TTC staffers ready to run Eglinton Crosstown if it opens in fall: mayor

Toronto's mayor seems more than ready for the beleaguered Eglinton Crosstown LRT to finally open after years of delays mired the process.

"Hopefully I'm still alive seeing it open," Olivia Chow said with a laugh at an unrelated news conference Friday morning. "I guess it's good news."

Chow was reacting to a Toronto Star story from this week, citing sources close to the project who say trains should be running in September. 

CBC News reached out to Metrolinx about the supposed opening date, but the province's transport agency would not confirm any plans — nor did officials refute the Toronto Star report. The Ministry of Transportation similarly would not comment.

Chow said TTC workers, who will be responsible for the operation of the project, are ready to go.

"We can start right away," she said. "We've been ready for years."

The mayor also floated the idea that an even earlier start date would be doable on the city's end.

"Maybe they could work faster, maybe they could do it in June — that would be even better, but hey," she said.

The 25-stop line was initially set to open in 2020, but a series of technical problems and associated cost overruns have plagued the project and repeatedly delayed its completion. 

Two Toronto city councillors, whose wards are impacted by the ongoing construction, have called for a public inquiry into the transit quagmire.

Construction began in 2011, when the province estimated it would cost about $9.1 billion to build and maintain the Crosstown. Documents obtained by CBC Toronto in 2022 showed the project costs had jumped to at least $12.8 billion.

In the spring of 2023, former Metrolinx president and CEO Phil Verster revealed the consortium building the Crosstown were still working to address some 260 quality control issues on the line.

Under increasing scrutiny of Metrolinx's public communications about the project, Verster later said the transit agency would announce an opening date for the Crosstown three months ahead of time.