Lower Queen (TTC)
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Lower Queen is an unopened subway station in Toronto, Canada. Strictly speaking, it is only a roughed-out second set of platforms built underneath a currently-operating station in anticipation of another line which was never built. It is located directly underneath the existing Queen station on the Yonge subway line, at 171 Yonge Street at Queen Street.
The station was designed as part of a planned but never-built streetcar subway that would have run east and west along Queen Street. A similar station was planned underneath the existing Osgoode station (also situated along Queen Street). Although underground pipes and conduits were specifically routed around this intended site, construction was never started.
The trackway was planned for streetcars rather than dedicated subway trains, similar to the much newer streetcar-only underground track originating at Union Station used for the 509 Harbourfront and 510 Spadina routes. The Queen subway would have allowed streetcars from the Queen line (now route 501) to avoid city-centre traffic, and then surface to run on regular streets in outlying areas.
The plan to build a subway under Queen Street was delayed and then cancelled in favour of an east-west line further north, which became the Bloor-Danforth line. As a result, the Lower Queen station was never put into service. Unlike the other abandoned TTC station at Lower Bay, this station is not used in any way save as an occasional storage facility and film set.
Passengers transferring between the northbound and southbound track in the upper Queen Street station use part of this abandoned facility, the excess infrastructure being walled off.
Other ‘ghost’ stations in Toronto:
See also
External links
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