Posts Tagged ‘SRT’

What remains

Posted: July 12, 2025 in history, old buildings, transportation
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There is talk about what to do with the Scarborough Rapid Transit (SRT) line that runs from Kennedy station, north to Lawrence and Ellesmere, and then east to Scarborough Town Centre.   The SRT was built in 1985 and then closed in July 2023.  The concrete and glass infrastructure still remains.  The tracks are gone.   A few years ago, I went for a ride on the SRT (blog post is  Are you going to Scarborough? ) but I never checked out the stations themselves.  Since I am not sure how much longer they are going to exist, I thought I’d better take a look before it’s too late.

below:  Lawrence East station nestles under the bridge where Lawrence passes over railway tracks between Kennedy Road and Midland Avenue.

low flat concrete building, Lawrence East station on now defunct SRT line. It is under a bridge, under Lawrence Avenue.

looking in the windows of lawrence east rapid transit station, now empty, reflections of outside as well

below: Although the SRT tracks have been removed, other tracks remain.   These tracks continue on to Agincourt GO station and points farther north.

behind chainlink fence, train station, but with tracks removed.

below: Looking south

chainlink fence, with railway tracks behind, two sets of tracks, the ones in the foreground have been removed

below: Signs for 54A and 954 Lawrence buses

overhead signs for lawrence bus routes at old lawrence east station

below: If you wanted to cross the tracks, this was the fastest way…

stairs for underground passage to cross subway tracks at lawrence east station, round hole with stairs in the middle,

stairs down to underpass under railway tracks at lawrence east srt station, metal doors locked closed,

north side of lawrence east srt station

northwest corner of lawrence east srt station

below:  Permanently closed

poster on door of srt station, picture of old srt subway car, notice that the line is permanently closed.

below: Mike Myers Drive with Lawrence East station in the background.

below: A short distance north of the Lawrence East station is the old Ellesmere station.  It too is under a bridge (under Ellesmere of course!).  It is smaller than the Lawrence East station

south side of Ellesmere station, with tracks now removed, curved glass structure under a bridge,

below:  Ellesmere station also has the circular hole for the stairs leading to an underground passage.  The station looks like a big glass tube.

ellesmere station, east side, with blue railing around circular hole, long glass tube structure in the background that is the station, bridge overhead

 

looking in window of ellesmere srt station, reflections, sign saying southbound to kennedy

below: Someone is missing their lock.

three toronto bike lock rings, painted red, one with a rusty chain and combination lock still on it.

After Ellesmere station, the SRT turned east, diverging from the other set of tracks.  Midland station was just after the turn – on Midland between Ellesmere and Progress.  Sorry, no pictures (busier street, no parking).  Although the architecture is similar (a glass tube), Midland station is built on top of a bridge, above the road instead of below it.   From Midland the trains went directly east to Scarborough Town Centre.   For most of thee eastern section, the tracks run behind industrial or light industrial land.  I haven’t been able to find out if there is any access or if it is all fenced off.

below: East view of Scarborough Town Centre station with covered walkways from both the federal government building on the left, and the shopping center on the right.

a TTC bus passes by Scarborough Town Centre station with its now abandoned elevated tracks

below: No trains run here anymore, but the station is still used for buses with the elevated rails being used as a roof.

TTC buses loading and unloading at Scarborough Town Centre, seen from above, from the walkway between station and Scarborough Town Centre

people opening doors going into Scarborough Town Centre

below: Pillars supporting the elevated tracks still run through the parking lot of Scarborough Town Centre to McCowan.

pillar P53, and others behind it, SRT tracks at Scarborough Twn centre parking loto

below: McCowan station was the eastern end of the line.

