Eglinton Crosstown LRT opening now targeted for October, revenue demonstration not started yet: Metrolinx

Metrolinx and provincial transportation officials say the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, which is in its 14th year of construction and commissioning, won’t be open before October.

The latest timeframe on the Eglinton Crosstown was revealed during an unrelated announcement about a station groundbreaking on the Scarborough subway extension on Friday morning. It came amid issues still being discovered during an ongoing, in-depth commissioning process.

“Since it’s not September, now we’re hoping it’s October. It really is about week over week, looking at what vehicle numbers tell us about the performance of this system,” Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay told reporters.

“We are doing the things right now in connection with the system that you do immediately before they come online. You do it as a responsible owner. You do it to learn the lessons of the Ottawa LRT. There isn’t the same ambiguity about what has to happen with civil infrastructure, or signalling, or train control systems. We are literally putting the system through its paces.”

A 30-day revenue demonstration service period marks the final hurdle to clear, which shows the system is operating as designed and can welcome passengers. As of Friday, that period didn’t start. It’s not clear when in October the Eglinton Crosstown could come online.

Lindsay noted passenger service would be gradually ramped when the opening does occur.

He said occasional issues with HVAC and communications systems have been identified. He also said wear on braking systems is happening sooner than originally forecast, adding that crews are trying to identify the root issues.

“I would acknowledge it’s frustrating that that’s revealing issues we have to solve, but I’m happy that we’re solving those issues now in this trial running period as opposed to when people are trying to ride this line,” Lindsay said.

He previously said that with light rail vehicles approaching a decade of not being able to run the kilometres intended for “revenue service,” there were vehicle “availability and reliability” concerns. During Friday’s update, Lindsay noted Monday was the first day the system had 10,000 kilometres of “passenger service” involving 20 to 22 vehicles.

When asked about a potential opening during winter conditions, he acknowledged “a much more aggressive preventative maintenance regime” for the tracks and stations.

“There is no drop-dead date by which we would be in the teeth of a Canadian winter and couldn’t think about opening it, but we want to be quite thoughtful of the implications of that,” Lindsay said.

He later promised there would be “safe and reliable” service across the Eglinton Crosstown line when asked if there was a concern.

“Yes, we’re going to make sure that this system is reliable when it opens and the level of service it provides is never clawed back.”

Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said he has “full confidence” in Metrolinx to finish the project. When asked if the Ontario government owes business owners and residents an apology over the project, one wasn’t provided.

“It’s frustrating there’s no argument about that. The construction, the delays, but look, we’re committed to building a system that is going to be safe and reliable,” he said.

At Queen’s Park Friday afternoon, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was asked about long-standing calls for a public inquiry into the project.

“I wouldn’t say a public inquiry. We’re going to get this moving, it’s going to be hopefully in a timeframe very short period, but we want to make sure it’s safe. I’ve been by and have seen those trains going up and down Eglinton,” he said before touting progress on other transit projects.

When asked if it was acceptable that Lindsay couldn’t guarantee an opening in October or before the end of the year, Ford quickly responded.

“No,” he said.

“We have to keep pushing it, but I want to make sure it’s safe. I’m going to have a meeting with Metrolinx, I’m going to have a meeting with TTC, find out exactly what the problem is.

“I want a line-by-line, detailed, itemized progress and what is taking so much time, and we’ll make sure we get down to the bottom of it.”

Operational control of the 19-kilometre, 25-station Eglinton Crosstown line was shifted to the TTC in June.

During a July TTC board meeting, former interim TTC CEO Greg Percy called September “a reach.”

“This fall is plausible and certainly by year-end. There’s lots and lots of stuff going on that we need to fix to open safely, and that’s what we’re focusing on,” he said at the time.

Percy said safety and customer experience are key issues, and that the TTC won’t open it until “it is satisfying both.”

In a July one-on-one interview with CityNews, new TTC CEO Mandeep Lali said the Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West LRTs were among the reasons he applied for the job. He said he felt confident that TTC staff would be ready to operate it as soon as Metrolinx finishes its commissioning work.