Eglinton Crosstown west extension

Surface station plan (2007–2019)

In a later phase, Metrolinx had planned for the Eglinton Crosstown to be extended westwards from Mount Dennis along Eglinton Avenue West to Toronto Pearson International Airport. However, during his successful campaign in the 2014 Toronto mayoral election, John Tory proposed SmartTrack, which would have included a heavy rail transit line established along this section of Eglinton Avenue. In 2016, the City of Toronto released a feasibility report that found this proposal would have significant capital costs ranging from $3.6 billion to $7.7 billion. In comparison, extending the Eglinton Crosstown as approved would cost $1.3 billion. It was also found that a light rail transit line would attract higher ridership than a heavy rail line.

Jennifer Keesmaat, the chief planner of the City of Toronto, recommended the extension of the Eglinton Crosstown line to Pearson Airport in lieu of establishing SmartTrack on Eglinton Avenue, based upon negative community impacts, higher costs, and lower projected ridership associated with a heavy rail corridor. On January 19, 2016, Tory agreed with the analysis and supported Metrolinx's original plan of extending the Crosstown.^[5] Tory included the Crosstown West as a light-rail component of his SmartTrack plan.^[6]

In June 2016, the estimated completion date was 2023.^[7] The estimated cost to build the Eglinton West LRT was $2.47 billion of which the City of Toronto would contribute $1.18 billion, the federal government would contribute $822.9 million, and the City of Mississauga and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), which operates Pearson Airport, would be asked to contribute $470 million for the portion of the line in Mississauga. Approvals for the financing were still to be secured as of November 2, 2016.^[8]

Public meetings for the extension, renamed the Eglinton West LRT, began November 13, 2017.^[9][10]

The 2010 environmental assessment (EA) for Transit City originally considered an entirely at-grade light rail line running west from Weston Road and Mount Dennis station. However, by October 2017, the city was considering grade separation using fly-overs and fly-unders at six intersections: Martin Grove Road, Kipling and Islington Avenues, Royal York and Scarlett Roads, and Jane Street, with surface running between stations.^[11][12][13]

On November 21, 2017, city staff recommended just 10 stops along Eglinton West between Mount Dennis station and Renforth station on the Mississauga Transitway. That recommendation dropped the stops at Rangoon, East Mall, and Russell / Eden Valley.^[14][15]

At a city executive committee meeting on November 28, 2017, city staff recommended building the extension without any grade separation. City staff had concluded that a fully at-grade extension would provide better access for transit users and have fewer environmental impacts. Grade separation would have little improvement on traffic because the at-grade option would use signal coordination; however, grade separation would require fewer restrictions on left turns. There would be no difference in development potential with either option. However, because of feedback from the public and local politicians, Tory, by then mayor, recommended more study on grade separation.^[13] A fully at-grade extension was estimated to cost $1.5 to $2.1 billion. Grade separation would add an extra $881.9 million to $1.32 billion to that cost.^[13]

Grade-separated station plan (2019–present)

In April 2019, Ontario premier Doug Ford announced a plan for transit in the Greater Toronto Area. This included the planned extension of Line 5 Eglinton west to Pearson Airport, with a section of the line built underground from Royal York to Martin Grove.^[16] In February 2020, Metrolinx released an initial business case analysis of the project with four options, including three that were below grade.^[17] Metrolinx ultimately decided on a mostly grade-separated line with seven stations (four underground, two elevated, one at ground level).^[18] An updated EA was finalized in June 2020.^[19]

Building a mostly grade-separated extension was expected to cost $4.7 billion and would have seven stations and an estimated 37,000 daily boardings. By comparison, a surface line would have cost $2.9 billion and have had ten ground-level stations and an estimated 42,500 daily boardings. Travel time savings on an underground line would have been double that for a surface line and such a line would have been fully weatherproof, but the reduction in stations was projected to have led to a lower estimated ridership, though local bus service would have been retained given the increased spacing between stations.^[20] During the 2018 Ontario general election, Liberal and Progressive Conservative candidates for Etobicoke Centre, Yvan Baker and Kinga Surma respectively, supported the mostly underground option.^[21] Of the three major parties, only Ontario NDP candidate Erica Kelly supported the surface option. Doug Ford, campaigning to become the premier of Ontario, preferred mostly underground construction.^[22]

