Significant Eglinton Crosstown LRT hurdle remains

Major construction is complete on the Eglinton Crosstown, but another significant hurdle remains before the line can be opened.

[@Apocryphon368]

If there was ever a face of incompetence - this would be it. Conceived in 2007, started in 2011. Almost 15 years to build a single line.

[@rajastylez]

Could've had a full fledged subway

[@billboggs6641]

As long as the construction is in progress a lot of people are making a lot of money

[@PSNDonutDude]

Nah, Hamilton LRT. Conceived in 2007, planned in 2011, planned in 2017, cancelled in 2019, restarted in 2021, funded in 2022, RFQ planned in 2023, then 2024, still haven't seen RFQ.

[@honouraryapple]

They started building a subway along Eglinton in the 90s but Mike Harris cancelled it and had the holes literally filled in

[@PWingert1966]

They were using children's buckets and sand shovels to dig with popsicle sticks for the rail ties and plastic straws for the rails. The train is made from Lego and the wires made from plastic GIMP with the poles made from toilet paper tubes!! But then JT Banned Plastic Straws and they had to go find plastic sprue to finish laying down the tracks!😆

[@ScotchOnyx]

broken tiles and water leaks before its even in service. I just don't understand why there's no accountability on this. A project that took over a decade to complete. Over budget in the hundreds of millions of tax payers money. Oh yes, blame the delays on the smartrack plan.

[@gedias1]

Broken tiles can be incompetence, but water leaks happen because of geology. There are quite a few hidden natural aqueducts under the ground.

[@theastuteangler]

there is no accountability because it is a government contract.

[@bobcostas5094]

Correction, over budget by Billions.

[@Will-qb5pt]

"But it'll be fast to build than subway," they yelled 15 years ago. At this point, subway would have been a better investment. 🥴

[@jpp7783]

You don’t think that would have ended any differently, do you?

[@jasperli]

@@jpp7783 it’s possible. A lot of their delays come from the above ground at-grade section of the line. Had the entire line been a high capacity, high frequency below ground grade separated metro it could have avoided many of the above ground signaling & construction issues.

[@jpp7783]

@@jasperli yes,but (and I guess it’s the cost overruns I’m talking about being different), the cost of going under the Don River would have been astronomical (billions more). All for a line that won’t have THAT much ridership (Scarborough density is just too low). Somehow, all over the world, we have above-ground LRT at a fraction of the cost of going below ground, and these engineering hurdles are overcome (calgary comes to mind, and I think London, Edmonton, Rome, Milan). And portions of Toronto’s subway are also outdoors. Blaming the Eglinton transit mess on the decision to stay above ground just doesn’t sound plausible.

[@wornwater3537]

I've lived in Toronto for most of my life, over 50 years, and this is the absolute BIGGEST JOKE I've ever seen in this city. It's absolutely embarrassing and disgraceful!

[@theastuteangler]

The announcement of this project was the beginning of Toronto The Joke. Now we're getting pummeled by punch lines. The city is unliveable.

[@Popskull_666]

@@theastuteangler You know I sadly really agree with you, the city is now broken. I was talking to this poor man that was clearly disabled and living on wellfare and he said he gets 800$ a month when a room now goes for 1000$ when did this city spiral out of control? during covid it was still ok. It seems like the city got destroyed suddenly around the beginning of 2023

[@HipsterShiningArmor]

ok but like... minor cleanup like the bike lanes and the broken tiles, that could all be done while the line is in service, right? we do construction work at operating stations all the time, i dont see why the line needs to be held back for these sorts of things

[@tcsnowdream9975]

The signal thing does seem to be more of an issue

[@sblack53]

You missed how the operating software is having issues, and how there are still permits that need to be obtained for occupancy. Those are hurdles that need to be overcome before the line can enter revenue service.

[@stinkyroadhog1347]

@@tcsnowdream9975 As of now, the new software is being tested.

