Line 6 Finch West, also known as the Finch West LRT, is a light rail transit line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) as part of the Toronto subway, the , 18-stop line extends from Finch West station on Line 1 Yonge–University at Keele Street to Humber College station at the North Campus of Humber Polytechnic in the district of Etobicoke. The line operates in a dedicated at-grade right-of-way segregated from street traffic, much of it within the median of Finch Avenue West. It uses standard gauge rather than the broad Toronto gauge used by the three older heavy rail subway lines.
The line is forecast to carry about 14.6million rides a year or 40,000 a day by 2031. It replaced the 36C Finch West bus route (west from Finch West station) branch, which was one of the three busiest bus routes in Toronto. In the 2010s, the route had approximately 42,600 passengers per weekday, with forecast demand in 2031 that would have resulted in 32 to 39 articulated buses or 45 to 55 standard buses being required to serve the route.
The provincial agency Metrolinx announced in October 2025 that the line had achieved substantial completion, and the TTC officially opened the line on December 7, 2025.
History
Early proposals In March 2007, Toronto mayor David Miller announced the Etobicoke–Finch West LRT as part of the Transit City project to build several light rail lines within the city. The western terminus of the line would be built in the Highway 27 / Humber Polytechnic (then Humber College) area in Etobicoke. The line would run along Finch Avenue West eastward, terminating at Finch station in North York.
On April 1, 2009, the Government of Ontario announced that it would provide funding for construction of this line from Humber College to Don Mills station via Finch West and Finch stations, opening in 2013. In March 2010, the Ontario government budgeted less for building transit. As a result, it eliminated the proposed section of the line east of Finch West station.
In December 2010, Mayor Rob Ford cancelled the line after taking office. However, in February 2012, city council voted to restore the project, along with the Eglinton Crosstown LRT (later renamed Line 5 Eglinton), as part of a new transit plan, restoring some of the elements of the Transit City proposal over Mayor Ford's objections.Council opts for light-rail lines over Ford's lone subway track , The Globe and Mail February 8, 2012
In April 2012, Metrolinx proposed to start construction on the Finch West LRT in 2015, with the line opening in 2018. By November 2012, when the city and province signed an LRT master agreement, construction for the line was to begin in 2015 for completion in 2020. In April 2015, the province announced that construction of the line would start in 2016 for completion in 2021.
Procurement In September 2015, the Government of Ontario announced that its agency, Infrastructure Ontario, would search for a contractor to design, build, finance and maintain the Finch West LRT – with the successful contractor to be chosen by 2017. In February 2016, Infrastructure Ontario invited three consortia to respond to a request for proposals – Humber Valley Transit Partners (a consortium of SNC-Lavalin and Graham), Mosaic Transit Group (a consortium of ACS Infrastructure Canada, Aecon, and CRH Canada Group) and FACT Partners (a consortium of EllisDon and Bechtel).
In May 2017, Metrolinx confirmed that it had entered into an agreement with Alstom to build 17 (later revised to 18) light rail vehicles (LRVs) for Line 6 Finch West. In September 2017, Metrolinx announced the line would not open until 2022 at the earliest, blaming the delay on uncertainty with the Bombardier vehicle supply.
In April 2018, Mosaic Transit Group was selected to build the transit line. After consultation with Mosaic on a construction schedule, Metrolinx delayed projected completion of the line to 2023, ten years after the originally announced date. That May, Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx announced that Mosaic had signed a contract to design, build, and finance the construction of the line and stations, and to maintain them for 30 years after their initial opening.
Effective June 20, 2021, the TTC renumbered the Bay bus route in downtown Toronto from 6 to 19 to free up the route number 6 for the Finch West line.
In 2023, the estimated cost of the line was . As of March 31, 2025, the budgeted cost of the line was $3.585billion.
Construction and testing
Initial preparatory utility works began in 2016. Enbridge Gas Distribution relocated natural gas pipelines lower within the roadway to allow for an appropriate depth beneath the proposed track-bed. Other utility work followed, with replacement and relocation of watermains, hydro poles and hydro cables. In the second quarter of 2019, substantial construction of the project began with work on the maintenance and storage facility (MSF).
Major construction by Mosaic Transit Group began in 2019. In June 2020, the Highway 400 overpasses over Finch Avenue were removed and replaced over two consecutive weekends, using a "rapid bridge replacement" technique. This involved moving the old overpass aside in one piece and installing a new overpass in its place. By late October of that year, the first rails were being installed at the line's new maintenance and storage facility, with the first vehicles scheduled to arrive in mid-2021. That December, Mosaic Transit Partners awarded Bombardier Transportation a 30-year contract to maintain Line 6's light rail vehicles as well as wayside systems such as track and overhead catenary. Bombardier was also chosen to maintain the fleet and wayside systems for Line 5 Eglinton in a different contract.
