Connections 501 Closed 1932 | Status Demolished in 1974 Opened 1896 | |
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Location De Grassi Street, Riverdale,
Toronto, Ontario
Canada Line(s) CN Kingston Subdivision Distance 1.7 miles (2.7 km) to Toronto Union Station | ||
Riverdale railway station was located on De Grassi Street just north of Queen Street East in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Constructed by the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) in 1896 as "Queen East Station", on what is now the Lakeshore East line, the station was renamed "Riverdale Station" in 1907. The Canadian National Railway (CNR) took over the station in 1923, when they absorbed the Grand Trunk Railway. CNR discontinued passenger train service at the station in 1932 and demolished the building in 1974.
History
The station was originally built at grade, with a level crossing at Queen Street. This level crossing was considered very dangerous and on November 17, 1904, a collision here between a Toronto Railway Company streetcar and a GTR freight train killed three people and injured seventeen.
Construction began in 1925 on the Toronto Grade Separation project which was completed in 1930. The rebuilding of this eastern approach, beyond the Toronto Terminals Railway limit, eliminated the level crossing. The station had to be moved northwest to accommodate construction of the Queen Street overpass.
The last site of the station building is now part of City of Toronto's Bruce Mackey Park, (formerly Wardell Parkette) which runs along the westerly side of the railway tracks, between Queen and Dundas Streets.
Plans to build a GO Station at this location have been discussed as part of Metrolinx's Yonge Relief Network Study. The proposed SmartTrack plan, raised during the 2014 Toronto Mayoral Election, would also build a station here, where GO Transit's Stouffville commuter service crosses Queen Street.