The first station that will serve riders on the Eglinton Crosstown has opened, though the opening date for the long-delayed rapid transit line remains unclear.
Mount Dennis Station, near Eglinton Avenue and Black Creek Drive, opened its doors for the first time on Sunday,
The new transit hub will connect riders with the Kitchener GO, the Union-Pearson Express, and later the Eglinton Crosstown lines.
Mount Dennis is the first station to connect all three transit lines, according to a press release from Metrolinx.
“Customers can travel to Union Station in 16 minutes from Mount Dennis‚” Metrolinx said, adding that it’ll take 16 minutes to get to Pearson Airport as well.
The opening of the building comes as the final testing phase on the Eglinton Crosstown continues.
During a news conference on Monday, Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay said there is “absolutely a chance” the line opens by the end of 2025, though he refused to commit to any timeline.
Premier Doug Ford said back in June that he was “hearing” the line would open by this past September.
“We are applying the most rigorous tests that have ever been applied to LRTs anywhere, we are doing that precisely because of the experience of the Ottawa LRT. All is subject to the system continuing to perform but the system is showing great stability even in the Canadian winter so there is a lot of promise,” Lindsay said on Monday.
New route map found at Museum Station
The Eglinton Crosstown was initially slated to open in 2020 but has faced numerous delays.
Meanwhile, a photo of a new TTC map featuring Lines 5, coloured orange, and 6, in grey, was spotted by a social media user at Museum Station this week. Line 5 is part of the Eglinton Crosstown and Line 6 is the Finch LRT track.
On the map, Line 5 runs from Cedarvale to Eglinton Station, stopping at Forest Hill, Chaplin, and Avenue Road. Beyond the TTC intersections, the Eglinton Crosstown will run from Mount Dennis, along Eglinton Avenue, to Kennedy. The full route with 25 stations can be found here.
Line 6 intersects with the TTC at Finch West Station. The 18-stop track will start at Humber College in the west and run largely above ground to Keele Street. The route is just over 10 kilometres long.