In January 2021, the first of 11 traction power substations to power the trains was installed. This substation would power an initial section of track between Norfinch Road / Oakdale Drive and Sentinel Road to allow for train testing. Later that month, the first vehicle test was carried out at the MSF. During the test, a vehicle travelled at speeds between and . In February 2022, an LRV made a trip from the MSF along York Gate Boulevard onto Finch Avenue.
By May 2022, Mosaic Transit Group had laid about 35 percent of the of the total track required to complete the line. Besides the double-track mainline, the total track to be laid included crossovers, pocket tracks, and MSF trackage. Mosaic had already laid of track on the mainline between Pelican Gate (near the MSF) and Sentinel Road, which, starting May 20, was to be used for LRV testing with speeds up to . By September 1 of that year, 47 percent of mainline track had been laid. By November, the first eight of 116 platform canopies and the first two of 29 electrical cabinets to power lights, fare machines, and security systems along the line were installed at the Driftwood stop.
By March 2023, 56 of the 116 canopies had been installed, 75 percent of the catenary poles had been installed and 50 percent of the mainline track had been laid. By October, all rail and overhead catenary had been installed, and all 18 light rail vehicles had received their final acceptance, and by November, all platform canopies had been installed. In May 2024, the first light rail vehicle made a test run along the entire line, from Finch West station to Humber College station, with speeds up to . By September of that year, construction was complete for all stations and stops, with only the testing and commissioning phase remained to be completed.
On August 15, 2024, Mosaic Transit Group filed a lawsuit against the provincial government alleging that when the Toronto Transit Commission had been designated the line's operator, some terms in an agreement between Metrolinx and Mosaic were violated. Mosaic alleged that the agreement between Metrolinx and the TTC was interfering with the completion of the line. Mosaic expected the TTC to "facilitate effective implementation of maintenance and operational requirements once the line commences service".
Previously, in July 2023, it had been expected that Line 6 would open within the first half of 2024, but by December 2023, the TTC made the assumption for budget purposes that the line would open no earlier than September 2024; the builder, Mosaic Transit Group, expected the line to open by the end of 2024. But by early December 2024, Councillor Jamaal Myers, chairman of the TTC board, stated that the commission did not expect the line to open before June 2025 at the earliest.
Implementation
In early September 2025, Metrolinx transferred operational control of Line 6 to the TTC. The TTC's transit control centre at the Hillcrest Complex became responsible for the line's operation. Mosaic Transit Group continued to maintain the line. Starting the weekend of September 20, the TTC planned to begin a 30-day revenue demonstration test without passengers. Up to 15 trains would operate every five minutes during peak hours, and every seven to ten minutes during off-peak hours. In late October, Metrolinx announced that the 30-day test had been successfully completed and that the line would be turned over to the TTC no later than November 3. On November 24, 2025, the TTC officially announced that the line would open on December 7, 2025.
The TTC planned a soft opening for the line. Until the second quarter of 2026, the line would end daily service at 10pm to give Mosaic Transit Group extra time for maintenance and to monitor for operating issues. This would avoid the severe startup problems that occurred on the Confederation Line of the O-Train in Ottawa. The TTC would run 15 LRVs during peak periods providing a frequency of 6 minutes and 30 seconds. The off-peak frequency would be every 10 to 12 minutes. Bus substitution would be used between 10pm and 1am the following calendar day. As part of the soft opening, trains would operate at less than the originally promised speeds and frequency. The city and Metrolinx had agreed to a speed limit of for trains going through intersections and approaching stops.
During initial operations in December 2025, passengers told media that vehicle speeds were very slow.Finch West LRT opens to background of criticism of journey times Tramways & Urban Transit issue 1058 February 2026 page 45 According to CBC News, it took 55 minutes to finish an entire westbound trip, and 47 minutes eastbound. During the testing phase, the scheduled time was 46 minutes. During planning for the line, Metrolinx had promised a 33-minute run time. At its opening, the line was using "conditional" transit signal priority that activates only if the train is behind schedule. Trains were being trapped by red lights because they could not extend green lights at an intersection and were not allowed through said intersections, having to defer to left-turning vehicles. It was also observed that trains would dwell for 45 to 90 seconds at on-street stop after the doors had closed for departure. After opening, the round-trip target time became 98 minutes but actual round-trip times could be as much as 120 minutes. Following a motion by Mayor Olivia Chow on December 16, city council instructed the city manager to work with the TTC and Metrolinx to implement "more aggressive" transit signal priority along Line 6. On December 10, the TTC board had adopted a similar motion. The TTC was also looking at dwell times at stops.
For the 29 days of service following its opening, Line 6 had service interruptions on 14 of those days for various reasons, such as mechanical problems, intruders, and debris on the tracks. On January 12, 2026, a switch heater blew a fuse after an electrical power surge, resulting in a three-hour suspension of service. As a result of a major snowstorm on January 15, 2026, the line was closed for a day and a half.