CANADA: Toronto’s Line 5 Eglinton light rail route opened with a day of free travel but without public ceremony on February 8.
Toronto Transit Commission is operating an ‘introductory’ service, pending the launch of the full service once the new line has demonstrated a high degree of reliability in real-world conditions.
Route
The 19 km line runs from Mount Dennis in the west to Kennedy in the east, with a 10 km section in twin bore tunnel and 25 stops including interchanges with metro lines 1 and 2, 68 bus routes, the Kitchener and Stouffville GO commuter rail lines and UP Express airport services.
When the full service begins there will be an end‑to‑end travel time of approximately 50 to 55 min, compared to up to 105 min by bus.
The line to be further extended with the 9·2 km seven-stop Eglinton Crosstown West Extension from Mount Dennis to Renforth Drive, and there will be interchanges with the metro’s Ontario Line and the Scarborough Subway Extension.
Project
Initial construction works for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT project began in mid-2011, with boring of the tunnels getting underway in 2013 and being completed in 2016.
The Crosslinx Transit Solutions consortium of ACS-Dragados, Aecon, EllisDon and SNC-Lavalin (now AtkinsRéalis) was awarded a C$9·1bn construction and 30 year maintenance contract covering the track and railway systems in November 2015, when opening was scheduled for 2021. However, the project was delayed and costs have increased as a result of construction problems and the coronavirus pandemic.
Alstom, as successor to Bombardier Transportation, supplied the communications-based train control system, along with 76 Flexity LRVs. The 100% low-floor vehicles with a capacity of 200 passengers were manufactured and tested at Alstom’s Kingston site and will be maintained by the supplier. ‘Alstom’s vehicles and signalling continue to serve as the backbone of a crucial piece of the Greater Toronto Area’s transit system’, said Michael Keroullé, President of Alstom Americas, when the line opened.
TTC is responsible for operations, staffing, security and revenue control under agreements with Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area transport agency Metrolinx and the City of Toronto.
Staged opening
The phased opening of new light rail lines was one of 103 recommendations in the 2022 final report of the public inquiry into Ottawa’s troubled Confederation Line project which opened in 2019.
TTC will deploy shuttle buses to keep customers moving in the event of service disruptions during the introductory period. The operator said it would announce the start of full service once all partners are confident in the line’s performance, and a celebratory event will be held at that time.
