The Eglinton Crosstown LRT may make its long-awaited public debut with a “soft-opening” later than its expected September launch, according to confidential documents from the TTC seen by the Star.
Documents that detail the next steps for Line 5 show that the TTC and Metrolinx are exploring the possibility of opening it to the public “in phases,” without clarifying what that would look like.
The documents also suggest that continued testing of the line could聽extend beyond the expected opening date this fall.
“As our CEO Michael Lindsay has publicly stated, major milestones have been met in respect of the progress on Eglinton Crosstown,” Metrolinx spokesperson Andrea Ernesaks said, adding, “our focus remains on opening the line once it is safe and reliable to do so.”
“We are in regular communication with our partners at the TTC and any planned opening for Line 5 Eglinton would be communicated publicly in advance.”
TTC spokesperson Stuart Green did not comment on whether a soft-opening of the beleaguered light-rail line is being considered.
The city and province’s transit agencies, as well as the construction consortium for the LRT, are still working toward a “safe and reliable opening of Line 5 at the appropriate time and once all conditions have been satisfied,” said Green.聽“Any details around how and when the line opens will come from Metrolinx.”
Lindsay has previously said the line would open in the fall, “if everything goes according to plan.”
Three testing phases to come
In a聽聽on Monday, TTC staff explained that three testing steps remain to be completed before the Eglinton Crosstown can open to the public: a 14-day trial run to ensure that the systems, infrastructure and trains are ready, followed by a revenue service demonstration where trains operate on the line for at least 30 days as they are expected to when it opens to the paying public.
Once the revenue service demonstration is done, and the line is certified as having reached “substantial completion,” it’s handed over to the TTC.
The final phase, called “bedding-in,” consists of further trial runs under the TTC’s direct control, including the training of staff. This testing was added in the aftermath of the Ottawa LRT鈥檚 troublesome rollout.
Testing could cause delays
However, the confidential documents viewed by the Star, which provide more detail than what was presented at Monday’s TTC board meeting, suggest the testing could run past September.
For example, the revenue service demonstration could extend beyond 30 days, as the line needs to run problem-free for three consecutive weeks.
In addition, the “bedding-in” period could last up to 90 days, according to the documents, though the duration of that final testing phase is still being negotiated.
Lindsay has previously said that the purpose of all the testing is to demonstrate 鈥渢o ourselves, collectively, that (the Eglinton Crosstown LRT) is going to perform the way that we want it to on the day that it opens.鈥
A record of delays
With 25 stops stretching from Mount Dennis in the west to Kennedy in the east, the 19-kilometre Eglinton Crosstown LRT was initially聽meant to be ready by 2020.
A pandemic and several lawsuits, as well as software glitches, have delayed the line鈥檚 opening, even after the Star received an聽exclusive tour in May 2023. The completion of the LRT had been promised, then pushed back, for three years, until the transit agency declined to give a projected opening in 2023.
Recent hints of a September opening for the line,聽first reported by the Star, have been commented on聽by Premier Doug Ford and the head of Metrolinx.
Ford, who has been premier for seven years of the LRT鈥檚 14 years of construction, said in early June that a September opening date was “what I’m hearing.”
Metrolinx has not confirmed an official opening date.
With files from Mahdis Habibinia
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