Getting around Toronto means choosing among a rail terminal, two airports with U.S. border preclearance, and a transit system whose first horse-drawn cars ran in 1861. This hub page introduces the four articles on this site that cover travel to, from, and within the city, and says what each one answers. Operators’ schedules, fares, and rules change often, so each article names the official page to check instead of printing figures.
What is verified about travel in Toronto
Union Station opened on August 6, 1927, when the Prince of Wales cut the ribbon, according to the City of Toronto, and remains the city’s main rail terminal, with subway and regional rail connections. Transit Toronto dates the city’s first streetcar route, horse-drawn, to September 11, 1861, and the first electric streetcars on Church Street to August 1892. The Yonge subway, Canada’s first, opened on March 30, 1954, according to the City of Toronto. For air travel, U.S. Customs and Border Protection lists both Toronto Pearson (Terminals 1 and 3) and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport as preclearance locations, where travelers bound for the United States are inspected before departure. These facts are explained, with sources, in the articles below.
Airports: Pearson and Billy Bishop
The article on Toronto airports answers the question searchers often ask in the form “how many airports does Toronto have”. It describes the two airports that serve the city, how they differ, and where the operators publish current information. Readers deciding which airport to use should start there and then open the airport’s own page for flights and ground transport.
Crossing to the United States
The guide to travel from Toronto to Washington, Boston, and New York sets out the three ways to leave Canada for those cities: the Maple Leaf train, a drive across a Niagara crossing, or a flight with preclearance. It quotes what the border agencies publish about documents and inspection, and it points to the operators for timetables and fares. No prices appear in it.
Transit history
The article on the history of Toronto public transit follows the system from horse cars and electric streetcars to the 1954 Yonge subway and later lines, with dates in a table. It is a history rather than a rider’s manual. It explains why a city of streetcars built a subway when it did, and who ran the system as it grew. For fares, routes, and service alerts, the Toronto Transit Commission’s own pages are the reference.
Union Station
The page on Union Station covers the building’s history, including the stations that stood before it, its stone and marble design, its heritage status, and its links to the subway and regional trains. It is the best starting point for anyone arriving by rail, and the station is also where the Maple Leaf to New York begins.
How the pages connect
The subjects overlap more than the titles suggest. The Maple Leaf to New York leaves from Union Station, so the U.S. travel guide and the station page describe the same platform from different sides. The airports article and the U.S. guide meet at preclearance, which moves the border check from the arrival airport to Toronto. The transit history explains the network that carries travelers between all of these points. Each page keeps to its own question and links to the others where the topics touch, so a reader can follow one thread without repeating material.
Practical details are handled the same way throughout. Fares, timetables, baggage rules, and border requirements belong to the operators and agencies that publish them, and each article names the page to consult. The articles supply the background that those pages leave out: dates, names, and the reasons things are arranged as they are.
The four pages at a glance
| Page | Main question | Where current details live |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto airports | Which airports serve the city | Airport and airline sites |
| Toronto to U.S. cities | How to cross the border to New York, Boston, Washington | Amtrak, VIA Rail, CBSA, CBP |
| Public transit history | How streetcars and subways developed | Toronto Transit Commission |
| Union Station | What the station is and who built it | Operators serving the station |
Where to begin
A traveler arriving by air reads the airports article first. A traveler heading south reads the U.S. travel guide. Someone interested in why the city has the streetcars and subway lines it has will find the answer in the transit history, and the Union Station page connects the rail story to the building itself. The general history of the city, which explains how its growth shaped these systems, is on the overview of Toronto history page.
Frequently asked questions
Which airport is closer to downtown Toronto?
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport lies on Toronto Island at the foot of Bathurst Street and describes itself as just minutes from downtown, while Pearson lies farther from the core. Both are described in the airports article, and each airport publishes its own directions.
Do flights to the United States clear U.S. customs in Toronto?
CBP lists both Pearson and Billy Bishop as preclearance locations, so travelers bound for the United States are inspected before departure and skip CBP and TSA inspections on arrival, according to CBP, which lists Terminals 1 and 3 at Pearson.
When did Toronto’s subway open?
The Yonge subway opened on March 30, 1954, according to the City of Toronto. The history of public transit on this site covers the later lines.
When did Union Station open?
Union Station opened on August 6, 1927, according to the City of Toronto. The City’s page gives 1913 or 1914 as the start of construction.
Related reading
- Toronto history: the main section
- History of Toronto: the full overview
- Visiting Toronto: landmarks and districts
- Toronto facts: location, population, and geography
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Preclearance (Canadian locations include Billy Bishop Toronto and Toronto Pearson, Terminals 1 and 3): cbp.gov
- Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, official site (location on Toronto Island at the base of Bathurst Street; U.S. preclearance): billybishopairport.com
- City of Toronto, History of Union Station (opening on August 6, 1927): toronto.ca
- Transit Toronto, A Brief History of Transit in Toronto (first streetcar route in 1861; electric streetcars in 1892): transittoronto.ca
- City of Toronto, Canada’s First Subway (Yonge subway opened on March 30, 1954): toronto.ca
More guides
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 27). Getting Around Toronto: Airports, Transit and Routes. http://localhost:8210/getting-around-toronto
MLA: “Getting Around Toronto: Airports, Transit and Routes.” History of Toronto, 27 Oct. 2026, http://localhost:8210/getting-around-toronto. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Getting Around Toronto: Airports, Transit and Routes.” Last modified October 27, 2026. http://localhost:8210/getting-around-toronto.
The pages have no named author, so the site is given as the author. Add the date you read the page if your style asks for it.