The Most Picturesque Station Entrance in Toronto?
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
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Can you expand your subway system without any new track? Come along with me as I take you to Toronto's newest subway station entrance, located in beautiful Queen's Park - but not an entrance for Queen's Park station.
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I'm amused that the new gate line at the south entrance includes one wide gate for wheelchairs -- serving a stairs-only entrance
I can see people with a baby stroller, or a buggy with picnic supplies etc, still finding that useful.
its for pushchairs or heavy luggage or children's or disabity with crutches - its common you find find anywhere in world in inaccessible entrance or station
It serves bikers too
Even for concert goers that could be disconcerting
@@radagastwiz Yes, only to find two flights of stairs -- no elevator, no ramps. Can you imagine someone alone with a baby stroller and all the accoutrements that an infant needs dealing with that entrance ? I can't.
The entrance reminds me of Smithsonian station in DC! I love the columns at Museum station! The columns were designed by Diamond and Schmitt Architects and constructed by Jeviso Construction Corporation as part of renovations to the station's platform level in April 2008. You have Forbidden City columns, Parthenon columns, Osiris columns, Toltec columns, and even Pacific Northwest-style columns, and they're just so chef's kiss! 81st St-Museum of Natural History station in NYC also has a great way to honor the museum it serves with awesome mosaic work that depict the evolution of extinct, existing and endangered life forms, from single celled organisms to the towering T. rex dinosaur. It shows images and symbols ranging from the Earth's core, to the sea, the sky and the cosmos beyond. And speaking of Paris, I just love the Guimard entrances of the Paris Métro so much. Here's the story behind why they're that way: In the years leading up to the Exposition Universelle in 1900, Paris was busy building their Métro, but many Parisians were against building said Metro because they thought it would look industrial. In order to make the entrances look aesthetically pleasing, the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris, or Paris Metropolitan Railway Company, held a contest with 21 participants but chose none of them and instead commissioned Hector Guimard to design entryways that were as elegant as possible.
Guimard opted to craft his entrances out of cast-iron set in concrete and painted a shade of green evocative of oxidized brass. The use of cast iron allowed him to construct the curved forms characteristic of his style, and concrete enabled him to incorporate sculpted details throughout each design, whether rendered as a roofed édicule structure or an open entourage model. In the years following their installation, Guimard's entryways were met with mixed reviews, and many were removed. However of course, the ones that remained were later realized for the Parisian icons that they are! Square-Victoria-OACI station on the Montreal Metro has a genuine Guimard entrance made from parts of demolished Paris entrances (with map holder and "Métropolitain" sign and holder reproduced from the original molds). It was installed in 1967. During restoration in the 2000s, it was found to have the last examples of the original glass light globes, which in Paris had been replaced with plastic for safety, so one was returned to the RATP and the other placed on display in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The RATP has given reproductions of Guimard entrances produced from the original molds to Chicago, Lisbon, Moscow, and Mexico City.
Disappointed that Reese didn't focus more than a few seconds on the platform. Should've got some close-ups of the statuary and other interesting features.
The most depressing part of Museum Station is the north entrance and seeing the Planetarium, which is closed and vacant for decades.
Laser show for all that weed gone ehh
It truly is crazy! Especially because the ROM is pretty decent!
The added insanity is that they're talking about having a planetarium for the Science Centre when it moves to Ontario Place.
There is a development proposal for a school of cities building on the site of the planetarium, hopefully it will make Museum better used
@@jingyen00 Wait, what proposal? UofT bought the planetarium with the expressed intent of replacing it with a new academic building iirc.
Only reason why UofT uses it as a storage closet instead of going ahead with the teardown is cause the building is tied up in a fight over its heritage status. I think the whole hold up cause UofT is fighting the local groups pushing for heritage status, and/or they're trynna get a design passed through council that meets their heritage concerns.
The barred off area of Museum Station used to called the "Gorilla Cage".
