‘Major milestones’: Here’s what needs to happen before the Eglinton Crosstown can open

Science Centre Station on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is shown in Toronto on Friday, May 5, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

The province has transferred movement of the Eglinton Crosstown vehicles to the TTC and the project is now proceeding with “relentless” testing, the interim head of Metrolinx says.

“Major milestones have been met in respect of the progress on Eglinton Crosstown,” Michael Lindsay, the interim CEO of Metrolinx, told reporters at a news conference about a separate transit announcement Tuesday.

He said control of the vehicles on the line was switched from a backup control centre to the TTC’s command centre last week and all civil infrastructure for the project is now complete.

“As of today or tomorrow, movement of trains on the line is actually governed by the TTC, as it will be when the line is in revenue service,” Lindsay said.

All the TTC drivers who will be operating the vehicles are now trained as well.

“I would also note that we are relentlessly stress testing both the system and vehicles, and this really is the phase of the project that we’re in right now,” Lindsay said.

“We’re doing the things for this line that, frankly, were not done for projects like the Ottawa LRT, demonstrating to ourselves collectively that it’s going to perform the way we want it to on the day that it opens.”

Lindsay also provided more clarity Tuesday about exactly what still needs to happen for the line to open. Here’s what will happen:

Vehicles being tested now

“If you’re out on the Eglinton Crosstown alignment today, you will see as many as 28 trains, the full complement, moving on the line to test how the vehicles are performing,” Lindsay said. “What’s their maintenance profile? What systems upgrades ultimately have to happen? That’s going pretty well.”

Two trial periods

He said after the system achieves “a certain amount of stability” in those tests, testing will move to two more trial stages.

The first will be a two-week formal trial. That will be followed by a 30-day Revenue Service demonstration.

“We will literally run the system as it will run when it’s open to the public, with no passengers on it, just to satisfy ourselves that it performs the way that it needs to,” Lindsay said.

‘Bedding-in’ period

“We’ve added a further measure, which comes directly from the report on the Ottawa LRT, to have a bedding-in period post substantial completion of the project to continue with this testing, to make sure that when it opens, it will be safe and it will be reliable,” Lindsay said.

As defined by the final report into the Ottawa LRT project, “bedding-in” refers to a period early in the life of a system in which latent problems surface.

The report cited the lack of a bedding-in period and an insistence that the system be fully operational on Day 1 as contributing factors to the problems that line faced.

TTC says line must be certified as complete

In a statement Tuesday, the TTC said that while it is coordinating work with Metrolinx to get the line ready for service, a full handover will not occur until it has been determined that Crosslinx Transit Solutions (CTS), the consortium responsible for building the line, has delivered the project as agreed.

“Handover comes only after substantial completion is achieved, which requires that the Project’s Independent Certifier has certified that CTS has demonstrated the successful delivery of Line 5 in accordance with the requirements set out in its Project Agreement,” TTC Spokesperson Stuart Green said.

September opening possible

If all that testing goes according to plan, Lindsay said, a September opening could be possible.

“But I want to stress that we cannot open that system if it is not going to perform, because hundreds of thousands of people will rely upon it,” he said. “The trend-line is good, but it is always subject to revision, depending on what we find.”

Ontario Transportation Ministry Prabmeet Sarkaria said he’s optimistic that progress is being made toward an eventual opening.

“We’re on track, as long as we ensure that it is a safe and reliable system, that we are on track for that date, and Michael has been working relentlessly with his team to ensure that we’re meeting those major milestones when it comes to training or from an operational perspective,” Sarkaria said.

Construction on the Crosstown began in 2011 and the nearly-$13 billion line was originally expected to be complete by 2020.