The government of Ontario said the new deal will help the city of Toronto achieve “long-term financial stability and sustainability.”
For rail transit, the government will provide:
- C$330 million in operating support over three years for new subway-integrated provincial transit projects: Funding will support bringing the provincially owned Finch West LRT (light rail transit) and the Eglinton Crosstown LRT systems “online.” According to the government, these two lines “will help move tens of thousands of people faster and more conveniently every day by creating key transit connections integrated with the broader regional transit network, including the TTC subway system.” With 18 stops across 6.4 miles (10.3 kilometers), Finch West LRT will run along Finch Avenue West from Keele Street to Highway 27, where it will turn, then travel south to the Humber College north campus. The 11.8-mile (19-kilometer) Eglinton Crosstown LRT will offer 25 stops between Kennedy in the east and Mount Dennis in the west; more than 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) will run underground. Vehicle testing is currently under way on both systems.
- C$300 million in one-time subway and transit safety, recovery, and sustainable operations funding: The TTC subway in 2022 carried more than 746,000 riders per weekday, supporting both local and regional connectivity, according to the government. “Building back ridership through improved service levels, [and] affordable, convenient, efficient and safe services will be essential,” it said. “This [C$300 million] funding is conditional on the city [of Toronto] establishing a new Transit Rider Safety Commitment. This commitment must include i) increased presence of police and/or safety officers on transit vehicles and in station areas, ii) guaranteed expansion and continuity of transit rider cellular and data services across the TTC network, and iii) enhanced emergency reporting options and response timelines for riders to signal incidents, threats, and concerns to the attention of authorities.”
- C$758 million for 55 new TTC trains for Line 2 Bloor-Danforth, conditional on federal and municipal matching funding (for a total of C$2.27 billion): Funding would support the purchase of new trains to replace older ones “that are reaching their end of life,” the government said. “The new subway train procurement is a top priority for the TTC to address the safety and reliability of the subway network.” Metrolinx would also leverage this procurement, it reported, for the purchase of 15 additional trains for the Scarborough Subway and Yonge North Subway extensions, “two provincial priority transit projects.” The Scarborough Subway Extension will bring TTC’s Line 2 subway service nearly five miles (eight kilometers) farther into Scarborough; the Yonge North Subway Extension will extend TTC’s Line 1 service nearly five miles (eight kilometers) north from Finch Station to Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill.
A notice of proposed procurement for the TTC’s new subway cars was published Dec. 2. TTC told Railway Age that the actual RFP (request for proposal) will open “within in a couple of weeks.”
According to TBNewswatch.com, Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister, said on Nov. 29 that “she expects Toronto’s new subway cars will be built at Thunder Bay’s Alstom plant.”
The current T-series trains, operating in six-car configurations, were produced between 1995 and 2001 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, by Bombardier, which was acquired by Alstom in 2021.
TTC told CBC Toronto that the new car contract will be awarded in early 2026, with delivery in 2030.
For information on the other projects to be supported by the new deal, click here.
The government of Ontario said it will “soon introduce the New Deal for Toronto Act, which, if passed, would provide the necessary authorities to make this deal a reality.”
