Beginning operation in 1861, the Yonge streetcar line was the first streetcar line in Toronto and the first in Canada. It started off as a horsecar line and closed in 1954 operating two-unit trains of Peter Witt motors pulling a trailer. Under the Toronto Transportation Commission, the Yonge line was the busiest and most congested streetcar line in the city leading to its replacement in 1954 by the Yonge Subway line, also Toronto's first and the first in Canada.
Yonge streetcar extension looking north from the new CPR overpass, 1916
Temporary streetcar/subway interchange to Davisville Yard (left) at Belt Line bridge
Aerial view of Eglinton Carhouse in 1948
Peter Witt trailer train at Yonge & King
Line 1 Yonge–University is a rapid transit line of the Toronto subway. It serves Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It is operated by the Toronto Transit Commission, has 38 stations and is 38.4 km (23.9 mi) in length, making it the longest line on the subway system. It opened as the "Yonge subway" in 1954 as Canada's first underground passenger rail line and was extended multiple times between 1963 and 2017. Averaging over 680,000 riders per weekday, Line 1 is the busiest rapid transit line in Canada, and one of the busiest lines in North America.
Northbound to Finch platform at Union
Subway excavations in front of Union Station (left) on Front Street in 1950
The TTC intended the subway to use streetcar-derived trains, like this former Chicago 'L' train preserved at the Halton County Radial Railway.
The Gloucester (G-series) trains were chosen to be the system's first rolling stock.