Going Underground: Toronto's Subway and Montreal's Metro

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Topic spans: 1949 - 2000

Going Underground: Toronto's Subway and Montreal's Metro

They could zoom through underground tunnels at high speeds, transporting passengers to their destinations comfortably and efficiently. Canada's two new subways were considered marvellous feats of modern engineering in the 1950s and '60s. As the decades passed, Toronto's subway and Montreal's metro became more than just technological marvels — they were also places for people to meet, musicians to perform and artists to display their work.

Photo of Montreal Metro by Denis Jacquerye, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 license

8 television clips

9 radio clips

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What a golden age! Three tokens for 25 cents and nobody is standing in the doorway of the subway car like everyone does today. Also love the music running through a news report. I want to live in the 1950's.

Submitted by: Stephanie

'Toronto got itself a subway... really!'

Broadcast Date: April 4, 1954

With station walls decorated in such "restful colours" as "pearl grey," "English eggshell" (green), and "primrose" (yellow), Toronto's subway system is finally open to the public. This CBC special report — which airs several days after the opening — celebrates the event with a quick look back at how it all came together, followed by a lesson for viewers on how the subway works. To conclude the report, the announcer proudly declares, "Toronto got itself a subway...really!"

'Toronto got itself a subway... really!'

• Ontario Premier Leslie Frost and Toronto Mayor Allan Lamport presided over the opening on March 30, 1954, with hundreds of citizens showing up to enjoy the ceremony.

• This first subway line, stretching 7.4 kilometres along Yonge Street (from Eglinton to Union Station), cost approximately $59 million to build — quite a bit more than the originally estimated $28 million.

• In its inaugural run, the train completed the entire journey of the subway line in just 12 minutes.

• Torontonians would have to wait almost a decade before seeing any new additions to the subway network. The TTC opened the University Avenue section of the Yonge/University line (which ran parallel to the original Yonge line along University Avenue, from Union Station to St. George)on Feb. 28, 1963; the long-awaited east-west Bloor line (initially running from Keele Station to Woodbine Station) opened on Feb. 25, 1966.

'Toronto got itself a subway... really!'

Medium: Television

Program: CBC Newsmagazine

Broadcast Date: April 4, 1954

Duration: 6:23

Last updated:
Sept. 1, 2009

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