‘The speeds will increase’: Sarkaria and Chow say options being explored to speed up Finch West LRT

Ontario Premier Doug Ford rides the newly unveiled Finch LRT train in Toronto alongside Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Federal minister John Zerucelli, during the unveiling of the new LRT transit line in Toronto, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria says he expects travel times to improve on the newly opened Finch West LRT following initial reports of sluggish performance.

“The speeds will increase as the system continues to get used more, which happens with almost every transit system,” Sarkaria said at an unrelated news conference Tuesday. “So we will continue to see the speed increase on the LRT as we get more experienced on it, the drivers get more experienced on it, the operators are more experienced on it.”

The $3.7 billion light rail line opened Sunday after years of construction work and delays. However some initial reports said travel times along the line were just under an hour to go the full 10.3 kilometres.

Sarkaria noted that operational control of the line rests with the TTC now that Metrolinx has completed construction and line has opened. He said there are things the city can do, however, to speed up operations.

“So when we talk about signalling priority, one of the things that we’ve noticed is the green light for the LRVs (light rail vehicles) is shorter for the LRT than it is for vehicular traffic,” Sarkaria said.

He added that signal priority could also be given to LRT vehicles at intersections to help speed up the line.

“Those are two easy steps that could be used to speed up the speed of the train. That lies with the officials of the city and the transportation planning departments there. I’ve been encouraged by what I’ve heard from their teams on that,” Sarkaria said.

Asked about the slow travel times Tuesday, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow acknowledged the line could be speedier.

“The train is not as fast as it can be, absolutely,” Chow said. “So I’m hearing the feedback. I rode the train, and I know that it can be faster.”

She said she’ll be bringing a motion to council asking for transit signal priority, removing speed caps where possible, and increasing service frequency on the Finch West LRT.

Chow said she’s also spoken with TTC officials, who have said they will be looking at ways to speed up the line.

“The board is meeting tomorrow looking for ways to get the train going faster,” Chow said. “It’s important to note that the city and the TTC did not have full operational control until a few days ago, so we could not do what we want to do, because it belongs to Metrolinx. So the trains belong to them, but we now have operational control.”

Chow later said in a post on Reddit that she will also be moving motions to direct staff to implement active transit signal priority “as quickly as possible” on the long-delayed Eglinton Crosstown (Line 5), which is expected to open early in 2026.

In addition, she said she will be directing staff “to improve streetcar speeds everywhere,” though she did not offer specifics about a plan for doing so.