McCowan SRT station, glass, reflections in the glass

below: McCowan station viewed from the east side. The tracks continued a short distance to the SRT yard where trains were housed and serviced.

east side of McCowan Scarborough Rapid Transit station, elevated line for transit

elevated tracks for old scarborough srt, in front of a tall condo building

below: At McCowan, Scarborough Transit Connect is partnered with Metrolinx to build the new Scarborough Extension subway from Kennedy station to a new terminus at Shepherd and McCowan. See a previous blog post, Intersections –  McCowan and Sheppard for some photos from

fence around construction site, Scarborough Transit connect, working on new Scarborough Town Centre station for Scarborough extension of line 1 of TTC subway

below: Traffic on McCowan is impacted by the subway extension construction

looking north on McCowan at Progress, by old McCowan srt station, concrete barrier narrowing the street, construction on the right

below: One more view of the construction at McCowan station

below: And last, I found evidence on a pole in the parking lot at Scarborough Town Centre that indicates that I have missed the Rapture; they left without me. I guess that I am stuck here!

graffiti sticker on a pole that says Rapture Jesus took us home

are you going to Scarborough?

Posted: March 18, 2017 in reflections, transportation
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What to do on a cold day when the wind is vicious and blows right through you?   It blows through my hat, my ears and my brain.  It makes my head hurt.  Not the ideal walking day even with all my winter layers on.   I have been thinking about my walk along Sheppard Avenue and some of the issues with public transit and while doing so I realized that I had never been on the Scarborough Rapid Transit.  With all the talk about Sheppard subway vs LRT, I decided that maybe I should check it out.  So instead of a walk, I went for a ride and took the SRT to McCowan and back.

First I had to get to the SRT which starts at Kennedy subway station.

reflections of a woman in a red jacket sitting on the subway, reflected in the window beside a woman who is standing on the platform

At Kennedy I was a lost tourist as I searched for the route between the subway and the SRT.  Here the SRT trains run above street level so it took a couple of escalators and some stairs to reach the platform.

below: Standing on the platform and waiting for the train.  Kennedy station is at Kennedy & Eglinton and I think that this is the view looking east from there.

SRT tracks curve away from platform, outside, apartment building in the background, some snow on the tracks

below: The train arrives.

platform at Kennedy SRT station with people waiting as a blue train arrives

below: Leaving Kennedy station.   The first part of the route is north and runs parallel to the CNR & Stouffville GO line train tracks.     The red and white cars are the original colour from when the SRT opened in 1985.  In 2015 the TTC began painting the cars blue to match the colour scheme that now goes with “Line 3” on the TTC maps.  They also began two switch over the name of the SRT to Line 3 Scarborough.

the Scarborough RT train as it leaves Kennedy station, the track curves so you can see the front of the train out the window

below: I wasn’t the only tourist on the train!  After being on the subway, it felt a bit like being on a toy train.  The cars are smaller.  The trains are powered by linear induction motors which are quite different from conventional motors.  They push themselves along the tracks using alternating flat magnets.   That’s a very simplistic description of the science of induction motors but I’m sure that you can use google to find more information if you are interested!

looking down the length of an SRT car, two young women are looking out the back window. seats down either side, red on one side and blue on the other

below: The Scarborough RT,  also referred to as TTC line 3, covers  6.4 km on its route from Kennedy station to McCowan station.  There are six stops, Kennedy, Lawrence East, Ellesmere, Midland, Scarborough Centre, and McCowan.  Note the blue colour on the map!

a map of the SRT route is on the wall behind two red seats of an SRT car, view out the window is not easy to see but it is the platform at Lawrence East station

below: Ellesmere station. Apparently it is the least used station in the system, less even than Bessarion.

interior wall of Ellesmere station, covered (plastic?) glass wall, large black letters saying Ellesmere, and a bright red bench, snow on the curved translucent roof

faded TTC symbol on the exterior of a rapid transit vehicle

below: Looking out the back window.  The tracks are standard gauge whereas the subway runs on tracks that are wider so the TTC can’t run their subway cars on these tracks.

looking out the dirty window at the back of a SRT vehicle, tracks and some cityscape

below: This is the view at McCowan station, the end of the line. Although it was a very quiet ride to McCowan, the train was full on the ride back to Kennedy with Scarborough Centre being the most crowded station.   It took 40 minutes to go from McCowan to Bloor/Yonge.

a SRT train is stopped at McCowan station,

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blurry person standing on the platform at Greenwood station, with reflections of people sitting on the subway

reflections in the subway window along with people sitting on the train