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TFC fans excited about Ontario Line subway rides to BMO Field
The Ontario Line will get people from Don Mills & Eglinton to Exhibition GO in less than 30 minutes.
May 24, 2023
Marina Phillips is a Toronto Football Club (TFC) fan who knows her family’s matchdays will be even better once the new Ontario Line subway links her densely populated Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood directly with BMO Field.
“I’m excited to see something different that can get me there faster,” said Phillips, who shares season tickets with her husband and 10-year-old son.
TFC season ticket member Marina Phillips (right) outside BMO Field with her husband Nathaniel Anderson and son J-C Phillips-Anderson. (Mike Winterburn photo)
What is the Ontario Line?
The new Ontario Line subway will be a gamechanger, stretching 15.6 km from Don Mills and Eglinton, under the Danforth and under the downtown core to the Exhibition GO Station – just steps from BMO Field.
An end-to-end trip will cut the 90-minute journey to less than half an hour.
“I love it because I can take one option, instead of having to take a bus, the subway and then a streetcar,” Phillips said. “It’s a straight shot.”
Lakeshore West passengers exit Exhibition GO on their way to a Toronto FC home game at BMO Field. Once the Ontario Line is built, a new group of fans will come to the station by subway before cheering on the Reds. (Mike Winterburn photo)
Also, as a Raptors fan, Phillips takes TTC Line 1 from the station below her office at Bloor and Yonge directly to Scotiabank Arena, so she appreciates the opportunity to have an equally simple ride to soccer games.
Working downtown, she understands how giving people who live east of Yonge Street a new subway choice will make Line 1 less crowded, with the Ontario Line picking up riders from the northeast part of the city.
From Leslieville to Liberty Village
Geoff MacPhee, a season ticket holder since 2007 who grew up in Toronto’s Don Mills area, envisions an easier ride to both TFC matches and the restaurants of Liberty Village, just north of Exhibition GO.
“That whole neighbourhood needs a subway station. MacPhee said. “It feels like a downtown core.
“When it becomes more accessible, it will be even more of a destination than it is right now.”
MacPhee now lives in the Leslieville neighbourhood, which will also be be served by the Ontario Line.
A typical transit ride from De Grassi Street, in nearby Riverside, to BMO Field will go from 54 to about 20 minutes on the new subway.
TFC supporters can go straight from the GO platform into the stadium, or like these fans, head towards Liberty Village first. Ontario Line passengers will also have easy access to those lively restaurants. (Mike Winterburn photo)
Connections from Scarborough
You don’t have to live near the Ontario Line to feel the benefits, and that’s because many existing routes will connect directly to it. Scarborough fans who now take the subway and a streetcar to reach the stadium will save 16 minutes by transferring to the Ontario Line at Pape.
Once the Ontario Line is complete, Toronto FC fans will soon join soccer supporters around the world in making a direct subway connection part of their matchday experience.
by Mike Winterburn Metrolinx communications senior advisor
