Katana VentraIP

Line 5 Eglinton

Line 5 Eglinton (also known as the Eglinton Crosstown or the Crosstown) is a light rail line that is under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Metrolinx and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the line will be part of the Toronto subway system as its fifth route. The first phase of the 19-kilometre (12 mi) line will include 25 stops along Eglinton Avenue, from Mount Dennis station mostly underground to Laird station, after which it will run predominantly at-grade within the street's median to Kennedy station, where it will connect underground with Line 2 Bloor–Danforth. The second phase, a 9.2-kilometre (5.7 mi) westward extension from Mount Dennis, will run mostly underground or elevated to Renforth station, with seven new stations.

Line 5 Eglinton

Under construction

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

32

  • 2024 (2024) (previous target; central)[2][3]
  • 2030/2031 (2031) (west)[4]

28 km (17 mi)

1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge

  • In tunnel: 80 km/h (50 mph)
  • On surface: 60 km/h (37 mph)[6]

This first phase is scheduled to open in 2024, with an estimated cost of CA$12.82 billion;[8] the cost when the contract was awarded was pegged at $9.1 billion, although the cost was originally estimated at $11 billion.[9] The second phase is expected to cost $4.7 billion and to be completed by 2031.


The line was conceived in 2007 during the administration of Toronto mayor David Miller as part of Transit City, a large-scale transit expansion plan. Construction of the first phase of the line began in 2011 and was originally expected to be completed in 2020,[10] but the opening date has been revised more than once.[11] Metrolinx expected the line to be substantially complete by September 2022 but then conceded it would not meet that date. After revising the opening date of the central section to 2023 and then 2024, and amid ongoing legal action with Crosslinx (the construction consortium), Metrolinx stated they believed there was no credible schedule to complete the project.[12][13][14][15] While the central section is estimated to be 97 percent complete, Metrolinx will not provide an estimated completion date until three months before opening.[16][17] For budget purposes, the TTC made the assumption that Line 5 would open no earlier than September 2024.[2]


Construction of the westward extension to Renforth station began in July 2021.[18][19][4] An eastern extension to the University of Toronto Scarborough[20] and a northwestern extension towards Toronto Pearson International Airport were approved by Toronto City Council in 2016[21] but the eastern extension was split into its own line in 2022.

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 stations)

Activities necessary to build the tunnel (e.g. utility relocations, supports for shaft and headwalls, temporary power supply, lighting, ventilation, and drainage)

There will be three types of train control on the line. (ATC) without a driver onboard is used within the Eglinton Maintenance and Storage Facility. In the underground segment between Mount Dennis and Laird stations, a driver will operate train doors and push a button to depart a station, with ATC controlling the train until the next station. Between Laird and Kennedy stations, the driver controls all train functions.[186][187]

Automatic train control

On the surface, the line will have dedicated right-of-way transit lanes separate from regular traffic and usage of priority signalling at intersections to ensure certainty in travel times – unlike the streetcars in downtown Toronto and southern Etobicoke or on St. Clair Avenue.[164]

[24]

Light rail vehicles and subways can both travel up to 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph). However, actual speed is determined by the spacing of the stops and the dwell times at stops. Line 5 vehicles will have an average speed of 28 kilometres per hour (17 mph). As a comparison, the average speed of the subway is 32 kilometres per hour (20 mph).[188] The maximum operating speed will be 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph) on the tunnelled portion of the line and 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph) on the street-level sections.[6]

Line 2 Bloor–Danforth

The projected ridership of the line is 5,400 passengers per hour in the peak direction by 2031, but the capacity of the vehicles is 15,000 passengers per hour per direction.

[24]

The surface section of the line will run on a system but the underground stations will have subway-type fare gates and staff; Presto cards will be available for use across the entire line.[189]

proof-of-payment

Metrolinx requires 76 LRVs to operate the line.[190]

Flexity Freedom

Annual operating and maintenance costs are estimated to be $80 million upon opening of the line. However, fare revenue and the costs saved by eliminating Eglinton bus service would result in a net annual cost of $39 million.

[191]

There will a total of 12 along the line to reverse LRT trains—seven at underground stations and five on the surface section. Avenue and Laird stations will also have a storage track (with Laird having both) that trains can enter and exit in either direction. The storage tracks will accommodate a train in case of an emergency or change in service as well as allowing for a change of direction.[99]

crossovers

Line 5 will use a guideway intrusion detection system (GIDS) to detect trespassers on the tracks on the underground sections of the line. When GIDS detects a trespasser on the tracks, it will issue an audio warning to the trespasser, provide live CCTV video to central control, and automatically stop the train without driver intervention. Each station will have ten GIDS scanners, five on each side of the platform. There will also be GIDS scanners at each tunnel portal. In addition, there will be three scanners within the yellow tactile strips at each platform edge to issue an audio warning if a person steps on it before the train has arrived.

[192]

Jane LRT

Urban rail transit in Canada

Archived April 27, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, official project website for the line east of Mt. Dennis

Eglinton Crosstown

official project website for the extension west of Mt. Dennis

Eglinton Crosstown West Extension

Archived November 23, 2018, at the Wayback Machine

Toronto Light Rail Transit projects (Metrolinx)

(PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. February 25, 2016. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 18, 2021.

"TTC map showing proposed bus routes after the Eglinton Crosstown opens"