I used to call it the Museum Jail -- the only subway station in the world with a jail.
I haven't heard that one!
I visited Toronto in December 1989. I rode the subway which I believe went under Bloor St. The street was lined with cool Victorian brick houses. A corner house was made into a subway entrance. The exterior of the house remained standing. The front door was changed to a glass door and you descended down an escalator to the train platform. I thought that was the coolest entrance I had ever seen. Out by the sidewalk was the colorful TTC lit signage.
I think that must be the entrance to Spadina station, which is actually a couple of blocks up Spadina Road.
85 Spadina Rd if you want to check it out on Google Maps.
That is definitely the north entrance to Spadina station on Line 1 University, though it's connected to Spadina Station on Line 2 Bloor-Danforth via a long tunnel
@@OntarioTrafficMan Indeed!
No, Reece, most Paris metro entrance don't have any canopy and are just like that, a staircase. Even the Guimard entrances in their prime were very few to have a canopy, they were exception more than the norm.
Nowadays, canopy-less entrances are secondary entrances unless there is a monument in front of it and the view must be preserved, main entrances are either with a canopy or inside a building.
Even in the recent extensions, Mairie d'Aubervilliers on Line 12 has no canopy on either of its entrances when the two last new stations on Line 4 have canopies or are inside a building.
Grand Paris Express entrances will all be covered or be incorporated into some kind of building. That new concept is more akin to a real train station in which all facilities are included inside the station building or outcrop from the ground, entering with the turnstiles on street level, then have vertical shafts for elevators and staircases placed behind (Line 14 extentions).
Of course sometimes terrain prevents such a convenient arrangement even on dug our station with the cut and cover method don't necessarily have that. Hôpital de Montreuil station on the Line 11 extention to be opened in two days has only stairs and escalators from the surface because of little space available. The ticket halls are two or three levels down ! (same goes for Pont Cardinet on Line 14 where the station itself is not aligned with the streets and is dug beneath a park).
Ten years ago, Line 4 had a new entrance created at Porte d'Orléans to serve one of the bus hubs that was not directly accessible from the metro at that time... The station being so shallow at that particular end of the station means there is only one set of stairs from the platform to the street level -if you want to take the other platform you have to either get to the other end or exit and put another ticket in), it's Budapest Line 1 style. Fairgates are at platform level as a result. Lyon metro also has a lot of platform level fairgating as well.
Line 11 have been dealing with such works to add new entrances to its station to cope with fire evac safety measures and norms that have changed and also due to the increase of traffic that the extention will generate. In some cases the opportunity was taken to add escalators and elevators to old entrances (Porte des Lilas mostly) but the new entrances have no such equipments because there is no space on the surface with very narrow streets and also it was damn expensive given the depth of the line itself...
There are essentially zero entrances of this type in Toronto with a canopy
A lot of Tokyo underground entrances are just stairs and they often have an open drain to the side of the steps to funnel rainwater, which is quite strange as your descending and theres a literal stream running alongside you. (I dont know why but wide open storm drains seem quite common in Japan either running alongside the road in older towns (usually with concrete panels over them in denser areas, watch out those panels are occasionally missing leaving the equivalent of an open manhole) or just gutter channels in pavements that we would normally have a metal grill over in Europe but in Japan they leave them open).
More Reece IRL videos please, really enjoy this format of content!
Just zoom out a bit please.
There are more in the linked playlist! ua-cam.com/play/PLwoYcvp1EGScIzH00wQJF0OlQ0WlZpXif.html
i was just going through your old videos all day yesterday while working to see your old content. cool to see it come full circle with a new video like this today lol
I’ve recently been obsessed with train station architecture and would love a video on the best looking train stations in North America. I also think it would be a good opportunity to mention the importance of good platform waiting areas and passageways. Many stations have gorgeous architecture and main waiting halls, but the platforms and passageways leading to said platforms leave a lot to be desired, especially when compared to stations in Europe or East Asia (looking at you, DC Union).
