Secret subway station

Last week when I took my dad for his driver's licence test, I saw something unusual at Bay subway station. We had just gotten off the subway and were walking along the platform to reach the bus area. I noticed two workers coming out through a door on the platform, out through one of those mysterious grey doors. Being that I am curious about these kinds of things, I turned to look, before the door closed, at what was in the room they had just come out of. I expected to see a small storage room, or janitorial closet. What I actually saw was a long staircase leading down. I'm not talking about 3 or 4 steps, I'm talking about a big, long, full size staircase. It was leading down, underneath the subway platform. Something mysterious was down there.

Since boyhood I've been fascinated by the subway tunnels, curious about what secrets and mysteries they might hold. I'm no longer a boy; I'm now an adult, one who lives in the Internet age. So I did some googling, using a couple of permutations of the words "secret", "subway", "tunnel", and "ttc". My research quickly paid off and I discovered that there is in fact an abandoned station known as "Lower Bay"; it's underneath the Bay platform much like St. George station on the Bloor-Danforth line is underneath St. George on the Yonge-University-Spadina line. Now I knew where that staircase I saw last week led to!

I learned that the Lower Bay station had been used for six months in 1966 (I was only two then; my sister wasn't even born yet). The tracks that run through Lower Bay station connect the Bloor-Danforth line to the Yonge-University-Spadina line. During those six months in 1966, the TTC operated the trains in a mode known as interlining - a route that connects the two lines. This route caused confusion to riders, plus a single disabled train would block the entire system. The TTC abandoned Lower Bay and segregated the two lines.

Lower Bay station is briefly visible to riders travelling westbound from Yonge Station. Stand in the front car and watch the tracks carefully. Shortly after pulling out of the station you will see a track branch off to the left. Follow it closely with your eye. Just before your line of sight disappears you will see the Lower Bay platform - the TTC keeps the platform lit up. I'm sure I've seen that platform before and assumed that I was seeing Bay station - but something about the angle just didn't make sense to me. Now I know why.

Despite all my fascination and curiosity with the subway tunnels I've never had the desire to actually cross through the Do Not Enter gate to explore them for myself. However, I managed to enjoy the experience vicariously by reading the article Exploring the Toronto Subway Stations and Tunnels by Ninjalicious. This author has also written a book titled Access All Areas: A User's Guide to the Art of Urban Exploration. I haven't checked it out yet but I feel my curiosity further stimulated.