19 Church (1954-1996)

19 CHURCH Map

Compiled by Jeffrey Kay

May 16, 1954

Buses replace streetcars on Church Street between Asquith Loop and Front. At the south end, buses loop via west on Front, north on Scott and east on Wellington. This is unchanged from the streetcar routing. Buses are operated from Sherbourne Garage.

 CHURCH 

 BLOOR 
 SCOTT 

Daily, 18 hours a day

January 22, 1956

The route is shortened at the south end after 6:30 p.m., Mondays through Fridays, and after 2 p.m. on Saturdays and all day on Sundays. At these times, buses loop via west on King, north on Toronto and east on Adelaide.

 CHURCH 

 BLOOR 
 SCOTT 

Mon-Fri, rush hours and midday

 CHURCH 

 BLOOR 
 KING 

Mon-Fri evenings,
Saturday afternoons & evenings,
Sundays and Holidays

Autumn 1956

Assigned route number 19

1970s Church Transfer

(Above) Early 1970s Church transfer. (Below) Church transfer during mid 1980s.

Church Transfer Mid 1980s

June 29, 1958

Hours of Sunday operation are reduced to approximately 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

 CHURCH 

19

 BLOOR 
 SCOTT 

Mon-Fri, midday and rush hours,
Saturdays until 2 p.m.

 CHURCH 

19A

 BLOOR 
 KING 

Mon-Fri evenings,
Saturday afternoons and evenings
Sunday and Holidays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

July 15, 1960

Thanks to new one-way operation on Wellington and Front Streets in this area, the Front loop is reversed so that buses now operate via west on Wellington, south on Scott and east on Front. It is possible that the rollsigns might have replaced “SCOTT” for “FRONT” at this time.

 CHURCH 

19

 BLOOR 
 FRONT 

Mon-Fri, midday and rush hours,
Saturdays until 2 p.m.

 CHURCH 

19A

 BLOOR 
 KING 

Mon-Fri evenings,
Saturday afternoons and evenings
Sunday and Holidays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

February 26, 1966

Coincident with the opening of the BLOOR-DANFORTH SUBWAY, Asquith loop is closed and buses now operate via north and west on Church Street, south on Park Street and east on Bloor back to the route. This arrangement shortens the walk to Bloor-Yonge station.

April 23, 1967

Operation of this route shifts from Sherbourne Garage to Danforth garage.

June 13, 1967

The north loop is changed to operate via north on Church, west on Asquith, south on Park and east on Bloor.

June 28, 1969

Saturday afternoon service extended south to Front Street to serve the St. Lawrence Market.

 CHURCH 

19

 BLOOR 
 FRONT 

Mon-Sat, midday and rush hours

 CHURCH 

19A

 BLOOR 
 KING 

Mon-Fri evenings,
Saturday evenings
Sunday and Holidays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

May 11, 1975

All buses now operated south of their present loops to serve the Ferry Docks. Buses run south on Church, west on Wellington, sotuh on Bay, west on Lake Shore, south on York, east on Queens Quay, north on Bay, east on Front and north on Church.

 CHURCH 

19B

 BLOOR 
 DOCKS 

Mon-Sat, 18 hours a day
Sunday and holidays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

March 14, 1976

Operation of this route shifts from Danforth to Davenport Garage, coincident with the opening of Wilson Garage.

May 23, 1976

The south end of this route is revised to serve the CN Tower. Buses operate south on Church, west on Wellington, south on Yonge, west on Front, north on University, west on Wellington, south on John east on Front and north on Church.

 CHURCH 

19B

 BLOOR 
 CN TOWER 

Mon-Sat, 18 hours a day
Sunday and holidays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

September 6, 1977

The north loop is revised to operate via north and west on Church, south on Park and east on Bloor. Asquith is no longer used.

June 24, 1979

Evening and weekend service discontinued. Buses operate Mondays to Fridays from 6 a.m. to roughly 7 p.m.

February 9, 1981

New 30 Orion buses are used on this route, to more efficiently handle its lower ridership.

June 4, 1982

Route extended west of the CN Tower to Spadina. Buses now loop via west on Front, north on Spadina, east and north on Clarence Square, east on Wellington and south on John.

 C H U R C H 
 via CN TOWER 

 19B 

 BLOOR 
 SPADINA 

Mon-Fri, rush hours and midday

May 23, 1983

Service cut back to the CN Tower, looping via north on University, west on Wellington, south on John and east on Front.

September 6, 1983 or earlier.

South loop revised to operate north on York, west on Wellington, south on John and east on Front.

January 6, 1986

Service at the south end is extended beyond the CN Tower to serve a new residential community at Bathurst Quay. Buses operate west on Front and south on Bathurst, looping west on Fleet, west on Lake Shore, north on Strachan and east on Fleet, returning north on Bathurst and east on Front.

 C H U R C H 
 via FRONT 

 19 

 BLOOR 
 STRACHAN 

Mon-Fri, rush hours and midday

November 27, 1989

Route rerouted at the southwest end to provide better service to the growing Harbourfront residential community. From Union Station, buses now operate via west on Front, south on Spadina and west on Queen’s Quay, looping via north on Stadium, east on Lake Shore and south on Bathurst, returning via east on Queen’s Quay, north on Spadina and east on Front.

 C H U R C H 
 via FRONT/SPADINA 

 19A 

 BLOOR 
 BATHURST 

Mon-Fri, rush hours and midday

May 13, 1991

Service west of Union Station replaced by a portion of the new 121 FRONT-ESPLANADE service. Church buses now loop at the south end via west on Wellington, south on Bay and east on Front.

 CHURCH 

 19 

 BLOOR 
 UNION STN 

Mon-Fri, rush hours and midday.

February 14, 1994

Midday service discontinued. Buses operate rush hours only.

February 16, 1996

Coincident with system-wide service reductions as a result of reduction in government subsidies, all service on 19 CHURCH eliminated following the completion of service on this date.


19 Church Image Archive

TTC 1514 at Sherbourne Garage

TTC bus 1514 poses at Sherbourne Garage on March 16, 1958. Photo donated by Peter Coulman.

GM 3796

TTC GM bus 3796 operates northbound on Church Street, about to cross Adelaide. Photo by Pete Cox.

New Look 3964 on Scott Street

TTC New Look 3964 poses on Scott Street, about to make a northbound run on 19 CHURCH. Photo donated by Peter Coulman.







About this Page

This page contains a chronological history of the 19 Church (1954-1996) bus route.

18 Caledonia (1964-1994) was the previous history in this collection.

20 Cliffside is the next history in this collection.

To see a list of all available bus route histories, return to this page or this page for an overview of all available TTC bus related articles, or the main page for news and other articles in Transit Toronto.