If that idea interests you at all I think it would be a good video, just a suggestion :)
Green Park in London has an entrance that goes right into the park, well sort of. There is a ramp from the park that goes down to the entrance underneath the road at the perimeter of the park.
That was the first one I thought of.
While I commend TTC for adding a much needed entrance to Museum Station, why on Earth would they not make it accessible? It's sad how urban design and user experience are always second thoughts in Toronto. One thing they are very good at TTC is making new things look outdated and aged. 😅 The entrance does look like it's always been there since the station opened...
It's almost like they are saying that the less able are not expected to use the park. They wouldn't get away with that in most of Europe where even the most minor of stations tend to get made accessible when they are refurbished or a new entrance is added. The canopy thing is also baffling. Very strange decision which has the look and feel of penny pinching about it.
Because adding an elevator probably would have cost 10x as much, and they are installing an elevator literally at the other end of the platform anyway.
Because the new exit was simply built as a fire escape due to modern fire codes. Fire escapes do not include elevators since you shouldn't use them during fires. If they had to include an elevator at every entrance, they would simply ban people from using the entrance altogether rather than building an elevator. It would make no financial sense to build one when there's already an elevator directly across the street connected via an accessible crosswalk
The park is so humane. Despite the cars it is quite relaxing to be there. I will check it out tomorrow as I bike past the area.
Munich has lots of open air entrances with no canopy. They have heated stairs that melt the snow though. It seems to work well. There will also normally be an open air escalator too. This naturally wipes the snow off at the top an bottom. And is also generally good to use in all weather. If there is a lift, this has it's own glass box and is not open air.
That's a really good place to put a station entrance. It'll be convenient for people coming to Queen's Park for events and for people who work on Wellington. I used to work in the Whitney building and this would have been as good a trip as getting off at Queen's Park station and using the tunnel.
Reminds me of one of the exits/entrances at St James Station in Sydney! It's a fairly quiet station despite being centrally located and most Sydneysiders will say they've only ever used it once or twice, but the first time I exited the station (literally just last year) It was smack in the middle of a beautiful park right by St Mary's Catholic Church. It was extremely refreshing.
The entire park seems similar to Hyde Park in Sydney.
St.James also has a far more ornate entrance on Elizabeth St/ Market St
In the southern half of the park you've also got a Museum Station with a grand entrance on Elizabeth/ Liverpool St, and a secondary uncovered entrance on Elizabeth/ Bathurst though the steps face the road and also connects to an underpass direct to the office buildings opposite.
@@mark123655I was thinking the same thing.
A nice, sturdy awning could serve as a canopy that meets the aesthetic of the park, or perhaps one that is on beams and adorned with greenery.
Cut branches and create a roof like on Gillian’s Island!
There were lots of options, but Toronto approaches these things quite ideologically
@@RMTransit Blind dogma is fascinating. It's the antithesis of creative problem solving in favour or reality-detatched romance.
Oh there's such an opportunity to make a canopy in a classical antiquity aesthetic! Or even something that draws architectural queues from the museum itself or legislator building's Romanesque!
Why not a glass mess like the North Entrances to the ROM.
Perhaps some trilithons could be installed.
I like how you did this video Reece, I found you being at the site in person and on camera very engaging. Hope to see more like them!
Reece this video is somehow really lovely. It's like you turf all your deep knowledge of transit and just give something really experiential with minimal analysis. ... As for the entry - looks just like many, many entries in Berlin... just a set of stairs in the -20 snow, no canapy
Museum -> Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) New Museum Entrance = North Queens Park
I was in the park a couple of months ago (my brother lectures at the university and works in a university affiliated lab), yeah its a nice quiet park a short distance from the University. Its not very built up on that side of the legislature compared to the opposite side and flanked by a couple of main roads so I could understand why it was so quiet. In Britain we would say Queens Park was a traditional Victorian style Park.
Nice to see you outside; 'couldn't have picked a more beautiful day to record. Many interesting perspective shots, and overall enjoyable!
