Toronto’s Eglinton Crosstown LRT
Be Like Eglinton, Never Stop Working on Yourself
It was a cold Thursday during Spring Break in March. Rain was in the air. It was one of those early Spring days that smells like Fall. Usually, I don’t like this weather; I was tired of winter and aspired for sunshine. But on that day, I couldn’t care less.
I spent Spring Break in Toronto (Canada), visiting family. I knew the new Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit (LRT) line 5 (L5) had just opened. It is the new orange line on the transit map. It had been in the works since 2007.
It took so long to build, it became a running joke in Toronto: “Be like Eglinton, never stop working on yourself.”
Needless to say, I was excited to see it!
Sure, I could have ridden it myself, without telling anyone, but that’s not my style. I am curious as a cat, and I am never embarrassed to ask.
Some of my good friends in Toronto are transport engineers. Why not ask if they know anyone who could give me a tour of the line? I knew I wanted to write a Substack story about it, and the best is to get information directly from the source: Metrolinx, the regional transport authority.
On that Thursday, around 2 PM, I met with the great Amy Woodhall from Metrolinx, who graciously accepted to meet with me. After grabbing a coconut coffee at Cộng Cà Phê near the Yonge and Eglinton Station, we headed to the LRT station.
The ground floor was simple, clean, geometric. White walls. Concrete grey tiles. Besides a system map, the place was empty.
We walked down the escalator. I tapped my credit card to go through the turnstiles—no pass required. I was good to go in and out of the system for two hours on a single fare. Seamless. Efficient.
We went down a second escalator to the platform. Same thing. Simple and clean with large red panels on the walls with the station name, along with a few poster ads.
We entered the vehicles, and again, the same feeling. I would describe it as elegant but lacking character. I could have been in Toronto, Trondheim, or Taipei.
Being in Canada, I expected more vibrant colors. But nothing is born with character. It comes with age. L5 will surely gain character. After all, it has a rich history.
Planning L5
The very first original plans for an Eglinton rail line date back to 1985. Excavation for an Eglinton subway started in 1994, but politics being politics, everything stopped after the 1995 mayoral election. The existing tunnels were filled in.1
The project came back to life in 2007. The mayor at the time, David Miller, pushed for a massive transit plan called Transit City that included the Eglinton Crosstown line. There was significant momentum behind the projects. I remember. I lived in Toronto at the time. I also remember when Metrolinx was created.
The line would have run along Eglinton in Toronto and veered north in the west all the way to the Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Then, a new mayor was elected in 2010. Transit City was scrapped, obviously.2 But plans for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT remained.
After more political drama, plans were finalized. The line would be built in two phases.
The first phase (now completed) has 25 stations and runs 19 kilometers (11.8 miles), with over 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) underground.
The line is connected to 68 bus routes, three subway stations, and two GO lines (commuter rail).
The second phase will extend the line on the western end to Renforth Drive, adding 9.2 kilometers (5.2 miles), mostly underground, and is expected to be completed by 2030-2031.
Building L5
Over half of L5 is underground. There are two options to build underground transit lines.
The first is called cut-and-cover. The transit line runs along a street. The street is closed in portions, dug, a concrete tunnel is built, and the space above the tunnel is filled in. Then, the street is repaved and reopened to traffic.
The second is to bore a tunnel directly using a tunnel boring machine (TBM). This can be done under a road or even under buildings. The tunnel can be as deep as one wants. When built under a street, the street need not be closed.
Cut-and-cover was the primary method for underground rail systems until the 1970s. The option is usually cheaper and simpler.
Tunneling later became more popular despite the higher costs. Politically, it’s become preferable to spend a lot of money rather than to disrupt surface traffic (and avoid lawsuits from affected people). This article contains a wealth of information on the topic.
In Toronto, tunneling was selected to build L5, but it’s not all because of politics. There’s a technical argument for it.
Unlike Chicago, where I live, Toronto is hilly. L5 crosses areas of the city that are at different elevations. Adopting a cut-and-cover method would have entailed deep digs that may not have been technically possible. The line must stay roughly at the same elevation, so the LRT vehicles don’t have to climb or ride down steep slopes.
Tunneling was the better option.
Four TBMs were launched in 2013 to turn Eglinton Avenue into Swiss cheese.
Two tunnels were dug side by side, one for each direction, each with a six-meter (20-foot) diameter. The two TBMs starting west were named Dennis and Lea. The two TBMs starting east were named Don and Humber.3
Most stations, however, were dug from the surface. They were dug deep.