Elevated route over the Humber River

From 2022, a coalition of community groups (including local First Nations groups) objected to Metrolinx's decision to elevate the line to cross the Humber River. Concerns were raised regarding the impact on mature trees in the Humber River Valley near the proposed station at Jane and Eglinton – with community groups preferring a fully underground route.^[23] Metrolinx argued that the river valley had previously experienced extreme flooding issues in 1954 with Hurricane Hazel and again in 2013, and therefore an elevated route was most appropriate.^[24] Metrolinx also promised to plant trees to replace all trees cut down.^[25]

In 2023, protests against the elevated route took place, with a tipi and other temporary structures erected by local First Nations groups.^[25][26] The coalition asked Metrolinx to pause development until a resolution was found, as well as requesting more "transparency about the project – its costs, its size, and its impact".^[26][27] In 2024, an attempt by the coalition to seek an injunction that would prevent construction was rejected in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.^[28][29]

Advance tunnel 1 – Renforth to Scarlett

On March 10, 2020, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for the construction of tunnels, marking the first phase of procurement of the western Eglinton extension.^[30] On May 20, 2021, the design–build–finance contract was awarded to West End Connectors (a consortium of Dragados, Aecon and Ghella).^[31]

The contract included the design, construction and financing of:^[32]

• 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) of tunnels between Renforth Drive and Scarlett Road
• Advance civil engineering work (including headwalls for future construction of emergency exit buildings and the station)
• Activities necessary to build the tunnel (e.g. utility relocations, supports for shaft and headwalls, temporary power supply, lighting, ventilation, and drainage)

On April 11, 2022, tunnelling began from a launch shaft located adjacent to Renforth Transitway station;^[32] two tunnel boring machines (TBMs), dubbed Rexy and Renny, tunnelled 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) eastwards to west of Scarlett Road, where the extraction shaft was located. Each TBM, weighing about 750 tonnes (740 long tons; 830 short tons), and measuring 6.58 metres (21.6 ft) in diameter and 131 metres (430 ft) in length – longer than those used for the central section – bored tunnels 20 metres (66 ft) underground. Renny started boring in April 2022 but Rexy started later, in early August, as the launch area was only large enough to launch one TBM at a time.^[33] Tunnelling was completed two years later, with Renny breaking through the extraction shaft near Scarlett Road in May 2024 and Rexy breaking through three weeks later.^[34] The underground stations are being built using the cut-and-cover method.^[32]

Elevated guideway – Scarlett to Jane

In December 2021, Metrolinx issued a pre-qualification request for a design–build contract to build a 1.5-kilometre (0.93 mi) elevated guideway from the portal west of Scarlett Road to the portal east of Jane Street. This elevated guideway will connect both advance tunnel contracts and will take the line over the Humber River.^[35] On December 15, 2023, the contract was awarded to Aecon, with construction of the guideway to begin sometime in 2024.^[36]

Advance tunnel 2 – Jane to Mount Dennis

On December 2, 2021, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario issued the request for qualification (RFQ) for the construction of tunnels between Jane Street and Mount Dennis station. On February 16, 2024, the contract was awarded to Strabag.^[37] The contract includes the design and construction of 500-metre (1,600 ft) tunnels from east of Jane Street to Mount Dennis station, as well as modifications to the station to enable through service.^[37] In February 2025, construction on this short stretch of twin tunnels began, using a technique called the sequential excavation method. Rather than using TBMs, this method involves "mining" the tunnels in sections, then spraying shotcrete on the exposed walls to reinforce them.^[38][39]

Stations, rails and systems

On March 25, 2024, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario issued an RFQ for the stations, rails and systems contract.^[40] This design–build contract will involve:^[41]

• Construction of seven stations between Mount Dennis and Renforth (four underground, two elevated, and one at grade)
• Installation of 9.2 kilometres (5.7 mi) of rail track, signalling and train control systems, electrification, communications and other equipment
• Testing and commissioning of the line following construction

On September 27, 2024, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario issued an RFP to the following teams: Integrated Transit Partners (Sacyr, NGE, Siemens, Hatch, Egis, Weston Williamson); Trillium Rail Partners (Amico, Alberici, Acciona, WSP); and WestEx Transit Solutions (Aecon, AtkinsRéalis, Pomerleau, Dragados, Arcadis).^[42] The successful proponent was to be invited into a two-year design development phase with Metrolinx, anticipated to have begun in mid-2025 so as to finalize pricing, scheduling, and scoping to reduce the risk of the project before major construction began.^[42]