Opening date for Crosstown LRT expected by end of summer: Metrolinx CEO

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There seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the opening of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT system.

Metrolinx president and chief executive Phil Verster said Thursday that the much-delayed light-rail project is on a “critical path” to completion and that a range of dates for service may be available by the end of the summer.

Verster made those comments at Leslie Station in North York during a news conference announcing new payment options for city transit with TTC CEO Rick Leary, Mayor Olivia Chow, Ontario associate transportation minister Stan Cho and other officials.

“The reason why a firm date for a complex transit project like this isn’t possible at this point in time is we’re in the testing and commissioning phase,” Verster said. “This is when technical, complex issues are found, fixed and rectified.

“But huge progress (has been made) and we’re keen to get you by the end of summer a clear indication when that Line 5 will be in service.”

The LRT project, which began in 2011 and was supposed to be in service by 2020 before multiple delays, hit another snag in the spring when hundreds of deficiencies were found along the 19-km, 25-stop line.

But Verster said there has been “excellent” progress made on track conditions and other issues.

“That’s been remedied to our satisfaction,” he said. “There are some long-term fixes that must come in, a whole host of things have been done on scope, systems and the like, which means that we had a really key milestone event this week when Rick’s team and my team signed off on the trainer to start.

“These are the trainers that will train the operating crews, which is on the critical path to get us to completion.”

The news came as Ottawa deals with another shutdown of its LRT system, which opened in 2019. The O-Train was shut down again on July 17 due to a bearing issue before reopening on Tuesday with single-car service that is expected to continue throughout the summer.

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Ottawa’s beleaguered LRT system was mentioned Thursday by Cho, who said construction on the Crosstown line is about 98% complete and the priority now is “making sure this is safe to operate.

“You don’t want to rush and open a line,” he said. “We see what’s happened with the example of … Ottawa with the derailment of the light rail there.

“People have suffered long enough waiting for this Crosstown to be completed. We’re going to open when it’s safe to do so.”