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
- Mount Dennis (phase 1, western)
- Renforth (phase 2, western)
- Kennedy (eastern)
32
28 km (17 mi)
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
- In tunnel: 80 km/h (50 mph)
- On surface: 60 km/h (37 mph)[6]
Bombardier Cityflo 650 CBTC[7]
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.