The Yonge and Eglinton Station (photo above), where I boarded the line, is 22 meters (72 feet) below the surface, and about 13.5 meters (44 feet) below the Yonge-University subway line. The station is 270 meters (900 feet) long and 17 meters (56 feet) wide.
Digging was tricky to avoid disrupting underground utilities (water pipes, gas lines, concrete channels, etc.). Plus, the high hydrostatic pressure on the walls from the neighboring high-rises on the surface called for special reinforced concrete.
Three stations (Oakwood, Avenue, and Laird) had to be mined instead of dug. You can see it for yourself. Instead of straight vertical walls, the walls are arced (photo below).
Overall, it was quite a feat to build a new transit line below a busy city. I know it took time, but the effort was monumental.
The city had lost all its know-how of building underground transit lines, resulting in both technical delays and legal delays (as no one wanted to be responsible for any issues).
But, you know what, they did it. L5 was built. And, Torontonians are now better off thanks to it.
Operating and Riding L5
The line is owned by Metrolinx and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), but it is maintained by a private company called Crosslinx.
Speaking with Amy, I got lost in the details. Financing for the line was provided through a public-private partnership (P3) involving several large companies and Infrastructure Ontario.
L5 is expected to carry over 123,000 people every weekday. It is a large number, but not that large. That’s why light rail transit was selected over a subway (heavy rail).
That said, there is room for growth. The trains now have two light rail vehicles, but the stations were built to accommodate three vehicles in case (or once) ridership increases.
The operation is fully automated when the vehicles are underground (ATC for Automatic Train Control). Once at the surface, when the line has to go through intersections, a driver operates the vehicles.
The maximum speed is 80 km/h (55 mph), but while riding, we never exceeded 55 km/h (35 mph). I know, my face was glued to the front window to see the tunnel and control panel.
The vehicle depot is at Mount Dennis Station, the western terminal, where an entire building had to be moved (again, it required monumental effort).
The vehicles were primarily built in Thunder Bay, on the other side of Ontario, and shipped to Toronto. They were manufactured by Bombardier, recently acquired by Alstom.
Enjoying L5
Amy and I rode west from Yonge and Eglinton Station to Mount Dennis Station. The ride was smooth and quiet. I would even go as far as to say it was relaxing.
Amy was a great tour guide. I learned a lot. Thank you, Amy! As a subscriber, I know you’re reading this. On the way back, she left at Oakwood Station, four stations after Mount Dennis.
Obviously, I wanted to ride it all the way to the eastern terminal, Kennedy Station. So I took a seat in the middle of the vehicle, put on a good podcast,4 and let myself drift away in my thoughts for the next 20 stations.
As we emerged from Sunnybrook Park Station, the grey clouds had given way to a beautiful blue sky.
I rode the LRT to Kennedy Terminal Station and walked to the Bloor-Danforth Subway line to see how easy it is to transfer between lines.
Then, I faced an unexpected choice.
I could take the subway to Yonge and Bloor, transfer to the Yonge-University line, return to Yonge and Eglinton Station, and hop back on L5, where I started, forming a loop.
Or, I could walk back to L5, ride it again, and stop at Leaside Station, where I stayed.
I was torn. These were two great options, but this day was all about L5. Plus, the subway looked old and crummy compared to the brand-new light rail vehicles.
I therefore walked back to the LRT station, entered the next departing vehicle, took a seat, and enjoyed the relaxing ride back.
On the way, I stopped for a few minutes at Golden Mile Station to take the picture below, which features the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, a large water tower, and many other infrastructure systems.
Can you see them? Infrastructure is truly everywhere! And without it, our lives would not be possible.
I then got off at Leaside Station and walked back as my podcast was ending. The tour was over, but my head was full of memories! I had an amazing experience.
Thank you for taking the time to read this story.
You can find a lot of information online about the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line. Wikipedia offers a great start.
Please share your comments and thoughts with me through Substack or by email.
For more content about infrastructure, read The Infrastructure Book. Get it for yourself or ask your public/university library, or your company, to buy a copy so many can enjoy it.
Thanks to everyone who has read it already and left a positive review online.
Learn more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_5_Eglinton#History
Why do newly elected officials always have to cancel what previous officials did? Isn’t it just like dogs peeing on other dogs’ pee to establish territory? Isn’t it a waste of resources and time?
Yes, naming tunnel boring machines is common.
I listened to episodes 2 and 3 of season 12 of Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History, “Zootopia Exposed! (Part One)” and “Zootopia Exposed! (Part Two).” It seemed fitting. Gladwell is from Ontario and an amazing storyteller.