[@rajastylez]

And people said LRT construction was fast and efficient lol

[@sebastianrampersad9756]

It is, just not in Toronto

[@tcsnowdream9975]

Anything Doug Ford touched has turned to s***.

[@RIPped]

@@tcsnowdream9975 you seriously cannot be blaming Doug Ford and solely Doug Ford for a project started under Dalton McGuinty

[@Skyfoogle]

@@RIPped true, the real blame falls on mike harris for cancelling the eglinton subway in the 90s after tunnelling work already started. "common sense" conservatism in action.

[@KaloqnBankov]

Left ear?

[@mariokarter]

Im glad we decided to build a fast and inexpensive lrt instead of a real subway.

[@EthanKizito-dj7ff]

Yeah but it's taking toooooo long to complete

[@karbonphiber]

It took the Roman’s 8 years to build the colosseum 2000 years ago. This pathetic joke of a consortium can’t even build a 19km glorified street car system 14 years and going.

[@johnlaw6735]

sweet it'll be ready for my great great grandchildren👍

[@wjkwjk3484]

Reply to johnlaw6735: You are patient. I give you a credit for it.😅

[@gw0205]

I love your optimism

[@TMBpk]

Rob Ford was right all along….it was going to become a mess regardless, so better off investing in a subway. Still don’t understand why they built a streetcar and put it underground….Finch West I can understand, it’s quite suburban. But Eglinton is pretty much midtown and heavily developed and when the line opens it’ll only invite more urbanization to this part of the city. You can bookmark and save this comment. By the time it opens it’ll already be overused and the trains won’t be big enough for the amount of passengers. Eventually they’ll have to look into switching the trains or converting it to the subway that’s compatible with Lines 1, 2 and Ontario (Line 3?). It’s not a matter of it, it’s only a matter of when.

[@qiuhuiwang693]

They might be able to avoid that, if they can put together the Ontario Line in time. But that's the challenge here, IN TIME.

[@stinkyroadhog1347]

Eglinton's ridership is never gonna be that high. There's only so much more development you can do. This is merely a higher order of transit replacing two slow, high use bus routes

[@daniel-shin]

The line should be free to ride for the first year of operation to compensate for the pain

[@BmanTheChamp]

But then they'll hike the fare and cut even more service.

[@user-sg9tl7fc6i]

Are they delaying this on purpose to make extra money? Its been a very mikd Winter at the very least the 3 Month opening should have been announced.Shoukd Criminal Charges be laid fir Fraud ??

[@kiroolioneaver8532]

The "Eglinton Crosstown boondogle" was even referenced in a recent episode of "Law & Order: Toronto" lol Why they couldn't have opened this line in stages (say Kennedy to Science Centre) or better yet use subway vehicles for the underground portion (the tunnels are big enough to accomodate them) is pure incompetence lol At this rate Line 6 will open befroe Line 5

[@coastaku1954]

Bro, Line 5 and the Toronto Subway and Streetcar network use 2 totally different track gauges! Lines 1, 2 and 4, as well as the whole Toronto Streetcar Network use what's known as "Toronto Gauge", a broad gauge that's way wider than standard gauge, which is what Lines 3, 5, 6 and Ontario use. You can't just use a Toronto Subway train on the tracks. Plus it's not a boondogle, is it the right choice? No, an elevated subway line would have done better, but it's what we have now

[@aaront5834]

2130

[@jovo55]

I see you're an optimist

[@MetroElfren]

Why extend west into Mississauga if you can't get the line on track?? ...

[@NicholasMoreau]

It's a separate project, the portion going into Mississauga. This initial portion opens first.

[@Mystro256]

Watch the Mississauga extension be finished before this haha

[@jimbokay5696]

Hurdle is for all to get their proper kickbacks before opening this mess

[@xpd8911]

Almost 15 years for 28 km subway!

