‘Take that with at least a single grain of salt’: Eglinton Crosstown LRT could open by September, councillor says

"Out of Service" signs are shown on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT in Toronto on Friday, May 5, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT could open by September this year, a city councillor says, though the tentative timeline should still be taken with a “grain of salt.”

Coun. Josh Matlow tells CP24 that he’s heard from sources working on the ground they feel confident the beleaguered transit line will be ready this fall, though that timeframe is not something he is holding his breath for.

“I will always take that with at least a single grain of salt, given the delays that we’ve been seeing. They first promised that this would be open in 2020 and now we’re still waiting in 2025,” Matlow said in an interview on Tuesday, adding that local businesses have shuttered and communities have suffered as a result of the drawn out project.

“I’m a TTC Commissioner as well, and I can tell you that we are budgeting for a September opening. In fact, we have the budget ready for this June, so we are ready to take over the operations and ready to rock and roll. We want to get this done. We want to see people on this LRT, finally.”

Matlow says Metrolinx should be forthright and transparent about the challenges it has faced, adding that the agency has still not said what’s happening.

“Money keeps going down the tubes and I believe now that light literally may be at the end of the tunnel coming soon, but Metrolinx still just won’t tell us whether or not it really is happening,” the councillor said.

At a news conference on Tuesday, however, the head of Metrolinx said “exceptional progress” is being made on the Eglinton line, but did not disclose the opening date for the long-delayed and over-budget transit line.

Interim president and CEO of the Crown corporation Michael Lindsay, who stepped into the role last year after his predecessor Phil Verster resigned, said that driver training is currently taking place along the 19-kilometre route, which stretches from Mount Dennis in the west to Kennedy in the east.

When that training is done, he said, Metrolinx will carry out a number of stress tests on the line, focusing on signal performance, before moving to what’s known as “revenue service demonstration,” where trains will run at full volume and frequency without passengers onboard.

“Safety and reliability comes first, and we will know what the opening date is once those tests associated with revenue service demonstration and stress testing ultimately are concluded and they’re coming, they’re coming soon,” Lindsay said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Lindsay said he expects the revenue service demonstration to run for a “roughly” 30 days, the total duration of which could change based on what they find during that time.

Construction on the Eglinton Crosstown started back in 2011 and was slated to be finished by 2020. The massive $12.5 billion project has faced delays, lawsuits, and cost overruns and is now at least $1 billion over budget. This time last year, Metrolinx said that all of the major construction associated with the project had been completed, a milestone Lindsay repeated Tuesday.

Verster, who resigned after seven years at the helm of Metrolinx, previously said that the public would be given a three-month notice before the line opens and that the company was pushing towards a 2025 opening date, but its unclear if that’s still the case.

“Those tests are going to be the thing that really tell us what the safety and reliability performance of this line is going to be. And therefore, we need those tests in order to know what the actual opening date is going to be. But what I can tell you is, I see everybody doing the right things to prepare for this project to come into service this year,” Lindsay said.

Asked if it was “fair” that taxpayers still don’t have a target date for the opening, Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said the “cost of not building” the line is far greater.

“Michael Lindsay was given a mandate from the premier and myself and he’s been working diligently every single day to ensure that we’ve got a system that is safe and reliable to open to the public and we’ll continue to put every resource possible behind that,” he said.

The Tuesday news conference was held as the province announced it had started tunnelling the final segment of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, another transit line that will complement the LRT and run from Mount Dennis to Renforth into Mississauga.