Photo offers a glimpse of Diggy Scardust’s progress tunneling the Scarborough Subway Extension

Metrolinx has offered a peak at the handiwork to date of the tunnel boring machine inching its way south as it digs the massive tunnel for the Scarborough Subway Extension.

Launched back in mid-January, “Diggy Scardust” started his journey at Sheppard Avenue East and McCowan Road and has progressed 832 metres on his nearly seven-kilometres journey to Eglinton Avenue East and Midland Avenue.

Diggy is to borough roughly 6.9 kilometres of the 7.8-kilometres subway extension, with the station contractor set to complete the rest.

In the photo released this week, a walker can be seen in the shaft, giving an impression of the size of the cavernous space where trains will run side-by-side.

“While this is not the first photo of the Scarborough Subway Extension tunnel we have released (posted on Instagram on Sept. 7), this is the first photo that shows the sheer size of this tunnel, which is being created with the largest tunnel boring machine used for a transit project in Canada,” Metrolinx said.

At 10.7 metres wide, the tunnel being dug by Diggy will be the first subway tunnel in Toronto to have two subway tracks operating side-by-side in both directions.

"This initial phase of tunnelling has focussed on fine-tuning our operations and establishing baseline expectations, and we expect to make further progress in the new year," Metrolinx said.

According to Metrolinx, the huge machine can bore an average of 10-15 metres per day when in use and is resting up ahead of a big push next year.

“It is currently undergoing planned maintenance ahead of significant progress expected in 2024,” the regional transit agency said. “An online TBM (tunnel boring machine) tracker will also launch in the new year.”

When complete, the Scarborough Subway Extension will add threes stops – at Lawrence, Scarborough Centre, and Sheppard – to Line 2.

The extension, set to be complete in 2030, will provide some much-needed rapid transit for riders who used to use the now-decommissioned Scarborough RT, whose life came to an end with a derailment this past summer.

Express buses are currently running in priority lanes to replace the RT service between Scarborough Centre and Kennedy stations. A number of councillors have expressed support for creating a rapid busway in the path of the former RT to provide faster service until the extension is complete, but the project is not yet funded.