This one is by far the most popular line, but probably the least interesting. The original and oldest line (Canada’s first subway, really!) runs from Finch in the north to Union in the south. Regardless, this line has some fun.
The Yonge extension from Finch down to Lawrence contains the most-beautiful stations on the network, in my opinion. Each station has a bold accent colour and secondary background colour, although only Finch and Lawrence still have their original tiles. Finch has a tasteful black and grey colour scheme. North York Centre is an exception to this, but is still nice with its vibrant electric blue and white colour scheme. It certainly energizes the station, but it is unfortunate that the missing ceiling slats detract from the aesthetic and the use of Helvetica and crappy oversized Sheppard signage is lamentable1.
Moving south, Sheppard-Yonge is a terrible station and should be avoided if at all possible. It’s blue accents with cream background and tacked-on stainless-steel accents is dark, confusing, dirty (sadly) and all-around not great. It probably looked better when it was new.
York Mills has had its original tiles replaced, although the colour scheme is still the same. The turquoise and teal is a nice, cozy, bright look, and I like the way the new wall coverings look (similar ones are also at Osgoode and St. Andrew). They should remain shiny for years to come, and harken back to the grandeur of the original glossy Yonge line.
Lawrence is by far my favourite with its bright red accents with cream background. These colours go so well together and look so nice on the walls. The red is bold and energizing while the cream helps keep the tine down, and the geometry of the wall is very nice.
The rest of the line doesn’t hold very much interest, but it’s still neat to look at some of the original Yonge stations:
For some reason, Eglinton has retained its original Vitrolite tiles, the only station on the network to do so. They still look clean and modern (like the new ones at Union), and integrate well with the renovated glossy black and stainless-steel columns.
Rosedale, despite being renovated, is absolutely lovely. The soft green diagonal tiles integrate so well with the “forest” setting in which the station sits, and the softer Univers on the walls actually works here. A neat design note: the hallways rotate the tiles 45° to imply movement and provide contrast with the “restful” angled tiles of the platform.
Summerhill looks like a bathroom with its square “marble” tiles and red accents. Nice colour scheme, poor execution.
College and King are ugly. King is cozy, I guess, and College has neat integrated lighting over the station name which is a nice touch (and King is strangely lacking) but that’s about all that’s going for them2. At least it’s not Wilson.
And finally, Dundas. It’s like stepping into a bee. Safety yellow and black make for a very interesting colour scheme underground. I feel like it would be impossible to fall asleep in this station and I kind of like the colour scheme. It’s definitely not dark, it has nice contrast between the bright walls and the dark ceilings, and it is immediately identifiable. (Now if only we could update Toronto’s “tourist” stop to the latest signage, which is actually decent…)
While the stations might not be interesting, this part of the line has some beautiful open cuts. Keep a look out around Davisville for a lovely view of the cemetery (it’s not morbid!).
So, the Yonge line has some interesting stations and is an excellent connection to downtown, but is otherwise busy and doesn’t hold much interest.
As a side-note, this is the only station I’ve seen with textless Sheppard signage, in the concourse. It still sucks, but it has a nice clean look. I guess they ran out of space for the text? ↩
College sometimes shows its original colours in-between the ad frames: green with red accents. It looks like a peppermint. ↩