Transit Updates Within the City of Toronto

By Transport Action Ontario | Latest News , Urban Transit

The City of Toronto experienced a flurry of interesting transit news items in June.  This posting summarizes many of them.  For further information, contact us at ontario@transportaction.ca.

RAPID TRANSIT PROJECTS

• A bombshell article in The Trillium revealed information about a significant “descoping” of the GO Expansion project.  See our post of June 27 for more details.
• Operational control of the soon-to-open Eglinton Crosstown LRT has been transferred to TTC, which will initiate final acceptance testing soon.
• Construction has started on the East Harbour transit hub.  This station will serve GO Lakeshore East, GO Stouffville and the Ontario Line subway.  It is expected to become the second busiest transit station in Greater Toronto, after Union Station.
• After 6 years of study, construction has started on Woodbine GO station on the Kitchener GO line.  It will replace Etobicoke North, which lacks capacity to accommodate future growth on the line.  Woodbine Entertainment Group is providing up to $170 Million to support construction.  According to the Province, the new station will create new links between Pearson Airport, UPX, GO Trains and bus service from TTC, MiWay, York Region and Brampton Transit.
• With the commercial close of the Stations, Rail and Systems contract, the construction and lifecycle maintenance costs of the 7.8-km 3-stop Scarborough Subway Extension (SSE) has been revealed to be $10.2 Billion, or $1.3 B/km.  This is twice the capital cost assumed in the Metrolinx Preliminary Design Business Case in 2020! Difficult soil conditions have slowed the SSE tunnel boring machine.  Tunneling was expected to be completed in 4Q-24, but only about 2 km of the tunneling has been completed.
• Contract award for the Yonge North Subway Extension Advance Tunneling project is expected this summer.

TTC MATTERS

• Vigorous debate continues on whether Bathurst and Dufferin Streets (south of Eglinton Ave)  should be reconfigured from the current two-lanes for general purpose traffic/parking in each direction to one dedicated bus lane, one general purpose lane and no parking in each direction Heavy lobbying is underway both for and against.  A decision is expected in July.
• .The TTC board is contemplating a pilot test of platform edge doors in subway stations.  Benefits include passenger safety, fewer issues with “trespassers on track” or “debris on track”, and more efficient heating/cooling of stations.  Cost to implement at a legacy station would be about $40 – 60 Million per station, or about $4 Billion in total.  Staff will develop a pilot test plan for one station, possibly Dundas (TMU) Station.
• As part of Toronto’s strategic parking framework, TTC is considering lowering transit fares during certain times (festivals, events) to reduce traffic congestion during big events.

GO Expansion Undergoes Major “Descoping”

By Transport Action Ontario | Latest News , Urban Transit

Transport Action Ontario (TAO) has long supported the GO Expansion project, slated to provide 15-minute all-day two-way electrified passenger rail service on core portions of 5 GO lines, plus improved service on the remainder of the network.  In fact, our organization proposed something very similar in 2013 called Regional Rapid Rail,  two years prior to the first provincial announcement.  GO Expansion was modeled after the German S-Bahn or Paris RER approach, and caused excitement across North America.

In 2022, Metrolinx signed a Progressive DBOM contract with ONxpress, a consortium of 4 large engineering and transportation firms.  A 30-month development phase was targeted to produce a firm implementation plan by the end of 2024.  Additionally, a related consortium, ONxpress Operations Inc (OOI), consisting of Deutsche Bahn and Aecon, was contracted to take over operations and maintenance of the GO rail network starting January, 2025.  Meanwhile, about $10 B of early works construction (stations, tracks, grade crossings) continued.

Therefore TAO was very concerned when news of problems recently emerged.  In a bombshell article on June 10, 2025, the on-line magazine The Trillium reported that GO Expansion had been “descoped” due to budget constraints, and the operating contract with OOI had been terminated to due “fundamental differences of opinion”.  Metrolinx will now focus on a “minimum viable product”, which apparently consists of electrifying the two Lakeshore lines by 2038, with the Barrie, Kitchener and Stouffville lines to follow sometime later in Phase 2.  No further details on scope and timing of incremental service improvements (even if modest) on any of the 5 lines was available.

At the Metrolinx board meeting of June 26, the termination of the OOI contract was confirmed.  It was also revealed that the development phase of the work had concluded in December and that Metrolinx had accepted a Design and Construction Proposal. New deliverables for the consortium have been issued, including construction on track and stations and deployment of signals based on ETCS Level 2.  However, again no details were provided.

