After more than a decade since construction began, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is officially opening on Sunday, with the first day of service free to riders.
During the TTC Board meeting on Tuesday, CEO Mandeep Lali confirmed a phased opening of the Crosstown, which will be called Line 5 Eglinton, on Feb. 8.
“This allows us to monitor performance, validate it collectively, and also allows upgrades that we know are coming to be phased in in a controlled manner,” Lali said, telling the board why the TTC took a gradual approach on the opening of the new transit line.
“We’ll be leveraging customer feedback, again, taking on the lessons from Line 6 (Finch West LRT), holding the right teams accountable.”
Line 5, which is 19 kilometres long and fully accessible, will initially operate at reduced hours.
On weekdays, it will be open from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on weekends.
Lali said transit signal priority (TSP) will be activated for the opening, with a phased rollout by the second quarter across Lines 5 and 6.
“There’ll be further enhancements in respect to Line 5 in March and in May, in respect to the software and the speed,” he added.
The Crosstown has 25 stops, running between Mount Dennis in the west and Kennedy Station in Scarborough. More than half of the stops are underground.
The other 11 stops are above ground, which means light rail vehicles will encounter traffic lights that could slow down travel times on the line—an issue that’s plagued Line 6. Transit Signal Priority would give priority to light rail vehicles at intersections
Construction on the Crosstown began in 2011. It was originally scheduled to open in 2020, but was delayed multiple times due to setbacks and problems.
Along with the phased opening, the TTC says 35 bus routes will change. Sixteen of them were already implemented in the fall.
Customers will have to pay on the surface platforms instead of on vehicles.
Lali confident Line 5 is safe
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Lali called it an “exciting day” to officially announce a phased opening of the Crosstown LRT.
“So, in terms of enthusiasm, in terms of not only just for the TTC, but for our customers, the local businesses, and all the customers that this will impact. It’s a great day to be able to say that, and I’ve got the privilege and honour to be able to do that, for which I’m grateful,” the TTC CEO said.
When asked whether he was confident that the problem of emergency braking being activated randomly had been fixed, Lali said he was after receiving an explanation from Metrolinx.
He revealed that there were seven occasions in January when emergency brakes went off. No injuries were reported.
“We did a great level of analysis from the TTC, from the Metrolinx staff side, and we’ve been partnering on this. And then finally, we brought in the system designers and the architecture designers to go through item by item, which then highlighted why that occurred, and it was as the system should have reacted,” Lali said.
He insisted that the line is safe to open.
TTC Chair Jamaal Myers echoed Lali’s comments, saying he is satisfied to move forward with the opening.
“Emergency brakes are designed and working as they’re supposed to, their emergency brakes. What I was worried about was when there was an explanation as to why they were coming on. We’ve got that,” Myers said.
No TTC celebration during soft opening
When asked why the TTC is not doing an opening party for Line 5, both Myers and Lali said the transit agency will do so when the system is fully operational.
“There will not be a large ceremony until we’ve got the performance, which matches where we need to be,” Lali said.
Myers did not think it would send a conflicting message to the public if the Ontario government hosted a celebration on Feb. 8.
“Obviously, the province has been under a lot of pressure to get this thing opened. This has been ongoing for about 14 years. TTC has had a different role in this process, so I think we are just taking the position that we will have a celebration once this is fully up and running,” he said.
“If the province wants to do something, that’s on them.”
Myers said he believes Line 5 will be in full service by the end of May and that’s when the TTC will hold a celebration.
The province has not announced any plans to commemorate the opening of the Crosstown.
‘This project took far too long’
Coun. Josh Matlow, who represents some residents along Eglinton West Avenue impacted by the construction of the LRT, said he is happy that it is finally opening, but is not in the mood to celebrate.
He repeated his calls for a public inquiry into the project.
“It’s been incompetent. Hundreds of businesses have closed, people have lost their livelihoods, communities have been impacted, and the cost overruns and delays have been unacceptable,” Matlow said.
“This should be a moment for Metrolinx in the province of Ontario to demonstrate some contrition to announce that they will support a public inquiry.”
Transit advocacy group TTCRiders supports Matlow’s call for a public inquiry.
“This project took far too long, and Torontonians deserve clear answers about why,” TTCRiders executive director Andrew Pulsifer said.
“If we don’t learn the lessons of Lines 5 and 6 now, we risk repeating these failures again and again.”
While it welcomes the new line’s Feb. 8 opening, TTCRiders is concerned that the new light rail transit system could face similar challenges that Line 6 experienced.
“We sincerely hope it launches without the kinds of reliability problems we saw on Line 6, because riders won’t accept another bungled opening,” Pulsifer said.
