TORONTO — Completion of the long-delayed Eglinton Crosstown light rail line has been pushed back from its latest target this fall into sometime in 2023, triggering calls for an inquiry into the problem-plagued transit project.
After Ontario transit agency Metrolinx said in a statement on its website that the project would not meet its fall opening, the CBC reported that completion would be delayed by about a year because of issues related to construction of underground stations on the 11.8-mile, 25-station line.
The Toronto Star reports that has led for local elected officials to call for an inquiry to find out “what the hell’s going on,” in the words of local councilor Mike Colle, while another council member, Josh Matlow, is calling for financial support for businesses who have been harmed by the lengthy construction.
An official with a local business association has also called for a public inquiry, saying “there is little regard for how [the construction delay] impacts local business.” Louroz Mercader, manager of the York-Eglinton Business Improvement Area, told CityNews Toronto that other major transit projects are planned in the Toronto area, and the city needs to “learn from our mistakes of what happened here so we don’t repeat the same thing in other communities.”
Construction on the Eglinton Crosstown began in 2011. It had previously been scheduled for completion in 2020 and 2021 before aiming for an opening this fall [see “Toronto prepares to open new light rail line …,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 29, 2021].
I’m guessing there wasn’t a COVID problem in 2020 and 2021, Toronto?
There’s more to it than Covid, though that hasn’t helped. The completion dates were pushed back in 2019. They only had half the track laid at the beginning of 2020.