The lack of details on upcoming construction, as well as any upcoming service improvements, is frustrating and throws uncertainty into large transit-oriented development proposals all across Greater Toronto.  What is this “minimum viable product”? With nearly $10 B of early works completed, TAO believes that some sorts of service improvements, eg 30-minute all-day two-way diesel service on the Barrie, Kitchener and Stouffville lines, cannot be hard to achieve.  We are also disappointed that the bold vision for European-style regional rail appears to have died. 

TAO will be advocating with the Province and Metrolinx to promptly provide details for the public on the Design and Construction Proposal. 

Ontario Transit Funding Forum – September 22, 2025

By Transport Action Ontario | Latest News , Urban Transit

Transport Action would like to invite all members and supporters to attend this important transit forum:

-September 22, 2025 – 8:30 to 17:00 (reception to follow)

-Toronto Metropolitan University, Commons Conference Hall

-Hosted by Transport Futures in partnership with TMU TransForm Lab

-Co-sponsored by Transport Action Canada and Transport Action Ontario

The Ontario government, working in partnership with its federal and municipal partners, has made historic transit investments to ensure economic, environmental and social benefits for the public and business. However, a perfect storm has been brewing: customer demands for affordable fares and reliable service are at an all-time high while capital and operating costs are soaring — and the current US tariff war could drive up expenditures as well. To reduce the possibility of a “downward spiral” in service and ridership, the Ontario Transit Funding Forum will analyze and propose a range of revenue tools and policies that support efficient operations and increase passenger trips in the context of modal competition, affordable housing and non-transport priorities.  Expert speakers and delegates representing government, business, academia and NGOs will share their perspectives so we build a solid foundation for transit funding in Ontario.

Please note:

• Transport Action members and supporters receive a 10% discount – use promo code TACF5 when registering
• Seating is limited and early bird rates end on July 15.
• If you can’t join attend the Forum “in-person” but would like your name to be added to Transport Futures’ “online” registration list, please contact Martin Collier. If a minimum of 20 delegates are interested in attending by Zoom, he will contact you with details by mid-August.
• Further details can be found at https://transportfutures.ca/transitfunding.

Response to Ontario Minister of Transport Letter to Federal Government

By Transport Action Ontario | Highways and Bridges , Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Northern Ontario , Southwestern Ontario , Urban Transit

On June 2, 2025, Ontario Minister of Transport Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria wrote to federal Minister of Transport and International Trade Chrystia Freeland outlining several areas where federal financial and regulatory assistance is needed to modernize Ontario’s transportation infrastructure. Specific items were identified for subways, highways, rail, marine, airports, electric vehicles and critical minerals.

While Transport Action Ontario supports a number of these items, we felt we needed to comment in several areas:

• The real costs of provincial highways is high
• Need more provincial focus on southwestern Ontario
• Need to improve existing rail asset utilization
• Rail abandonments need more scrutiny
• Regional equity and rail tourism need more focus
• Descoping and delays of GO Expansion project have serious consequences
• Highway 401 tunnel in GTHA is a bad idea
• Infrastructure for critical minerals should include freight rail

Our letter can be viewed below.

Chatham station repairs underway

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus

Transport Action Ontario is pleased to see the work has begun to repair salt and frost damage to the exterior masonry of Chatham’s heritage station. We have been bringing the condition of the station exterior to VIA Rail’s attention since 2019, noting that with each passing winter the damage was accelerating and increasing the eventual repair cost.

The work is part of a program of repairs throughout the region using funding announced in 2022, including major work completed at London station and masonry repairs to Woodstock station completed in 2024, together with renovations at Brantford. VIA Rail has also recently undertaken interior renovations to the Woodstock and Chatham stations, including improved accessible washrooms.

As can be seen from the photograph above, a long period of maintenance deferral, following the de-staffing of many VIA Rail stations in 2012 due to federal budget cuts, now requires expensive capital investments to remedy. It its 2024 Annual Report, VIA Rail Canada noted that the unfunded maintenance deficit for its real estate, including stations and depots, stands at $450M.

Transport Action urges all transit operators, and the levels of government funding them, to properly account for asset lifecycle costs and ongoing maintenance funding, because failing to do so in the name of short term “savings” always costs more in the long run.