Could Toronto's Sheppard subway line be extended?

Metrolinx says it is beginning to gather feedback on a potential extension of rapid transit along Sheppard Avenue.

This week the regional transit agency posted information about the process on its website to start gathering feedback from the community as part of planning work.

“We want to hear about how people travel along the Sheppard Avenue corridor today – and how they might benefit from new rapid transit options in the future – so we can maximize benefits for the community and future riders,” the agency said in a statement to CP24.com.

“The feedback we receive will guide the development of rapid transit improvement options that we will detail in the future Sheppard Extension Initial Business Case.”

The Sheppard Extension was included as a planning priority in the 2019 and 2022 Ontario budgets.

“Earlier this year, the Province directed Metrolinx to begin an Initial Business Case on a Sheppard Extension,” the agency said.

The Sheppard subway line, which opened in 2002, currently runs between Yonge Street and Don Mills Road.

In its original conception, the subway was to run from what is now Sheppard West Station at Allen Road, over to Scarborough Town Centre. However funding for the project was slashed and the line was shortened to just five stops.

The line has been criticized as a “stub-way” because of the diminished usefulness of its scaled-back form. A 2022 TTC ridership report shows that in fall 2022, the line typically saw around 39,482 customer-trips each day. That’s less than 10 per cent of the 404,397 customer-trips the Bloor Line saw on a typical day in the same period, and far less than the 670,106 customer-trips on Line 1.

However it’s worth noting that the Bloor Line (Line 2) is almost five times as long as the 5.5-kilometre Shepard Line, with 31 stations instead of five.

An LRT line extending east from Don Mills Station was planned and scrapped several times over the past two decades, with Premier Doug Ford eventually saying in 2019 that the province preferred to extend the Sheppard subway.

On the page which went public this week however, Metrolinx refers to a possible “rapid transit extension” on either side of the current subway line, leaving it unclear whether that transit will take the form of a subway or some other mode of transit.

“At this early phase of project planning, no decisions have been made in terms of transit modes,” the agency said on the site.

Either way, an extension westward to Sheppard West Station would create a link to the western stretch of Line 1, improving east-west access. There would also be possible connections with GO Transit lines.

“A rapid transit extension on either side of TTC’s Line 4 subway could create new links to Line 1 and Line 2, connect with up to three GO Transit train lines, and improve east-west travel in the region,” Metrolinx says on the site. “The Sheppard Extension also has the potential to support economic development and new jobs in the region.”

The Initial Business Case (IBC) process which is underway now reviews a potential project at a high level to assess how it addresses existing problems or creates new opportunities. It will eventually result in a preferred option for further refinement.

Three meetings are currently scheduled next month for the community to provide input on building rapid transit along Sheppard.

The first is at the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto on Nov. 7 at 6 p.m.; the second is at Parkway Forest Community Centre on Nov. 15 at 6 p.m.; and the third is at the Toronto Public Library, North York Central Branch on Nov. 16 at 6 p.m.

All the meetings are scheduled to run for around two hours. Those who can’t make it will have an opportunity to provide feedback virtually, Metrolinx said.