Ontario Construction News staff writer
TORONTO – For the first time in more than 60 years, a new subway will be tunnelled beneath downtown Toronto. Two tunnel boring machines, dubbed Libby and Corkie, are starting their journey to connect six new underground Toronto subway stations for the Ontario Line subway.
Tunnelling starting on the Ontario Line is a key milestone in the province’s plan to expand public transit and ease congestion across the Greater Toronto Area. The project represents the first subway tunnelling in Toronto’s downtown core in more than 60 years.
Work is being completed by the Ontario Line South Civil (OLSC) consortium which includes Webuild Group and PCL Construction.
The Ontario government said construction is now underway along the full length of the 15.6-kilometre line which is expected to support about 4,700 jobs annually and place nearly 230,000 people within walking distance of rapid transit.
Two tunnel boring machines have started excavating twin tunnels from Exhibition Station toward the Don Yard, travelling as deep as 40 metres below ground. The tunnels will carry trains through the downtown core before the line emerges east of the Don Valley Parkway and continues above ground.
Premier Doug Ford called the start of tunnelling a “historic milestone,” saying the line is expected to cut commute times by up to 40 minutes.
“Our government will continue to fight gridlock and keep workers on the job by leading the largest expansion of public transit in North America,” Ford said in a statement.
The Government of Canada is contributing more than $4 billion to the project.
Once complete, the Ontario Line will run from Exhibition Place to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT at Don Mills Road, with 15 stations and more than 40 connections to other transit services.
Major construction is also progressing at several points along the route. At Exhibition Station, crews are building platforms and entrances that will connect with GO Transit and serve the nearby Liberty Village area. The province estimates more than 12,000 riders will use the station during peak periods, including over 6,000 transferring between systems.
Excavation work is complete at several downtown stations, including King West, Moss Park and the Distillery District, and nearing completion in Chinatown.
Also, names for four downtown stations have been updated, to better reflect surrounding neighbourhoods. King-Bathurst will be renamed King West, Queen-Spadina will become Chinatown, Corktown will be known as Distillery District and Riverside-Leslieville will be shortened to Leslieville.
“With excavation nearly complete for all downtown stations and major construction underway across the full length of the route, it’s undeniable that we’re full steam ahead,” said Metrolinx president and CEO Michael Lindsay.
Mark Salsberg, chair of TRACCS Transit and Rail, said the start of tunnelling highlights the technical expertise of the province’s transit construction industry and the scale of the project, which is already supporting thousands of skilled jobs.
“TRACCS Transit and Rail and our members are proud to be the boots on the ground delivering this transformative project, which is already supporting thousands of high-skilled jobs across the province,” he said. “By reaching this stage, and by choosing station names that truly resonate with the local character of Toronto’s iconic neighbourhoods, we are collectively building a world-class network that is more intuitive, more connected and ready to meet the demands of a growing GTA.”
The Ontario Line is part of the province’s nearly $70-billion transit expansion program, which also includes the Scarborough Subway Extension, the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension and the Yonge North Subway Extension.
