Lamport to “place your hand with mine” on the control handle that switched the subway on. Frost, Lamport, and the Metropolitan Toronto chair, Fred Gardiner, rode the first train, which had eight cars, and the run from Eglinton to Union took 12 minutes. The Star ran a banner headline on the time.
The Globe and Mail reported that over 100,000 people rode the subway on its first day. The same blog notes that ticket machines broke down, escalators stopped, and transfer machines failed at times, and that 10 million tokens had been prepared for the turnstiles.
What it cost
The line’s cost depends on which source is read. The Toronto Public Library blog gives $50 million. Other published figures also circulate, including $57 million and $67 million, but the pages that give them could not be opened for this article, so only the Library’s number is printed. The same blog says the project was delayed by detours and rerouting before it opened. A reader who needs a single authoritative cost should check the TTC’s own history page.
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| September 8, 1949 | Construction starts at Yonge and Queen | Canadian Encyclopedia |
| March 30, 1954 | Line opens, Union to Eglinton, 7.4 km | Canadian Encyclopedia; Toronto Public Library |
| March 30, 1954 | More than 100,000 first-day riders | Globe and Mail via Toronto Public Library |
| March 31, 1954 | Future lines proposed: Queen Street, Bloor-Danforth, University | Globe and Mail via Toronto Public Library |
The next lines
The Globe and Mail of March 31, 1954 printed proposals for expansion. It listed a short Queen Street subway at $12 million, an east-west Bloor-Danforth line at $80 million, and a University or Spadina north-south line at $20 million. TTC chair W.C. McBrien urged that the Queen Street subway between McCaul and Sherbourne streets be started at once. He also warned, in the line the Canadian Encyclopedia reproduces, that the subway was “not the final solution of Toronto’s traffic problems.” The later openings are listed in the article on the history of public transit in Toronto.
Effect on the city
The City of Toronto’s online exhibit says the subway spurred apartment and office construction around major intersections, both downtown and in midtown from Bloor Street to Eglinton Avenue. The same exhibit opens with the line that the subway “promised comfort and speed, modernity and convenience.” Yonge Street itself, its commercial life, and the cut-and-cover years are covered in the article on Yonge Street. The southern terminus was Union Station.
Frequently asked questions
When did the first Toronto subway open?
On March 30, 1954. The line ran from Union Station to Eglinton Avenue, a distance of 7.4 km (4.6 mi), and Premier Leslie Frost and Mayor Allan Lamport opened it at Davisville Station.
Who built the Yonge subway?
The publicly owned Toronto Transit Commission built it between 1949 and 1954, according to the City of Toronto Archives. Ontario’s lieutenant governor, Ray Lawson, started construction on September 8, 1949.
How was the Yonge subway built?
Most of it by cut-and-cover. Crews dug a trench in Yonge Street, relocated utilities, and built a deck above the work so traffic could resume.
How many people rode it on the first day?
The Globe and Mail reported more than 100,000 riders on March 30, 1954, as cited by the Toronto Public Library.
Related reading
- History of public transit in Toronto
- Yonge Street: history of the street
- Union Station: history and role
- Toronto in the Second World War
- An overview of Toronto’s history
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, Toronto Feature: Canada’s First Subway
- City of Toronto Archives, Canada’s First Subway (online exhibit)
- Toronto Public Library, Local History and Genealogy blog, Remembering Toronto’s First Subway: March 30
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). Toronto’s First Subway: The Yonge Line Opens in 1954. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/yonge-subway-opening-1954
MLA: “Toronto’s First Subway: The Yonge Line Opens in 1954.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/yonge-subway-opening-1954. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Toronto’s First Subway: The Yonge Line Opens in 1954.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/yonge-subway-opening-1954.
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