Hi Reece. For a video about a new subway entrance, there was a lot of footage of the park (yes, I know that's where it is). Everybody needs to spend less, but not at the expense of safety and convenience - this new entrance have included disabled access instead of making such passengers walk an extra half(?) mile to the park. Such additional expense is not frivolous.
St Clair West has a couple nice exits. one exits right out into the ravine on the south side of St Clair. If you coming up from the subway don't go up to the street car level, right on the left before going up to the street cars, there is a long corridor. that leads to the exit for the south side of the street and the ravine exit. There is another exit that takes you to heath street right at a park. Walk to the north end of the subway platform for the heath exit.
FYI: the barred off section of the platform, long before the station was remodeled, actually housed museum exhibits. It wasn't to keep people out of a secluded portion of the platform.
Just because they displayed things in it does not mean it was created for display purposes. That's something they can do with space that has been blocked off for security reasons
Reminds me of many station entrances at the edge of parks in Copenhagen
Love this kind of video !
There are more in the linked playlist! ua-cam.com/play/PLwoYcvp1EGScIzH00wQJF0OlQ0WlZpXif.html
At 4:33 you say Toronto doesn't have that many really big parks. Seriously? Check out Earl Bales. Sunnybrook, Lower Don Parklands, High Park, E.T. Seaton, and Morningside Parks. They are all substantive!
he meant that has a subway station, Earl Bales would be the next one practically if the they go Sheppard West
Perhaps he is referring to Toronto of old before transmogrification.
Not in places served by the subway! Even high park station isn't in the park!
as a uoft engineering student i greatly appreciated the statue shoutout
I don't think I've ever transited through the Museum station. At platform level, the Doric columns and, further down, totemic sculptures--homages to the ROM, no doubt--are a singular touch.
Reminds me of the entrances to St James' and Museum stations in Sydney, Australia - granted they are on the edge of Hyde Park and not in the middle, but I think it's close enough! There's also the entrance to Wynyard station from York St/Carrington St, which is in the middle of a park-like space with trees and other greenery.
Also, I'd prefer to see the station entrance first then have the discussion about it, but that could just be my preference.
Interesting how even new subway enterances are still being built with stairs and not escalators, and there seems to be no elevator despite having accessible fare gates.Apparently even systems like the Berlin U-Bahn manage elevators next to staircases on sidewalk stations.
11:18 I'm surprised he didn't catch this, especially after just mentioning that the entrance isn't accessible.
Great vid. I have to roll my eyes every time I am reminded they named two different lines going to 2 different places (that just happen to form a U shape and share 1 station) "Line 1" ... what a lost opportunity, but I guess, again, it's lazy and cheap... our Toronto.
Canopy! It needs a Canopy! Everything mentioned, the weather conditions!
Nice video of a nice station!
A photo of the Bockenheimer Warte stop on Frankfurt aM's U-Bahn came up on my feed today - it's certainly an eye-catching "canopy"!
Unbelievable that there is no protective snow/rain canopy at that stop
death trap in the winter
@@rundown132slip and slide
@@rundown132indeed - liability
@@rundown132 Many senior citizens will break their hips slipping on ice and snow on those steps. Or they will have to keep it brined with salt on a continuous basis until it eats away at the cement down to tack level. Seems like there is no common sense taken.
I reckon this entrance might see a lot of use doubling for New York City in films and television shows.
Yep!
how is it that absolutely every laudatory video showing Toronto , always conveys more than anything else the clear impression that no one with any imagination or impulse to make things beautiful, ever lived or visited there?
I nominate this video as the pilot teaser for a new version of Portlandia set in Toronto, and satirizing the thinking, speech and ideas found there.
Museum station has always seemed to be one of the least used stations in downtown Toronto. I wonder if the second entrance will change that!
A canopy would have been really nice. The ones on Paris provide an architectural flourish that is world famous. Views are already spoiled by the garbage cans as you say but also the new condos surrounding the park.
