[URBAN NOTE] On the 60th anniversary of the Yonge subway

[rfmcdonald]

On Saturday the 30th, the Yonge subway line celebrated its 60th anniversary of operation. Stretching from Union station north along Yonge Street to Eglinton, this 1954 subway line was the first built in Canada, and is still the spine of the entire transit grid in Toronto.

• blogTO's Chris Bateman had a photo essay showing how politicians and the general people reacted to the subway. One commenter notes that users seemed rather excited to be riding the line.


• Torontoist's Jamie Bradburn outlined a barely-avoided moment of pique, as Ontario's premier and Toronto's mayor found a way to share the on switch for the cameras.


• Transit Toronto's Robert Mackenzie has a very nice, detained two-part overview (1, 2) of the histo and impact of the Yonge line.What was the first ride like? What streetcar and bus routes were transformed? Mackenzie has it all.


• Finally, from the Tumblrverse comes
• lexestrex's beautiful image showing the original different colour schemes of the different subway stations along the line. (I reshared it on my Tumblr.)