The TTC Board has officially announced the opening of the Eglinton LRT on Sunday Feb. 8. Passenger fares will be free on opening day.
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 on Feb. 8, which will be called Line 5.
“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 was taking 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, holding the right teams accountable.”
Line 5 will operate at reduced hours. On weekdays, the line will be open from 5:40 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and from 7:40 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,” Lali 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.
eglinton crosstown A list of station stops along Line 5. (TTC)
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. TSP 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.
Transit advocacy group TTC riders welcomed the official announcement of Line 5’s opening but are 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,” TTCRiders executive director Andrew Pulsifer said in a statement.
The group is reiterating the need for a public inquiry into Line 5’s delayed opening.
“This project took far too long, and Torontonians deserve clear answers about why,” Pulsifer said. “If we don’t learn the lessons of Lines 5 and 6 now, we risk repeating these failures again and again.”