It would be worse without them. Maybe Toronto should install a vacuum garbage system Like Disney World and have famous sculpture design them. Sadly , Degas and Rodain are no longer with us.
@@acemannotsomeother Maybe a racoon themed cannopy
@@bdhaliwal24 maybe the lovable Porter Airlines Racoon cartoon. A giant Macy’s parade balloon!
Is it me or there was a relaxing ASMR quality to this video?
Nice entrance. And yea Leslie has a platform level entrance with an island, but it's not embedded like this new Museum one because of the really long hallway... so don't know if that counts lol
The lack of an entrance canopy is the reason I fell down the stairs at Museum station on a rainy day. Luckily I didn't hurt myself and it was a lesson to beware when it's snowing or raining.
"An Equestrian statue of Edward VII is installed in Toronto's Queen's Park, in Ontario.
Created by Thomas Brock for the 1911 Imperial Durbar, it was originally located at King Edward VII Park (now Netaji Subhash Park) in Delhi, India in 1919. It was removed in 1967, sold in 1968 with assistance from the Canadian High Commissioner to India, and re-installed in Toronto in 1969."
Suggestion/Thought seeing the park entrance, this reminds me of Munich, and probably a couple of other European cities that have massive transit entrances close to/fully integrated with public parks. Building on this and thinking of Octoberfest and other city-consuming, several-day/monthlong events like Carnivale, Mardi-Gras, Festival de Music (in France), Olympics, maybe a video talking about what measures can help cities deal with the intricacies of such longer-duration events/festivals.
Canopy likely was cut for last minute budget reason. They could have made an aesthetically pleasant stain glass like cover.
Omg I can't believe it's a new Reece in Transit video
I could design a canopy for that entrance in an afternoon. Not garish or inappropriate in a park setting, but functional and nice to look at. Maybe a glass saddle or asymmetrical butterfly roof. It wouldn't be expensive to build, either, although when government gets involved in a project you never know how much the bureaucracy might inflate the price.
So when do elevators get added to this station? Or are the stairs turned into a ramp?
It's crazy that they didn't see the opportunity of creating some sort of beautifully sculptural canopy above the station. Not only would it be a safety feature, it would add a point of interest to the park. Classic Toronto
Can you please make a video and update on on the crosstown and finch west LRTs. Thanks!
If possible, there should always be entrances on both ends of the platform. Otherwise you might have to exit the station in the wrong direction and then walk back above ground.
there's a new station in Queen's Park?? This is so exciting. I always take transit the few times a year I'm there for work and it's such a pain to cross over from College Street
It’s a new entrance, not a new station.
Interesting video. But who does the statue depict? And what is the connection with the University of Toronto?
I had no idea that the distance from the platform to surface level at the southern end was so shallow. Kind of a shame since methinks a mini-PATH tunneling should have gone in here to connect the subway directly to U of T's Hart House in the west and Victoria College in the east.
Museum was always one of the nicer stations just for the effort put into the decor. Being able to get off there and go straight to the park without needing to dodge traffic is fantastic.
Not sure I have ever seen a canopy over a London Underground stairs entrance. Plenty of stations, but just open stairs everywhere else. And that's with the great British weather :P
How interesting. Museum and St James station in Sydney sit on Hyde Park. Future Barangaroo station will be near the Barangaroo Headland Park.
You see the station at 10:30!! HOLY HELL what a video..
Have a look at the canopies used on the Malmo Cross-City Link to see how it can be done!
Interesting point you give there, however the same is happening here in the Amsterdam where a lot of rain falls. AFAIK almost all entrances to the Amsterdam metro don't have a canopy unless they are embedded into a building or under the tracks. I guess that is technically not entirely true since the entrance of Noorderpark has a canopy, but that is just an extension of the canopy over the tracks. All the other ones are completely out in the open for the rest of the entrances. Just look at Rokin, Vijzelsgracht, Centraal Station on the station square, but also places like Weesperplein or the Northern exit of Nieuwmarkt.
