The first station on Toronto’s years-delayed Eglinton Crosstown LRT has opened for commuter trains, but there is still no word on when the route itself will actually launch.
On Sunday, Mount Dennis Station opened its doors to GO train passengers and people riding the UP Express, marking the first part of the Eglinton LRT to start accepting passengers.
Introducing GO train service for the area will turn a 40-minute downtown trip into a 16-minute train ride, Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said on Monday.
“Truly, truly transformational for the people in this area,” he said.
“You’ll see between the trains that we have operating here — whether it’s GO train, the UP Express or eventually when we have the Eglinton Crosstown — every 10 minutes there will be a train coming through this transformational station.”
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Metrolinx said non-express Kitchener GO trains would now be stopping at the station, located at Weston Road and Eglinton Avenue. All Union Pearson Express trains will stop at the station as well.
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While some trains are now stopping in the area, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT still does not have an opening date.
The latest target date the line missed was September, with no updated timeline made available.
Asked for an update on Monday, Sarkaria did not say if it can still open this year.
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“We continue to undertake the testing on the Crosstown, every single day we’ve got the trains running,” he said.
The Eglinton LRT is currently in its revenue service demonstration testing phase, the last major portion of its pre-opening tests.
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That phase should last 30 days if it goes off without incident. Early in the tests, Metrolinx reported an incident that forced it to pause. The work has since restarted without a tentative completion date.
The delays mean it is highly unlikely the line can open this year.
The Finch West LRT, which Metrolinx’s CEO has said is a less complicated project, finished its revenue service demonstration on Oct. 23 but is not expected to open until Dec. 7.
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Based on that six-week timeline for the Finch West LRT, even if the Crosstown were to complete its tests today, it would struggle to meet an end-of-year opening.
Michael Lindsay, Metrolinx CEO, said it was still technically possible for the line to open this year.
“There’s absolutely still a chance,” he said. “It’s a test, we’re applying the most rigorous tests that have ever been applied to LRTs anywhere and we’re doing that precisely because of the experience of the Ottawa LRT.”
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