Projected Eglinton Crosstown opening timeframe still not clear as final western extension tunnelling begins

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT project is in its 14th calendar year, but as western extension tunnelling gets close to finishing, we’re still not closer to knowing the main line’s current projected opening timeframe.

Ontario government officials standing alongside Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow broke ground Tuesday morning on the final tunnelled part of the Eglinton Crosstown West extension near Mount Dennis station.

Two 500-metre tunnels need to be built to bring the existing Eglinton Crosstown line, which ends at Mount Dennis, to a future elevated structure before the extension goes back underground. The extension will see service extended to Renforth station in Mississauga.

However, the event comes amid an ongoing vacuum of detailed information surrounding the current state of commissioning the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line.

Michael Lindsay, the interim president and CEO of Metrolinx — the provincial transportation organization overseeing the private-sector consortium building the 19-kilometre, 25-station Eglinton Crosstown line — was asked by reporters about the opening date and the ability to meet it.

“The question,” he said while smiling before going on to praise Metrolinx staff and contractors for their work to date on the project and other transit initiatives.

Lindsay said when he took over Metrolinx at the end of 2023, he was given “a very clear mandate” by Premier Doug Ford and Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria to open the Eglinton Crosstown when it was “safe and reliable to do so.”

He said there has been “exceptional progress” on the line such as the completion of all major construction, receiving occupancy permits for all stations, and the resumption of driving training in mid-March after yet another signal software system update was completed.

Lindsay, who is on leave from his position as head of Infrastructure Ontario, said after all of the operators finish their training, stress tests and passenger simulations will need to be carried out as well as increasing the number of trains that are running at any given time.

“Those tests are going to be the thing that really tell us what the safety and reliability performance of this line is going to be and therefore we need those tests in order to know what the actually opening day is going to be,” he said.

“I see everybody doing the right things to prepare for this project to come into service this year. That’s why we see the TTC getting ready to operate.

“I’m confident that we’ve got the right set of activities and we’re working on the right things, and the partnership is a strong one.”

Similar to past messaging, Lindsay went on to cite the problems with opening Ottawa’s main light rail transit line as a reason to be cautious with opening.

Construction on the Eglinton Crosstown began under the previous Ontario Liberal government and different Metrolinx management in 2011.

The line was supposed to be finished by 2020, but it has been continually pushed back due to various legal and construction issues along with COVID-19-related delays. 

In recent years, hundreds of deficiencies were found and as CityNews first reported an entire station platform had to be rebuilt. A lack of transparency over the project has also been an ongoing issue, sparking calls for a public inquiry.

The last detailed briefing by Metrolinx officials for members of the media and the public on the project was in December 2023.

Former Metrolinx president and CEO Phil Verster previously said a three-month notice would be given before the line was ready to open to the public. It’s not clear if that same notice period will be given in the future.