Kennedy is a Toronto subway station that is the eastern terminus for both Line 2 Bloor–Danforth and Line 5 Eglinton. Opened in 1980, it is located east of the Kennedy Road and Eglinton Avenue intersection. With the adjacent Kennedy GO station on the Stouffville line of GO Transit, Kennedy is an intermodal transit hub and the fifth busiest station in the system, after , , , and , serving a total of approximately customer trips a day.
It was built as part of the extensions west to Kipling and east to this station. The station's main complex has four floors with wheelchair accessible entrances. The ground level is the bus terminal surrounded by ten platforms that serve 16 Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) bus routes. Wi-Fi service is available at this station.
Kennedy station was previously the southern terminus of Line 3 Scarborough before it was permanently closed on July 24, 2023. The line was opened in 1985. The station's bus terminal is being expanded to handle replacement buses.The future of TTC’s Line 3 Scarborough (SRT)
Construction to expand the station began in 2017 to add a platform for Line 5 Eglinton, which opened in 2026.
Station complex The station is located south of Eglinton Avenue, east of Kennedy Road. The station complex consists of four levels. Trains of the former Line 3 Scarborough previously ascended via a bridge to the platform located at the top level of the station complex. The ground floor (third floor, but labelled 2 in the elevator) consists of ten bus platforms surrounding the main building. Three satellite pedestrian entrances to the station can be found at the South Parking Lot, next to the Don Montgomery Community Centre, and the passenger pick-up and drop-off roundabout on Transway Crescent. (A fourth entrance, at the service road of Eglinton Avenue, was demolished in 2018.) Below the ground level is the concourse that spans the length of the station, connecting to all pedestrian entrances. Below the concourse is the platform for the trains of both lines.
Four park and ride lots, that had a combined total of 729 spaces, used to be located around the station. As of August 21, 2023, these lots no longer exist.
Line 2 Bloor–Danforth Line 2 Bloor–Danforth was opened on February 25, 1966, and was extended eastwards to Warden station on May 10, 1968, and to Kennedy station on November 21, 1980.
An extension of Line 2, called the Scarborough subway extension, is under construction that will make Kennedy a through-station. From Kennedy station, the three-stop, extension will travel east under Eglinton Avenue, then north under Danforth Road and McCowan Road to terminate at Sheppard Avenue.
The platform walls at Kennedy were originally clad with two vertical rows of red vinyl slats separated by a black strip showing the station's name in Univers font. This cladding was replaced by grey enamelled panels using the traditional Toronto Subway font with red trim with smaller lettering along the top in a 2025 renovation, evoking the original stations along the line.
Line 5 Eglinton Kennedy was expanded to become the eastern terminus of Line 5 Eglinton. The Line 5 platform is also underground, south of Eglinton Avenue East, about north of the Line 2 platform.
The main entrance to Kennedy station at the southwest corner of West Service Road and Transway Crescent was demolished and replaced by a new entrance to access the expanded concourse area built as part of the Line 5 project. Two elevators connect this newer concourse area to the Line 5 platform below. Two north–south passages connect the Line 5 section of the concourse to the original Line 2 concourse. There were few changes to the Line 2 concourse. A secondary entrance on the east side of the GO rail corridor serves as the main entrance to the GO station.
Former Line 3 Scarborough In 1985, Kennedy station was expanded to serve Line 3 Scarborough, an elevated light metro line with six stations. In 2023, Line 3 was decommissioned and is planned to be replaced by an extension of Line 2 to Scarborough City Centre.
Although Line 3 trains had bidirectionally operated metro trains, the tracks for Line 3 extended beyond the top-floor platform into an above-ground turning loop, similar to those found on the Toronto streetcar system. This was because Line 3 had been planned as a dedicated right-of-way streetcar line rather than a metro line. As such, the top-floor platform was designed to operate streetcars. Line 3 was later built as a medium-capacity rail transport line to use the Intermediate Capacity Transit System train models built by Bombardier Transportation. The line began using two-car trains, which were able to travel along the turning loop, but was later converted to use four-car trains, which could not be operated along the tight loop. Thus, the use of the loop for reversals was discontinued after 1988, although the loop's elevated structure remains over the passenger pick-up and drop-off building and was occasionally used as a tail track to store trains. The station platform was reduced to a single track and began using the Spanish solution of unloading and boarding passengers at Kennedy. Original floor finishing and platform edge markings for the planned light rail can also be seen along the current tracks.
