Boring machines now tunnelling under downtown Toronto for new subway line

A tunnel boring machine being used to dig the Ontario Line is pictured. (Handout)

The Ford government says tunnelling has officially begun for the downtown segment of the Ontario Line, a 15.6-kilometre subway project meant to take pressure off the city’s transit system.

Premier Doug Ford made the announcement Thursday, noting it will be the first subway tunnels dug under the downtown core in over 60 years.

“Right now, two tunnel boring machines are about to begin digging twin tunnels which will run six kilometres from the launch shaft near Exhibition Station to just west of the lower Don River,” Ford said, calling it “historic.”

He made the announcement near the planned final stop for the project at Exhibition Place, along with Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria, Toronto MP Evan Solomon, Mayor Olivia Chow, and other dignitaries.

Solomon called the milestone “a major step forward” for the project.

“It’s one of those moments when a project moves from promise to proof,” he said.

The two tunnel boring machines will be digging twin tunnels, as deep as 40 metres below the surface, from Exhibition Station toward the Don Yard near the Don Valley Parkway and Lakeshore Boulevard.

That’s the point where Ontario Line trains will emerge from the tunnels and run above ground across the Lower Don Bridge.

Target opening now early 2030s

Announced by the Ford government back in 2019, the Ontario Line was last given a revised target date of 2031 for completion, though Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay recently said the agency is now aiming for the early 2030s. He confirmed Thursday that is still the case.

“The civil infrastructure component of this project is hitting its milestones,” Lindsay said.

However he cautioned at the same time that the “complexity of this job is tremendous” and that should be kept in mind.

“Even the start of tunneling operations on the Ontario line does not mark the start of major construction progress on this project,” he said.

The line currently has an overall estimated cost of $29.5 billion, according to the latest update from Metrolinx, with the federal government providing $4 billion toward that cost. The original estimate when it was announced seven years ago was $10.9 billion.

When complete, the 15-stop line will stretch from Eglinton and Don Mills to Exhibition Place in the west, connecting with TTC Lines 1, 2 and 5, as well as Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, and Stouffville GO train services.

The line is expected to carry close to 400,000 riders per day, taking pressure off overcrowded parts of the TTC, particularly Line 1. The province estimates that during peak periods like rush hour, the Ontario Line will reduce crowding by up to 15 per cent on the busiest stretch of Line 1 between Bloor-Yonge and Wellesley stations.

New station names confirmed

Metrolinx confirmed Thursday that it has chosen new names for several stations “that better reflect well-known Toronto neighbourhoods.”

King-Bathurst will be known as King West, Queen-Spadina as Chinatown, Corktown as Distillery District and Riverside-Leslieville as Leslieville.

The province also released new artists’ renderings showing the planned stations Thursday. But those renderings portrayed the stations as low-rise buildings without housing on top.

Asked about the lack of housing in the drawings, Ford conceded “there should be.”

The province has touted adding housing density as a major benefit of the Ontario Line, with the government estimating new transit-oriented communities around the line will add 15,000 new homes in the city.

Excavation work for the stations has been underway for several years. The province said Thursday it is now complete at King West, Moss Park and Distillery District, and nearing completion at Chinatown.

With files from Jermaine Wilson