Eglinton Crosstown LRT set to open after a 50-year journey

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT is scheduled to open Sunday after more than five decades of planning, delays and disputes; Metrolinx reports the project cost over $12.6 billion.

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT is scheduled to open Sunday after a long history of planning, cancellations and revisions. The project returned to prominence in the 2000s and moved into major construction in the 2010s. Work on the line encountered legal disputes, technical problems and pandemic-related delays. Metrolinx announced the line was handed over to the TTC following completion of testing. Key facts: - Formal approval for an Eglinton transit line dates back to the 1990s, including a 1994 Metro Toronto council approval and ground-breaking later that decade. - The Crosstown was revived in the 2000s and construction under the current plan began in the 2010s with tunnel boring and surface work. - Multiple delays, lawsuits between Crosslinx and Metrolinx, supply-chain and COVID-19 impacts pushed back opening dates repeatedly. - Crosslinx won the main contract in 2015; Metrolinx later settled disputes and paid additional amounts as the project evolved. - Testing included a major 30-day trial and a collision between two trains in the maintenance yard during testing; the line was then handed over to the TTC. - Metrolinx reports the total cost at over $12.6 billion and local businesses in the Eglinton-Lawrence area experienced closures during construction. Summary: The Crosstown’s opening brings a long-running transit project into operation after decades of planning, political shifts and construction challenges. The line completed testing and was formally handed over to the TTC, and it is scheduled to open Sunday as reported; further operational details were announced by project officials.