TTC staffers ready to run Eglinton Crosstown if it opens in fall: mayor

Adam Carter · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 14, 2025 12:15 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

Toronto's politician seems much than acceptable for the beleaguered Eglinton Crosstown LRT to yet open after years of delays mired the process.

"Hopefully I'm inactive live seeing it open," Olivia Chow said with a laughter astatine an unrelated quality league Friday morning. "I conjecture it's bully news."

Chow was reacting to a Toronto Star communicative from this week, citing sources adjacent to the task who accidental trains should beryllium moving successful September. 

CBC News reached retired to Metrolinx astir the expected opening date, but the province's transport bureau would not corroborate immoderate plans — nor did officials refute the Toronto Star report. The Ministry of Transportation likewise would not comment.

Chow said TTC workers, who volition beryllium liable for the cognition of the project, are acceptable to go.

"We tin commencement close away," she said. "We've been acceptable for years."

The politician besides floated the thought that an adjacent earlier commencement day would beryllium doable connected the city's end.

"Maybe they could enactment faster, possibly they could bash it successful June — that would beryllium adjacent better, but hey," she said.

The 25-stop enactment was initially acceptable to unfastened successful 2020, but a bid of method problems and associated outgo overruns person plagued the task and repeatedly delayed its completion. 

Two Toronto metropolis councillors, whose wards are impacted by the ongoing construction, person called for a nationalist enquiry into the transit quagmire.

Construction began successful 2011, erstwhile the state estimated it would outgo astir $9.1 cardinal to physique and support the Crosstown. Documents obtained by CBC Toronto successful 2022 showed the task costs had jumped to astatine slightest $12.8 billion.

In the outpouring of 2023, erstwhile Metrolinx president and CEO Phil Verster revealed the consortium gathering the Crosstown were inactive moving to code immoderate 260 prime power issues connected the line.

Under expanding scrutiny of Metrolinx's nationalist communications astir the project, Verster aboriginal said the transit bureau would denote an opening day for the Crosstown 3 months up of time.