Chester is a subway station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The station is located on Chester Avenue just north of Danforth Avenue. It opened in 1966 as one of the original stations of this subway line.
Facilities
Following the design style set by the stations of the Bloor–Danforth line, Chester station uses a two-colour theme with the station's name in the Toronto Subway font. In keeping with the style, Chester's blue trim tiles and light green main tiles complement the original tile colours of Lansdowne and Dufferin, respectively. The station has side platforms with two tracks serving the station,
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Chester Station Exterior 2023.jpg|Station exterior
Chester Station Concourse 2023.jpg|Station concourse
Chester Station new exit 2023.jpg|New entrance opened on April 23, 2021
“Florae” mosaics and art glass completed in 2021.jpg|Artwork titled FLORAE by artist Katharine Harvey completed in 2021
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Communities served
The nearby communities that are served by this station include Greektown, Withrow Park, Riverdale, and Broadview North. In addition to serving these communities, Chester station is commonly used to access local street festivals such as the Taste of the Danforth.
History
Chester station was opened on February 26, 1966, along with the rest of the first phase of the Bloor–Danforth line which operated initially between and stations.
The Gateway Newsstand kiosk at the station, which had been vacant for over six years, was reopened on May 8, 2015, as "the Artist Newsstand" by a group of local artists led by Jess Dobkin. Along with the usual offerings of newspapers, magazines and drinks, the Artist Newsstand is a performance and gallery space for artists and was staffed by artists as a way of funding their work. A $4,000 Kickstarter campaign was launched to fund the renovation of the kiosk, with the campaign successfully raising $4,931. The Artist Newsstand operated in the space for one year. Chester was the last station left on the east end of Line 2 Bloor–Danforth where design work and consultation on the addition of a second exit had not started. In May 2014, a list of 15 potential second-exit sites was developed. In June 2016, the location of the second exit was announced, situated at the west side of the parking lot across the street from the main entrance. The construction of two elevators and the second exit started in 2018, and the elevators opened on September 2, 2020; the second exit opened on April 23, 2021. As part of the accessibility upgrades, the station was closed for two weeks in June 2020.
Surface connections
Chester station is not served by TTC buses during the day. When the subway is not in operation, the station is served by the 300 Bloor–Danforth night bus.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Route
!Name
!Additional information
|-
|300A
| rowspan="2" |Bloor–Danforth
|Eastbound to Warden; westbound to Pearson Airport<br />
|-
|300B
|Eastbound to Kennedy station; westbound to West Mall<br />
|}