The Eglinton Crosstown LRT will carry its first passengers on Sunday morning, TTC CEO Mandeep Lali has confirmed, kicking off a low-key, cautious and phased opening to the long-delayed line.
Unlike the recent launch of the Finch West LRT, Toronto’s transit agency will not hold a ceremonial first ride for the Crosstown when it starts service on Sunday.
Lali said Tuesday that the TTC and Metrolinx had achieved some “huge milestones” on the Crosstown in recent months. He said there were no outstanding safety issues with the line.
The TTC CEO said the most recent tests for the line had been undertaken through a service simulation that involved more than 1,000 staff.
Sunday’s launch date was first reported by Global News in December, a target Lali had laid out in a tense meeting with the TTC. It was then effectively confirmed by Ontario Premier Doug Ford in late January.
As recently as last week, however, Lali expressed concern about what appeared to be random activations of the light rail line’s emergency brake systems.
He said Tuesday he’d met with the line’s builders and designers, who had explained what had triggered the stops, and he was satisfied the line was ready for launch.
“It’s a really exciting day that we’ve got the ability to announce a phased opening for Line 5,” Lali told reporters. “It is a great day to be able to say that — and I’ve got a privilege and honour to be able to do that.”
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Coun. Dianne Saxe, however, said she was less sure — and suggested the line was opening before it was ready.
“I am not satisfied, but our CEO has decided to open on Sunday, and so at this point we have no choice but to go along for the ride and ask people to provide feedback, treat it as a work in progress,” she told reporters.
“It’s a shame after 15 years to open it when it isn’t all the way ready.”
It’s been 15 years since construction began on the line, and six years since it was originally supposed to open.
The 19-kilometre, 25-station line will run between Kennedy Station in east Toronto and Mount Dennis in the west, and the province has said service will ramp up over six months.
A report last fall from the provincial transit agency Metrolinx said the project had incurred a cost of over $13 billion.
When the Eglinton Crosstown launches under its phased opening, it will begin service. That will mean:
- On weekdays, trains will run from around 5:30 a.m. until around 11 p.m.
- On weekends, trains will run from around 7:30 a.m. until around 11 p.m.
It’s been a long road to the project being ready to accept passengers.
Construction work on the line struggled along for more than a decade in Toronto, causing major congestion issues and forcing businesses along Eglinton Avenue to shut down.
The project was also hit by lawsuits and ongoing battles between the contractor and Metrolinx.
The province stopped offering an opening date for the line around 2023, saying the builder had not provided any credible timeline. Eventually, it began its final testing toward the end of 2025 and completed it in early December.
The provincial government then transferred responsibility for the line to the TTC for the final stages of testing and integration ahead of its launch. The province had wanted to see the line open at the end of December, but the city pushed back with the target of early February.
Pressure on the opening date has only increased since the troubled opening of the Finch West LRT in early December.
That line, which was described as simpler than Eglinton by Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay, has been plagued by breakdowns and service interruptions, particularly with its switch technology in freezing temperatures.
Riders have also complained about slow travel speeds on the line, which has not yet been given priority at intersections and has been stuck waiting for vehicles to turn.
Lali said lessons had been learned from the Finch launch and were already being applied to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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