Line 5 Eglinton, also known as the Eglinton Crosstown LRT or the Crosstown, is a light rail transit line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) as part of the Toronto subway, it has 25 stations and is long. Service on the line began on February 8, 2026, as part of a phased opening. It uses standard gauge rather than the broad Toronto gauge used by the three older heavy rail subway lines.
The line was conceived in 2007 during the administration of Toronto mayor David Miller as part of Transit City, a large-scale transit expansion plan that included several light rail lines proposed across the city. While the plan was later dropped by successive municipal governments, only the Eglinton Crosstown LRT received support and funding from the Government of Ontario under Premier Kathleen Wynne.
The line's construction was overseen by Metrolinx in two phases. The first phase of the line includes 25 stops along Eglinton Avenue, from Mount Dennis station mostly underground to Laird station, after which it runs predominantly at-grade within the street's median to Kennedy station in Scarborough, where it connects underground with Line 2 Bloor–Danforth, and GO Transit. Automatic train control is used in the tunnelled sections. This first phase had an estimated cost of ; the cost when the contract was awarded was pegged at $9.1billion, although the cost was originally estimated at $11billion.
A second phase, a westward extension from Mount Dennis, will run mostly underground or elevated to Renforth station, with seven new stations. The second phase is expected to cost $4.7billion and to be completed by 2031. Construction of the westward extension to Renforth station began in July 2021. The extension would bring the Toronto subway system into Mississauga.
Two future extensions were planned: an eastern extension to the University of Toronto Scarborough and a northwestern extension towards Toronto Pearson International Airport. In 2022, the city of Toronto converted the eastern extension into a city project and a separate line known as the Eglinton East LRT using light rail technology incompatible with the Line 5 technology.
Construction of the first phase of the line began in 2011 and was originally planned to be complete in 2020, but the opening date was revised several times, with Metrolinx next expecting the line to be substantially complete by September 2022. After revising the opening date of the central section to 2023 and then, amid ongoing legal action against Crosslinx (the construction consortium), Metrolinx stated they believed there was no credible schedule to complete the project. By September 2023, the central section was estimated to be 97 percent complete, although Metrolinx refused to provide an estimated completion date. On December 2, 2025, after a 30-day trial of the line, Metrolinx announced it would hand over operations to the TTC, which would determine an opening date. In early February 2026, the TTC set February 8, 2026, as the start date for a phased opening.
History Background
The origins of Line 5 Eglinton can be traced to the 1985 Network 2011 plan conceived by the Metropolitan Toronto government. The plan included a busway along Eglinton Avenue, to be completed by 2003. In 1986, a coalition of City of York and Etobicoke Metro councillors and the Regional Municipality of Peel persuaded Metro Council to include an Eglinton West line in a new Transit Network Plan. Work on a new subway line began in 1994 at an estimated cost of , with the line extending the subway westwards from Cedarvale station (then known as Eglinton West station) to Black Creek Drive. However, construction was halted following the election in 1995, which saw Mike Harris take power and led to the cancellation of the Eglinton West line, with the existing tunnel quickly filled in.
Original concept
Line 5 Eglinton was originally conceived as the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, a partially underground light rail line, announced in 2007 by Toronto mayor David Miller and TTC chair Adam Giambrone. It was part of the Transit City plan, which included the implementation of six other light rail lines across Toronto. The original version of the line would have run from Pearson Airport along Silver Dart Drive to Convair Drive. The line would have then turned southwest to a bridge over Highway 401 to reach Commerce Boulevard on the other side, where it would run south to reach Eglinton Avenue and the east end of the Mississauga Transitway. The rest of the line would run east along Eglinton Avenue, including a portion along which the cancelled Eglinton West subway line would have been built. The line would then traverse the city, connecting with Line 1 Yonge–University, Line 2 Bloor–Danforth, and Line 3 Scarborough.
There were 43 stops planned for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, 13 of which would be underground. Surface stops would be spaced on average apart and the underground stations would be apart on average, as constructing numerous underground stops would be costly. The average speed would be , compared with the existing bus routes along Eglinton that have an average speed of . The line would terminate at Kennedy station to the east in Scarborough where it would meet Line 2 Bloor–Danforth, the proposed Scarborough Malvern LRT and GO Transit's Stouffville line. The expected cost was $4.6billion. As a result of provincial funding cuts, construction of the line was divided into two phases: phase one would end at Jane Street, and phase two would terminate as had been planned at the Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Rob Ford–era redesigns Miller's successor, Rob Ford, announced the cancellation of Transit City on December 1, 2010, the day he took office. He proposed an alternative titled the "Eglinton–Scarborough Crosstown line", which put the line along Eglinton Avenue completely underground. The line would have then followed the route of Line 3 Scarborough, thus forming a single line continuously from Black Creek Drive to . The cost would almost double to $8.2billion and, compared to the original plan, 18 fewer stops were planned, including the elimination of the connection to Pearson Airport. Most of the additional cost would have come from putting 12 additional stations underground and for converting the Scarborough RT.
