Opening of Line 5: Chugging into the future

As of February 8th, Line 5 (also known as the Eglinton Crosstown) has finally opened for public use. It’s a welcome addition to the subway network, despite its construction having major impacts on Toronto—it has cost over 12 billion dollars, took 15 years of construction, and is the root cause of many businesses along Eglinton Avenue shutting down. Livelihoods have been lost, hours have been spent navigating never-ending construction along Eglinton, travel times on bus routes 32 Eglinton West and 34 Eglinton East have been some of the longest in the city, and opening dates have been delayed numerous times. 

Other larger scale projects have been completed in almost half the time, such as the Montreal REM, Vancouver’s Canada Line, or China’s doubling of its high speed rail. A public inquiry on how Line 5 was completed so late and so over budget will likely come soon, hopefully with lessons on how to prevent this from happening again. 

Over the past 2 weeks, all has almost been forgiven. Frequent TTC passengers have experienced bright and spacious Line 5 stations, quick journey times in the underground sections, and more connections to subway and GO transit lines. However, passengers also noted the lack of heating in underground stations (reaching close to -24°C), slower travel times on the surface section (between Don Valley and Kennedy stations), and inconsistent headways, sometimes extending wait times to up to 10 minutes. 

This is the first stage of “Phased Opening” for Line 5. The TTC is making additional fixes and working towards full service, which is expected by April or May of this year. Full service will include extended operating hours, better transit signal priority at intersections, and trains running faster both above and below ground. 

As of now, the TTC website has a survey open to public submissions for feedback. This could be the start of a welcome transit expansion in Toronto. For example, new transit lines, such as the Ontario Line; extensions to Line 5, Line 2, and Line 1; and more frequent service on GO train lines could be possible in the near future. Dedicated transit lanes for buses and streetcars, as well as efforts to speed up existing transit, will likely come as a result of Line 5’s opening.