Eglinton–Scarborough Crosstown line

Eglinton–Scarborough Crosstown
Overview
Type	Premetro
System	Toronto subway and RT
Locale	Toronto, Ontario
Termini	McCowan Black Creek Drive
Stations	26
Operation
Opened	2020 (expected)
Owner	Metrolinx
Operator(s)	Toronto Transit Commission
Depot(s)	McCowan RT Yard Black Creek Subway Yard
Technical
Line length	25.2 kilometres (15.7 mi)
Route map Legend Proposed Phase II extension Pearson AirportTerminal 1 Silver Dart Convair Highway 401 Commerce Renforth Rangoon Highway 427 East Mall Martin Grove Widdicombe Hill/Lloyd Manor Kipling Wincott/Bemersyde Islington Russell/Eden Valley Royal York Mulham Place Humber River Scarlett Jane Weston CN Weston sub. & CP MacTier sub. ↓ Phase 1/Phase 2 ↑ Black Creek Maintenance Facility Black Creek Black Creek Keele CN Newmarket sub. Caledonia Dufferin Oakwood Allen  1  Spadina line ← to Finch via Union to Downsview → Bathurst Chaplin Avenue Road Yonge  1  Yonge line ← to Downsview via Union to Finch → Mount Pleasant Bayview Lairdformerly Brentcliffe Don River (West branch) Leslie CP Don branch Don Mills Ferrand Don Valley Parkway Wynford Don River (East branch) Richmond Hill GO ← to Union to Richmond Hill → Bermondsey Victoria Park Pharmacy Lebovic Warden Birchmount Ionview Kennedy  2  Bloor–Danforth line  G  Lawrence East Ellesmere Stouffville GO ← to Union via Kennedy to Lincolnville → Midland Scarborough Centre McCowan McCowan Yard

The Eglinton–Scarborough Crosstown line, or simply known as the Crosstown, is a light rapid transit line under construction for the Toronto subway and RT in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was formerly known as the Eglinton Crosstown LRT as part of the Transit City plan, but was renamed following its proposal to be built fully underground and the inclusion of the Scarborough RT portion. The line will be owned by Metrolinx and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). Construction began in 2011 and is expected to be completed in 2020.

Most of the line will be newly constructed underneath Eglinton Avenue between Black Creek Drive in York to Kennedy station in Scarborough, where it will connect to the Bloor–Danforth line. The line will then continue along the route of the Scarborough RT, which will be entirely renovated, and terminate at McCowan station. Collectively, the line will connect Toronto's west-end to its east-end. The line is expected to use a new fleet of light rail vehicles, rather than Toronto's subway cars or the ICTS Mark I intermediate capacity rail cars, which the TTC has long planned to replace. The cost of construction was announced as $8.2 billion, one of the most expensive rapid transit lines in the world.

History

Concept

See also: Transit City

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT was conceived as a partially underground light rail line, announced in 2007 by Toronto Mayor David Miller and TTC chair Adam Giambrone. It was part of the Transit City plan, which included the implementation of six other light rail lines across Toronto.

The original version of the line would have run from the Airport along Silver Dart Road to Convair Drive. The planned line would have then turned southwest, bridging over Highway 401 to reach Commerce Boulevard on the other side, where it would run south to reach Eglinton Avenue and the east end of the Mississauga Transitway. The rest of the line would run east along Eglinton Avenue, including a portion along which the previously-proposed Eglinton West subway would have been built. The line would then cut across the city, intersecting every subway and RT line, with the exception of the Sheppard Line.

There were a total of 43 stops planned for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, 13 of which would be underground. Surface stops would be spaced on average 500 metres (550 yd) apart and the underground stations would be 850m apart on average, as constructing numerous underground stops would be costly. The average speed would be able to reach 22 kilometres per hour (14 mph), compared with the existing bus routes along Eglinton that have an average speed of 16 to 18 km/h (9.9 to 11 mph). The line would terminate at Kennedy Station to the east in Scarborough where it would meet the Bloor–Danforth subway, the proposed Scarborough Malvern LRT and the Stouffville GO train line.

The proposed cost was $4.6 billion. As a result of provincial funding cuts, construction of the line was divided into two phases: Phase One would end at Jane Street, and Phase Two would see the line terminate as originally planned at Pearson Airport.

Miller's successor, Rob Ford, announced the cancellation of Transit City on the day that he took office. The redesigned Eglinton–Scarborough Crosstown line along with a Sheppard line extension was announced four months later, with the support of Metrolinx and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. The redesigned line would put the 19-kilometre Eglinton portion completely underground, integrate the Scarborough RT portion, and run contiguously from Black Creek to McCowan. The cost would almost double to $8.2 billion and 18 fewer stops would be built. Most of the additional cost comes from putting 12 additional stations underground and for converting the Scarborough RT.

On February 8, 2012, in a special meeting, City Council voted 25–18 to override Mayor Ford's modifications to the project and reinstate the original "Transit City" proposal, with the eastern portion of the line running on the surface.

Construction

The Eglinton–Scarborough Crosstown line will run for a total of 25.2 km (15.7 mi) from Black Creek Drive to McCowan Road, 19.5 km (12.1 mi) of it underground and 5.7 km (3.5 mi) elevated. Initial plans had the line rising to the surface east of Brentcliffe Avenue. There will be up to 26 stations in total, with an estimated 100 million trips annually in 2031. The Presto card will be available for use across the line.

The first part of tunnel construction involves the construction of a launch shaft for tunnel boring machines (TBMs) at Black Creek Drive, which began on October 2011. Metrolinx ordered four TBMs at a cost of $54 million on July 28, 2010. These TBMs will commence midtown tunnelling in the summer of 2012. The average mining rate for a single machine is 75 metres a week of lined tunnel.

The upgrade and replacement of the Scarborough RT portion is scheduled to start in late 2015, after the conclusion of the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2015 Parapan American Games. Scarborough RT riders will be bussed for three years until the upgrade is completed. Metrolinx and the TTC are considering opening the line in segments, rather than all at once. The project is targeted for completion in 2020. On November 9, 2011, in Keelesdale Park, mayor Rob Ford and premier Dalton McGuinty officially broke ground on the new project.

Future expansion

The Eglinton–Scarborough Crosstown line will end at Black Creek Drive in its current configuration. After its opening in 2020, the line is planned to be extended to Toronto Pearson International Airport, where it would then connect with the airport's LINK Train and the proposed Air Rail Link.

See also

• Toronto streetcar system
• Toronto subway and RT
• Eglinton West line

External links

• Official Crosstown project website
• TTC's Crosstown project website
• City of Toronto's Crosstown project website