On February 8, 2012, in a special meeting, Toronto City Council, led by Karen Stintz, voted 25–18 to override Mayor Ford's modifications to the project. The vote reinstated the original proposal to only construct the portion between Laird Drive and Keele Street underground while the remainder of the line is built along the surface. On November 30, 2012, the environmental assessment was revised, such that the east tunnel portal location would be moved from east of Brentcliffe to east of Don Mills; however, this was reversed in May 2013 after receiving community feedback. In January 2013, city councillors from Scarborough put forward an alternative plan to proceed with the construction of the Eglinton Avenue portion of the line as planned but to exclude the Scarborough RT. In July 2013, plans for an "Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown" line were abandoned, thereby reverting the entire line back to the plan that had been conceived under Transit City.
Location of tracks at Leslie Street In 2012, Metrolinx discovered that there would be minimal cost differential between tunnelling under the West Don River at Leslie Street (the proposed location of the Sunnybrook Park stop) versus laying the track on the surface. Metrolinx also stated that tunnelling through that section would have provided "significant improvements to construction staging, schedule and traffic impacts". Thus, in December 2012, Metrolinx proposed an extension of the tunnel and eliminating the planned Sunnybrook Park surface stop. An underground station at Sunnybrook was considered too expensive given low projected ridership. Local residents objected to the elimination of their stop, and by mid-2013, Metrolinx had relented and the surface stop had been restored.
Construction and implementation
Procurement The line was built in two separate phases. To expedite construction, tunnelling took place first, followed by construction of stations, rail and other systems.
Tunnelling In July 2010, Metrolinx ordered four tunnel boring machines (TBMs) from Lovat for $54million. Each TBM was long, in diameter, and weighed . The TBMs were named Dennis, Lea, Don, and Humber, after Mount Dennis, Leaside, the Don River, and the Humber River, respectively. The names Dennis and Lea were chosen in reference to Canadian poet Dennis Lee.
In September 2012, Metrolinx awarded a $320-million contract to Crosstown Transit Constructors (a joint venture between Obayashi, Kenny Construction, Kenaidan Contracting and Technicore Underground) to dig a tunnel from Black Creek Drive to Yonge Street. In November 2013, Metrolinx awarded a $177-million contract to Aecon and ACS Infrastructure Canada / Dragados to dig a tunnel from Brentcliffe Road to Yonge Street.
Stations and other infrastructure In January 2013, Infrastructure Ontario issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) to shortlist companies that would design, build, finance and maintain the line as part of a public–private partnership. The contract would include the design, construction and commissioning of:
25 new stops and stations track, power, signalling and other mechanical and electrical systems a vehicle maintenance and storage facility a new train storage facility
The contract would also include financing of the project, as well as maintenance of the line for a period of 30 years.
In December 2013, Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx released a request for proposals (RFP). Two teams were shortlisted through the RFQ processCrosslinx Transit Solutions (a consortium including SNC-Lavalin, ACS Infrastructure Canada, EllisDon, Aecon, Dragados and IBI Group) and Crosstown Transit Partners (a consortium including Strabag, Bechtel, Obayashi, Fengate Capital Management and OHL Concesiones). The RFP process closed in February 2015.
In June 2015, Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx announced that Crosslinx Transit Solutions had been selected. In November 2015, Ontario Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca announced that Crosslinx Transit Solutions had been awarded the contract at a cost of $9.1billion. Del Duca noted this was around $2billion less than estimated.
At the time of contract award, the 30-year contract to build and maintain the line totalled $9.1billion, with an opening date of 2021. Capital costs would be $5.3billion, with each of the 15 underground stations costing $80–100million to build and the ten street-level stops $3–5million each. The remainder will be for financing, lifecycle and maintenance costs. Upon completion of the line, its costs had risen to $12.8billion owing to construction delays and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Construction timeline
Tunnelling (2010–2015)
In August 2011, preparation for construction of a launch shaft for tunnel boring machines at Black Creek Drive began, while in October of that year, the first part of tunnel construction started. On November 9, 2011, in Keelesdale Park, Mayor Rob Ford and Premier Dalton McGuinty officially broke ground on the new project. In May 2012, the TTC considered that a 2020 opening date was unlikely and that a more realistic in-service date would be between 2022 and 2023. The main reason given was that the project management had been transferred from the TTC to Infrastructure Ontario. A private contractor would complete the project, effectively requiring that contractor to redo all design work already completed by the TTC.
In February 2013, TBMs Dennis and Lea arrived in Keelesdale Park. In June 2013, the TBMs Dennis and Lea began tunnelling on the line. Traffic on Eglinton Avenue near Keele Street was reduced to one lane in each direction.