Gray Coach was a Canadian inter-city bus line based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, from 1927 to 1992. It was founded and initially owned by the Toronto Transportation Commission, until sold to

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are dra ...

in 1990. In 1992 the business was sold to

Greyhound Canada Greyhound Canada Transportation ULC began as a local British Columbia bus line in the early 1920s, expanded across most of Canada, and became a subsidiary of the US Greyhound in 1940. In 2018, Greyhound pulled out of Western Canada, preserving ...

and the brand was retired.

Overview and history

CNE Automotive Building TTC Exhibit 1936

Gray Coach Lines was a suburban bus and sightseeing tour operator founded in 1927 by the Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC). From 1927 to the 1930s, Gray Coach acquired numerous and smaller competitors in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater ...

. The operator eventually dominated inter-urban bus service by the end of the 1930s, replacing or succeeding many Toronto and area interurban radial lines that had previously provided interurban transportation by light rail. Gray Coach Lines shield

Gray Coach used inter-urban coaches to link Toronto to outlying areas throughout Southern Ontario, such as Owen Sound,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Kitchener,

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the U.S. state, state ...

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal el ...

, North Bay,

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politicall ...

and

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

. Gray Coach also offered service to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

and in a pooling agreement with

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

, to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In addition, Gray Coach operated sightseeing tour service in and around Toronto, eventually in association with Gray Line tours. Gray Coach Lines also provided one-hour Motor Launch Tours of the lagoons off Toronto's harbour and of the waterfront (used Amsterdam canal style boats with large glass top now run by Toronto Harbour Tours). The main bus terminal was at the Toronto Bus Terminal on Elizabeth Street, downtown. A secondary terminal for parcel service was operated at the corner of Front and Sherbourne Streets and a secondary bus terminal, the

Sunnyside Bus Terminal Sunnyside Bus Terminal was an interurban bus station located in Sunnyside in the west end of Toronto at the foot of Roncesvalles Avenue and its intersection with King Street and Queen Street West (and later The Queensway) in Toronto, Ontario, Ca ...

was located at Queen Street West and Roncesvalles in Toronto's west end. Gray Coach was contracted to operate some

GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...

bus services when the latter was started in 1971. Eventually GO Transit took over some Gray Coach routes were, including the Hamilton, Oshawa and Port Perry runs. The contracting for GO Transit ended in 1985, when GO began to completely operate its own buses. By the 1980s, Gray Coach faced fierce competition in the Greater Toronto Area. To strengthen its position, Gray Coach bid to acquire inter-urban operator Trentway-Wagar. However, facing budgetary pressure, the TTC decided to focus on its core urban transit service. In October 1990 the TTC sold Gray Coach Lines to

who then sold it to

and

Ontario Northland Motor Coach Services Ontario Northland Motor Coach Services is an intercity bus service operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Crown agency of the government of Ontario, Canada. Ontario Northland Motor Coach Services operates passenger and pa ...

in 1992. Gray Coach's Gray Line franchised sightseeing operations were taken over by Greyhound Canada.

Livery

Livery of early buses were gray with the red crest with the words ''Gray Coach Lines''. The crest disappeared and replaced with the full wording with blue strip. The final buses had a white base with black letters ''GC''. A red stripe was added along the belt line on sightseeing, Airport Express, and Hostess Express premium-service buses.

Stops

Gray Coach had terminals and agencies at various locations across Toronto:

City routes

Gray Coach once operated a number of suburban and extra-fare express routes in Toronto.

Beach Coach

Operated from 1947 to 1952 between downtown and the Beaches via Eastern Avenue and Queen Street East.

Hill Coach

The first city coach route started running in 1925, between Forest Hill and downtown via Forest Hill Road, Poplar Plains Road, Dupont Street, St George Street, University Avenue, Osgoode and Albert Streets. In 1931 it was extended north to Glenview Avenue (later Otter Loop). Service was withdrawn in September 1954 due to opening of the new Yonge subway.

Islington

In April 1929 Gray Coach Lines acquired Maple Leaf Coach Lines. MCL's ISLINGTON route (via Dundas Street from Runnymede Road to Bloor Street in the town of Islington—now Six Points) was combined with the LAMBTON route and transferred to the TTC. It was transferred to Gray Coach ''circa'' 1930. As of January 1, 1954 it was included in the new

Metropolitan Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...

operation, and Gray Coaches were replaced by "red" city buses.

Kingsway Coach

Inaugurated in November 1945 between Bloor Street & Royal York Road and downtown via (South) Kingsway, Lake Shore Drive, Dowling Avenue and King Street, with an early and late extension to Burnhamthorpe & Holloway Roads via Bloor, Islington and Canning. Withdrawn in April 1946 after only five months of (presumably unsuccessful) operation.

Lambton

From Keele Street to Humber (Lambton Hotel) along Dundas Street. Operated initially by the TTC for York Township, it was transferred to Gray Coach ''circa'' 1930. As of January 1, 1954 it was included in the new

operation, and Gray Coaches were replaced by "red" city buses.

Leaside

From May 1, 1953 to January 1, 1954 the LEASIDE bus was operated by Gray Coach Lines.

Rosedale Coach

The ROSEDALE coach ran for just under two years (November 1928 to September 1930) between Summerhill & MacLennan Avenues and downtown via Glen Road, Sherbourne Street, Isabella Street, Jarvis Street and Shuter Street to Yonge Street.

Woodbridge93 Woodbridge Route History
/ref>

Gray Coach acquired the WOODBRIDGE route when the TTC bought out Roseland Bus Lines. From Lawrence and Weston via Weston Road, Albion Road, Thistletown, Woodbridge Road, Highway 7, 8th Avenue and Pine Street (Woodbridge Avenue) to Pine Grove Road, Woodbridge, with Sunday trips operating through the Thistletown Hospital (For Disturbed Children) grounds. The route was transferred to the TTC in December 1955 as Islington Bus (as 44 Islington 1956 to 1963 and now as 37 Islington).

Other Interurban Operators

A list of independent operators acquired by Gray Coach: * Danforth Bus Lines -

East York East York is a former administrative district and municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a semi-autonomous borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toron ...

* Hollinger Bus Lines - East York * Roseland Bus Lines -

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

, Ontario * West York Coach Lines -

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, Ontario * Maple Leaf Coach Lines - Islington, Ontario

References

External links

Gray Coach Lines roster
- all-time fleet list

{{StagecoachGroup Bus transport in Ontario Companies based in Toronto Defunct transport companies of Canada Gray Line Worldwide Defunct intercity bus companies of Canada Stagecoach Group Toronto Transit Commission Transport companies established in 1927 Transport companies disestablished in 1992 1927 establishments in Ontario 1992 disestablishments in Ontario