Toronto's ghost subway station — a fully intact, eerily preserved platform sitting unused beneath the active Bay Station on Bloor-Yonge. Built in 1966 as part of a short-lived U-loop experiment, Lower Bay ran passenger service for just six months before the TTC quietly abandoned it. Today it appears in films, TV shows, and music videos, and opens to the public a few times a year during Doors Open Toronto.
Neighbourhood: Bay Street Corridor / Downtown · Address: Beneath Bay Station, 1 Bay St (at Bloor), Toronto · Hours: Not publicly accessible — open during Doors Open Toronto (annual May event) and occasional TTC special events · Price Range: Free (open days only) · Website: https://www.doorsopenontario.on.ca/ · Editorial status: Not yet verified
If you're into urban mysteries, Lower Bay lets you step into a subway station frozen in time, complete with original signage and retro tile work. It’s a rare backstage pass to TTC history that almost nobody gets to see.
Unlike other abandoned spaces, Lower Bay is fully preserved and directly beneath a busy operational station—so close, yet completely off-limits most of the year. Its short-lived service and frequent use as a film set set it apart from Toronto’s other ghost stations.
If you like bookstores with a bit of personality — and by personality, I mean a slightly eccentric, wonderfully specific obsession with old paper — make time for The Monkey’s Paw in Bloordale Village. It’s on Bloor West at 1267 Bloor, an easy walk from either Dufferin or Lansdowne on Line 2, and it feels like the kind of place Toronto is lucky to still have: small, highly curated, and completely unlike chain-store browsing. The first thing most people come for is the Biblio-Mat, and honestly, it lives up to the hype. It’s the world’s first coin-operated vending machine for books, and yes, it really works exactly the way you want it to. You drop in a toonie, pull the lever, and after a satisfyingly theatrical clunk-and-whirr, out slides a random vintage book. That’s it. No algorithm, no recommendations, no peeking. Just chance. You could walk out with a battered mid-century novel, an oddball how-to manual, a forgotten memoir, or something so obscure you’ll immediately want to show it to someone. Half the fun is that tiny moment of suspense while the machine does its thing. Bring cash, specifically a $2 coin — the Biblio-Mat only takes toonies, and it’s the one part of the visit you don’t want to miss. But the shop isn’t just a gimmick built around a good machine. The real pleasure is in the shelves. The Monkey’s Paw specializes in antiquarian and unusual books, and browsing here feels less like shopping and more like poking around in someone’s extremely well-organized collection of fascinating stuff. You’ll find out-of-print art and photography books, old paperbacks with incredible cover design, strange reference books, literary curiosities, vintage ephemera, and titles that make you stop and think, who on earth kept this all these years? Then you pick it up and suddenly you’re ten pages in. It’s a great stop if you’re the kind of person who likes buying gifts that nobody else will think of. Even if you don’t leave with a big stack, there’s a good chance you’ll find one perfectly weird little thing for a friend who collects design books, old sci-fi, or niche Canadiana. And if you’re visiting solo, even better. This is a very easy place to spend 30 minutes that turns into an hour without noticing. Go on a weekday afternoon if you want the quietest browsing. The shop is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., though I’d still check Instagram before heading over in case hours shift. Stock rotates constantly, so repeat visits are actually worth it — especially if you get mildly addicted to the Biblio-Mat, which is very possible. It’s free to browse, the random book costs just $2, and even if you leave with nothing but a slightly dusty toonie-less pocket, you’ll still feel like you found one of the city’s more charming rituals.
Lower Bay is a ghost subway station built in 1966 beneath the active Bay Station at Bloor and Bay. It was part of a short-lived U-loop experiment that would have connected the Bloor-Danforth and Yonge-University lines. After just six months of passenger service (February to September 1966), the TTC ended the experiment and sealed the station. It has sat preserved but unused ever since, occasionally used for film and TV shoots.
Yes — but only on specific dates. Lower Bay Station opens to the public during Doors Open Toronto, an annual event held each May where hundreds of normally inaccessible buildings and spaces open for free. The TTC also occasionally opens Lower Bay for special events. Outside of these windows, it is not publicly accessible. Check doorsopenontario.on.ca each spring for the exact dates.
Yes — Lower Bay is one of Toronto's most filmed locations precisely because it looks like a 1960s New York or Chicago subway, not Toronto. It has appeared in numerous Hollywood productions, TV series, and music videos over the decades. Productions value it because it can double as almost any North American subway system from the 1960s to 1990s. You've likely seen it without realizing it.
Lower Bay Station sits directly beneath the active Bay Station on Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth), at the corner of Bloor Street West and Bay Street in downtown Toronto. The platforms are one level below the in-use Bay Station platforms. When you stand on the northbound Bay Station platform, you are directly above Lower Bay.
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