Metrolinx staff ‘very confident’ Finch West LRT will open in 2024 after recent work

With a flurry of transit expansion projects occurring across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, the Finch West LRT line in northwest Toronto is the closest to opening to the public.

CityNews recently toured the 11-kilometre, 18-stop route once again to assess how construction is going.

“I’d say we’ve made tremendous progress in the last six months,” Andrew Hope, the chief capital officer for rapid transit with Metrolinx, told CityNews.

“I know people have been waiting a long time to have this project up and running, and we’re very, very pleased with where we are and excited about the benefits it’s going to bring.”

During a similar visit in July, the state of the infrastructure build raised questions if the line would be finished by the end of 2023 as originally hoped. At the time, staff with Metrolinx, the provincial transportation agency overseeing the private-sector consortium building the line, said the opening would likely happen in the first half of 2024. The projected opening for next year remains the case.

“We’re still working with TTC on what a realistic schedule is to actually open the line and so I would say mid-next year looks good right now, but there’s still a long way to go on testing, commissioning,” Hope said.

“Very confident we’ll have the line open by the end of 2024 at this point.”

Hope said several key infrastructure milestones were reached such as finishing the installation of rail tracks end to end in October, running overhead power lines across the line in October, completing the canopy structures at the 16 street-level stations in November, removing almost all road restrictions in December and Toronto Hydro bringing electricity to the entire system in December.

The most problematic part of the Finch West LRT line continues to be around Weston Road where crews are working toward the finish of rebuilding roads in the immediate area along with creating a new multi-use passageway below the rail tracks east of Weston Road (which is at the end of the design stage).

“That was a really tricky area for utilities, so there was a lot of really deep underground water and sewer mains and gas lines that had to be relocated,” Hope said.

The tendering process for the Finch West LRT began in 2015 and a consortium was selected to build the line in 2018. The budget for constructing the line, buying 18 trains and providing maintenance for 30 years is $3.4 billion.

Hope said despite the delay into next year, there were many advantages to this project compared to other similar lines such as the Eglinton Crosstown.

“Eglinton, just to give you some comparisons, has 76 vehicles, almost twice as long (as the Finch West LRT) at 19 kilometres– very different,” he said.

“Although it’s still a very large project, it is simpler and less complex. The train control system is much simpler on Eglinton. It’s automatic train control here. It’s a much simpler system.

“That’s why we have this degree of confidence given where we are and given what we need to do to get through the testing and commissioning process in terms of challenges with this project.”

In January, Hope said those involved with the project are aiming to take trains between Finch West and Humber College stations (something that hasn’t happened yet due to a lack of electrical power) and working to obtain the final occupancy permits for stations. Final road and concrete restoration work will need to carry through into 2024. A training program with the TTC to onboard new train operators also needs to continue.

“Obviously (it’s) a bit of an unpredictable process. We’re trying to make sure everything works and if there’s anything wrong, we have to fix it. That’s the process over the next six months, but it’s looking very good from where we stand right now.”

Shelagh Pizey-Allen, a spokesperson with Toronto transit advocacy group TTCriders, reflected on the need for better transit infrastructure like the Finch West LRT.

“It’s very important to have northwest Toronto connected by rapid transit,” she told CityNews, noting area residents face long travel times and crowded buses.

After the LRT line launches, she said there’s a concern in the community about local bus service along Finch Avenue West.

“Although it’s important to have rapid transit connections in that area of Toronto, many people use local buses to get their groceries and the Finch West LRT … stops are going to be spaced out much further apart so there are concerns about that and whether the new service will really be as accessible for people that are using it.”

When it comes to the LRT line, transportation planner David Cooper called it “eye-opening.”

“One reason why that project advanced was about transportation equity and access. That project advanced its way through previous rapid transit plans because it connects several neighbourhood improvement areas,” he said.

“So to really unlock that ability to have a high-quality transit in suburban Toronto, connecting several communities that are already transit reliant. This is something that will be a huge benefit to the communities and then also unlock our ability to connect to another post-secondary institution.”

Cooper also said there’s a case for extending the Finch West LRT south beyond the station at Humber College’s north campus to Toronto Pearson International Airport.

“To have that connectivity in the future between Humber and the airport, I think it’d be very transformative for those who work at the airport all day and all night.”

This is the third story in a five-part series called ‘Transit 2024,’ which looks at several of the Ontario government’s major GTA transit expansion projects. CityNews will have updates on the Hazel McCallion LRT and the GO Transit expansion program later in the week. Click here to read part one and click here to read part two (the Ontario Line).