Public art
Kennedy station used to feature a mural titled A Sense of Place by artist Frank Perna. The mural was completed in 1997 and used to wrap around the station's main entrance, but when the entrance was demolished in 2018, half of the mural was destroyed.
As part of a program to install public art at major interchange stations along Line 5 Eglinton, two new artworks were placed at the station. Reorganization of One Hedge, by Dagmara Genda, is a mural of photographs of leaves taken from the same hedge, and printed on the glass of a skylight, and Locations of Meaning, by Joseph Kosuth, consists of etched tiles with stainless steel inserts, each spelling the word "meaning" in one of the 72 languages used in Toronto.
Surface connections
There are two bus platforms at Kennedy station. Platform A, within the fare-paid zone, contains bus bays 1 through 10. Bus platform B, opened on October 8, 2023, is located outside of the station building on the south side of platform A and contains bus bays 11 through 18, primarily serving buses running express to Scarborough Centre station. As of February 18, 2024, bus bays 6 through 10 are closed for construction related to the Scarborough Subway Extension.
While the subway is closed, passengers may board buses outside the station near Transway Crescent. TTC routes serving the station include: Bay number Route Name Additional information Platform A1Unloading only234EglintonWestbound to Mount Dennis station312AKingston RoadWestbound to Victoria Park station via Brimley Road and Variety Village12BWestbound to Victoria Park station via Brimley Road116MorningsideEastbound to Finch Avenue East and Morningside Heights201Bluffer's ParkSouthbound to Bluffer's Park486AScarboroughEastbound to Toronto Zoo86BEastbound to Highland Creek86CEastbound to Sheppard Avenue East86DEastbound to Beechgrove Drive via Lawrence Avenue East154 Curran HallEastbound to Conlins RoadWheel-Trans5905Eglinton East ExpressEastbound to University of Toronto Scarborough986Scarborough ExpressEastbound to Sheppard Avenue East6Under construction78910 Platform B 11903AKennedy Station–Scarborough ExpressNorthbound to Centennial College via Scarborough Centre station903BNorthbound to Scarborough Centre station904Sheppard–Kennedy ExpressWestbound to Don Mills station via Scarborough Centre station939AFinch ExpressWestbound to Finch station via Scarborough Centre station939BWestbound to Finch West station via Scarborough Centre station and Finch station1238AHighland CreekEastbound to Rouge Hill GO Station via Scarborough Centre station38BEastbound to University of Toronto Scarborough via Scarborough Centre station133NeilsonNorthbound to Morningside Heights via Scarborough Centre station and Centenary Hospital938Highland Creek ExpressEastbound to University of Toronto Scarborough via Scarborough Centre station386ScarboroughBlue Night service; eastbound to Sheppard Avenue East1320CliffsideWestbound to Main Street station113DanforthWestbound to Main Street station131NuggetEastbound to Old Finch Avenue and Morningview Trail via Scarborough Centre station300BBloor–DanforthBlue Night service; westbound to West Mall1421CBrimleyNorthbound to Steeles Avenue East via Scarborough Centre station57MidlandNorthbound towards Steeles Avenue East334AEglintonBlue Night service; westbound to Pearson Airport334BBlue Night service; eastbound to Finch Avenue East and Neilson Road via Morningside Avenue and westbound to Mount Dennis station15129AMcCowan NorthNorthbound to Major Mackenzie Drive East via Scarborough Centre station129BNorthbound to Steeles Avenue East via Scarborough Centre stationLine 2Shuttle BusWestbound towards Warden station1643AKennedyNorthbound to Steeles Avenue East43BNorthbound to Scarborough Centre station via Progress Avenue43CNorthbound to Village Green Square943Kennedy ExpressNorthbound to Steeles Avenue East343KennedyBlue Night service; northbound to Steeles Avenue East17Layover Spot18Layover Spot
See also Eglinton East LRT, a proposed surface-level LRT line to run east from Kennedy station via Eglinton Avenue, Kingston Road and Morningside Avenue to Sheppard Avenue Scarborough busway, a busway that operates along the former Line 3 Scarborough right-of-way between Kennedy station and Ellesmere Road
References
External links
published by the Crosstown project about an art piece to be installed at Kennedy station