I really liked the Atlanta video do you think you could make a video on the Moscow Metro system
An oldish style entrance like Astor Place northbound wouldn't distract from the park I'd think.
Wow the platform is so close to the entrance rather than some massive underground pedestrian tunnel to reach which it would be in London, really makes you wonder why they never did it before as it looks a fairly cheap construction operation.
I remember once walking through Queens Park on my way back from St. Mike's, and seeing a squirrel just lying on the root of a tree, sleeping. I guess that squirrel will now have a convenient entrance to Line 1 XD
Good video, hands on, boots on the ground type of content, I like that.
I guess for downtown, Queen's park is large, but High Park is almost half the size of Central park! St. Clair West's Heath Street entrance is another cool one in or nearly in a park. It fits well and looks like a picnic or grill shelter that tend to exist in a lot of parks. Are there other similar entrances to the subway?
Can you do an update on the transit situation in Ottawa??
Thumbs up for the location of the new entrance, but thumbs down for lack of accessibility and lack of cover. Those stairs will be an icy death trap in the winter. This would have been a great spot for trying a Washington DC style entrance with the floating glass canopy.
Reminds me of Smithsonian station in DC.
Thanks!
Thanks for watching James!
Vienna's Stephenplatz station, the entrance next to St. Stephen's Cathedral doesn't have a canopy either
RAIL DADDYY!!!!!
Nice video! Did you grow up in Toronto?
Will you be exploring the stations with second exit upgrades in the future?
Every time RMtransit uploads I become 0.4% stronger
one day, you will heal from the scars that cars did
Yay i love ur vids and im before 1hr❤❤❤
More videos like this!
"...because we are a cheap and lazy city"... gold. and so true. A classic "we don't want to maintain it." discussion within the municipal offices. aka., we don't want to do our job.
I like this kind of video
Yes the u of t eng frosh tradition is quite notable lmaooo
very incisive. looking forward to the ice deathtrap with maybe some flooding to boot. saw no drainage along stairs or at bottom. so i have to pay to enter but the water will flow on by
While i enjoy transit, i do think driving is also fun and drivers are not all terrible.
really nice video
NEEDS Beer and Maple syrups!.. And A poutine stand/cart/cycle/car/truck
Disappointed that Reese didn't focus more than a few seconds on the platform with columns. Should've got some close-ups of the statuary and other interesting features.
As an ex-NYer, unfortunately, no, most, or at least a significant number of, NYC subway entrances don’t have canopies
Needs a canopy.
Pronto Toronto
Has no one ever told Reece about the Toronto’s second ‘t’ pronunciation?
A Conopy Design Contest.
So the 'Museum Jail' is gone.
11:14 I misread the destination board
this was my station when I lived in toronto & this new entrance would be slightly closer where I lived comparing to the old one, I think?
It looks pretty nice. would use.
But ultimately living in toronto without a car was still a dreadful experience, the subway coverage is awfully inadequate, the streetcar was literally slower than walking, the buses are old and shady AF, the go trains had awful frequency that I still remember that time I went to unionville to buy stuff and missed the train by 1 minute and was forced to sit inside the station for an entire hour waiting for the next train back😢
and with eglinton being so delayed Im losing hope that this city (and country) can get fixed within our lifetimes
🇨🇦Toronto👍
A was always attacked by squirrels in Queen's Park. Stop for a second to chat with a friend and I would have a squirrel attacking my pant leg.
I never noticed till now. Why do you say ToronTo when everyone locally calls it Turonno 😂
8:07 "Drivers. Terrible." is such a mood. Sorry drivers, your cars are stinky, loud, and unwieldy. Come join us in the park, you're still our neighbours.
They put a new station in one of Toronto’s richest neighborhoods but construction is killing everybody in the city…. I hate this country
Most entrances in New York, London or Paris don’t have a canopy.