Kennedy is the terminal subway station of the Bloor-Danforth and Scarborough RT lines of the Toronto subway and RT

Toronto subway and RT

The Toronto subway and RT is a rapid transit system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, consisting of both underground and elevated railway lines, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission . It was Canada's first completed subway system, with the first line being built under Yonge Street, which opened in...

. It is located at 2455 Eglinton Avenue

Eglinton Avenue

Eglinton Avenue, originally known as the Richview Sideroad within Etobicoke, is an east-west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Within Toronto, Eglinton Avenue is the only road which crosses through all six former boroughs...

 East, just east of Kennedy Road. The station opened in 1980 in what was then the Borough of Scarborough

Scarborough, Ontario

Scarborough is a dissolved municipality within the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the eastern part of Toronto. It is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the west by Victoria Park Avenue, on the north by Steeles Avenue East, and on the east by the Rouge River...

 with the Bloor-Danforth platform, and the Scarborough RT platform opened in 1985. The adjacent Kennedy GO Station on GO Transit

GO Transit

GO Transit is an inter-regional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada. It primarily serves the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area conurbation, with operations extending to several communities beyond the GTHA proper in the Greater Golden Horseshoe...

's Stouffville rail line opened in 2005.

Kennedy is a four-level station, with the Scarborough RT on top, the bus terminal on ground level, the entry concourse underneath that leads to the GO station and parking, and the subway on the bottom. The subway and RT tracks through the station are parallel. All TTC levels are accessible by elevator. Four parking lots surround the station, providing commuters with a total of 1138 spaces. All lots charge cash fare from 5:00am to 3:00pm weekdays, and are free after 3:00pm and all day weekends and holidays. The cost for Kennedy North, North Service Road and South Lots is $5.00, and Kennedy East Lot is $3.00.

Kennedy is the fourth busiest station in the system, after St. George

St. George (TTC)

St. George is a station on the Yonge-University-Spadina and Bloor-Danforth lines of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 323 Bloor Street West at St. George Street. This is the second busiest station, after Bloor-Yonge Station, serving a combined total of approximately ...

, Bloor-Yonge

Bloor-Yonge (TTC)

Bloor-Yonge is a station on the Yonge–University–Spadina and the Bloor–Danforth subway lines operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 733 Yonge Street at Bloor Street West/East...

, and Sheppard-Yonge

Sheppard-Yonge (TTC)

Sheppard-Yonge is a station on the Yonge-University-Spadina and Sheppard lines of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the third busiest subway station in the system, after Bloor-Yonge, and St...

, serving a combined total of approximately people a day. In 2008, the Toronto Star

Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

reported this station to be a "known problem area" in terms of crime in the subway system, along with Lawrence West, Lansdowne, and Warden stations.

The station will eventually be part of the Eglinton–Scarborough Crosstown line. The upgrade and replacement of the Scarborough RT portion is scheduled to start in late 2015, after the conclusion of the 2015 Pan American Games

2015 Pan American Games

The 2015 Pan American Games, officially the XVII Pan American Games or the 17th Pan American Games, will be a major international multi-sport event that will be held from July 10–26, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Ajax, Barrie, Brampton, Caledon, Hamilton,...

 and the 2015 Parapan American Games

2015 Parapan American Games

The 5th Parapan American Games are to take place between August 7–14, 2015 in Toronto, Canada. Athletes with a physical disability will compete...

. Scarborough RT riders will be bussed for three years until the upgrade is completed.

Infrastructure

Leaving the station, the Scarborough RT line descends to ground level and turns north to run alongside the Canadian National Railway

Canadian National Railway

The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....

 railway tracks.

Although the Scarborough RT trains are bidirectional, at this station they originally reversed on a loop like single-ended streetcars, because when Kennedy station was built, the TTC planned to run the line as a dedicated right-of-way for streetcars

Toronto streetcar system

The Toronto streetcar system comprises eleven streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission , and is the largest such system in the Americas in terms of ridership, number of cars, and track length. The network is concentrated primarily in downtown and in...

, rather than the light metro

Rapid transit

A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...

 that was eventually constructed. They would enter the station from the east, unload passengers, run onto an elevated loop west of the station to reverse, return to the station, and call at a second platform to load passengers before departing eastward.

The trains could not handle the sharp curves of the loop as well as expected, so the station was rebuilt in 1988 to eliminate its regular use. Because of another curve at the east end of the station, it was not possible to add a scissors crossover there, so the station was reduced to a single terminal track. Trains now use that single track to reverse; platforms on either side allow for trains to open their doors on both sides while stopped

Spanish solution

The Spanish solution is a method of using two railway platforms, one on each side of the track, in order to speed up boarding and alighting from trains. Alighting passengers get off the train on one side and boarding passengers get on from the other...

. The original loading platform on the south side of the tracks, extended to meet the single remaining track, is still the one primarily used for loading, and the other for unloading. The loop track still exists, now constituting a dead-end tail track where a train could be stored if necessary.

Nearby landmarks

Nearby landmarks include the Don Montgomery Community Centre (formerly called Mid-Scarborough Community Centre).

Bus connections

Route	Destination
12A Kingston Rd	Victoria Park Station Victoria Park (TTC) Victoria Park is a station on the Bloor–Danforth line of the subway system in Toronto, Canada. It is located at 777 Victoria Park Avenue, one block north of Danforth Avenue. The station itself can be accessed by pedestrians via Victoria Park Avenue, or via Albion Avenue, or via a walkway that leads...  via Brimley and Variety Village
20 Cliffside	Main Street Station Main Street (TTC) Main Street is a station on the Bloor–Danforth line of the subway system in Toronto, Canada. It is located at 2550 Danforth Avenue at Main Street, in Danforth Village. 350 metres to the south, Main Street connects to Danforth station on GO Transit's Lakeshore East railway line.This station is...
21 Brimley	21   Steeles via Scarborough Centre Station Scarborough Centre (TTC) Scarborough Centre is a station on the Scarborough RT line of the Toronto subway and RT. It is located north of Ellesmere Road between Brimley and McCowan Roads, just south of Highway 401... 21A Scarborough Centre
34 Eglinton East	34   eastbound Kingston Road 34   westbound Eglinton Station Eglinton (TTC) Eglinton is a station on the Yonge–University–Spadina line of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is at 2190 Yonge Street at Eglinton Avenue. It is one of the larger stations of the Toronto Transit Commission , with several shops located on the concourse level... 34C (Eastbound and Westbound)
43 Kennedy	43   Steeles Avenue 43B Scarborough Centre Station via Progress Road
57 Midland	Steeles
86 Scarborough	86   Sheppard 86A Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo The Toronto Zoo is a zoo located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It opened August 15, 1974 as the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo and is owned by the City of Toronto; the word "Metropolitan" was dropped from its name when the cities of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto were amalgamated to form the... 86B Highland Creek 86D Beechgrove via Lawrence 86E express Sheppard (rush hours only)
113 Danforth	Main Street Station
116 Morningside	116   Finch 116A Conlins via Ellesmere 116E express U of T Scarborough and Conlins via Ellesmere
131E Nugget Express	Old Finch/Morningview via Scarborough Centre Station (rush hours only)