Eglinton Crosstown LRT set to finish revenue service demonstration, but final path to opening ambiguous

Ontario government officials say the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is set to complete its revenue service demonstration on Monday, but the final steps to open the beleaguered line still aren’t fully clear.

During an unrelated news conference Monday morning, Metrolinx president and CEO Michael Lindsay was asked about the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and its current projected opening date.

He confirmed Monday is “believe(d)” to be the final day of a 30-day revenue service demonstration process, which is intended to show the line is operating as it was designed. Lindsay said officials have been able to see how the trains perform through “all kinds of weather.”

“I can understand the frustration of absolutely everybody associated with this project,” Lindsay said.

“Over the course of the next week, there will be finer resolution of minor deficiencies. The project will achieve substantial completion; it will be ready.

“The testing of this particular system is the reason that we have worked so hard over the past couple of months to make sure we have a real confidence when we put passengers on this system it’s going to perform the way that we want it to.”

As for when it will open to TTC riders, he said Metrolinx will continue working with the TTC “to think about ramp up of passenger service” and the first day of service, adding there are discussions about things like final training. A current projected timeframe for opening wasn’t disclosed.

“I think we have been trying to provide clear and recurring updates on the status of Eglinton throughout the course of 2025, including today,” Lindsay argued when asked by a reporter about transparency over a variety of issues that have affected the opening of the 19-kilometre, 25-station Eglinton Crosstown LRT line.

He said crews responsible for commissioning and overseeing the Eglinton Crosstown took the “most deliberate and structured and careful approach to thinking about how we bring the service into being.”

The revenue service demonstration began on Oct. 7, but that work was paused later in the month due to a reported crash between two trains at the Mount Dennis maintenance and storage facility. There were no public reports of physical injuries.

“We are so, so close on the Crosstown,” Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria told reporters when asked about the opening without providing a rough timeframe.

Line 6 Finch West, the 18-stop LRT between Finch West subway station and Humber Polytechnic, is set to open to TTC riders on Sunday.

It underwent a similar revenue service demonstration process as the Eglinton Crosstown. It took the TTC and Metrolinx approximately six weeks to get to the anticipated opening from when the revenue service demonstration finished.

Lindsay said it’s not yet known if it will take the same amount of time from when the demonstration finished to launching the line.

Operational oversight capability of the Eglinton Crosstown was shifted to the TTC transit control centre in June.

Construction of the Eglinton Crosstown began in 2011 under the previous Ontario Liberal government and different Metrolinx management. It was supposed to open in 2020, but it has been repeatedly pushed back due to various legal, construction and testing issues along with COVID-19-related delays.