[@UnspecifiedTransit]

Signal problems are generally not a ginormous issue when it comes to operating trains, most transit agencies just suspend a part of the line and continue service on the rest. The control systems however is a major issue, and it isn’t Metrolinx’s fault for making sure that major incidents are prevented even before the line opens. Although if I’m being fully honest, the Finch West LRT is on track to open faster than Line 5 is. Might as well close Line 1 so the lines can be counted by 2s! (joke) (Line 2, 4, 6)

[@RoboJules]

I won't be surprised if the Broadway Subway and Calgary Green Line is up and running before Toronto's line 5.

[@HockeyNinja13]

How is it that 8 year old kids can edit and upload videos with full soundtrack and vfx and a major news outlet consistently uploads videos that only output audio in one ear?

[@ScotchOnyx]

No worries Torontonians. The LRT should be completed before Saudi Arabia completes NEOM. Now if we can't, Metrolinx needs to be on the guiness world record.

[@amourif]

Saudi Arabia can complete NEOM 7 times before the lrt opens lol

[@kiddo817]

CityTV all of your KZbin uploads only play on the right ear headset. It’s 2024, jesus just hire a competent social media manager and fix it.

[@theastuteangler]

lol you think this is a manager's job?

[@markvogel5872]

How many years did it take Montreal to make their REM?

[@calayugankings]

The bugs in the software will end up being something nobody expected. Just one small detail in a massive code set and errors can occur. So look for something wrong at a very granular level just one line of code is causing most of the bugs.

[@ireneczornyj3425]

By the time they finished, if it get finished, it will be obsolete.

[@hikingwithsaabath957]

What a shame! from e-health to Eglinton cross town RT, now arrive app, please show me some positive ….

[@johnlaw6735]

When "pigs fly"

[@TheReactorLore]

The biggest hurdle to the project was actually the incompetence and stubbornness of metrolinx CEO Phil Verster.

[@ElectroSharpTurtle]

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT Line in Toronto will be complete in 5000 years. 😂 Just kidding, but seriously though it shouldn't take that long to make the LRT line.

[@Popskull_666]

The official groundbreaking of the spadina subway extension took place in 2009 and was opened to the public in 2017. Less than 10 years to build a subway extension. The Eglington LRT broke ground in 2011. 13 years later it's still not opened. What a joke

[@adamgibson473]

Hamiltonians are excited to have their metrolinc lrt in their narrow downtown streets. I cant wait to see their faces 3 years in.

[@kuroenekodemon]

The answer: Never

[@user-iy9cy4tl2h]

The LRT will probably run when the leafs win the Stanley cup😂 don't hold your breath😅

[@JB0i]

Wait WHAT? All the sudden they’re cancelling line 5? 😅

[@karbonphiber]

The CEO of metrolinx needs to resign and needs to be held accountable for wasting tax payers money

[@nancymilawski1048]

2030

[@BmanTheChamp]

That seems optimistic.

[@amourif]

yea 2044 is the earliest opening date they can predict, and probably will delay it another 20-30 years then@@BmanTheChamp

[@PWingert1966]

Before the next Election right, right? Yeah Yeah dats it boss Ford!

[@ilichmejia3137]

who pays for all of this? oh yeah nevermind same people who payed for those ads.

[@Vicstarz26]

So another 10 years for a single line….TTC and Metrolinx have epically failed Toronto. The Toronto transit network is a complete joke compared to the world

[@M3ta1]

Wen LRT

[@nicolasandres7872]

sound mixing is awful. Only the left channel works....fyi....

[@Carfty6474]

everyones been saying this for months but citytv doesnt care apparently lol

[@Gravitics]

you got your headphones on backwards? It's only right channel

[@nicolasandres7872]

well there's an issue regardless @@Gravitics

[@JessT-vg7ib]

The blame rest squarely on Olivia Chows shoulders.

[@theastuteangler]

sarcasm, right?

[@daniopoppa]

i think its time to catch up to first world transit , every other metro city has a better system, it should be free for citizens of a city who pay taxes

[@Gamefruitpulp]

Why do all of your videos only play in the right side headphone....