Ontario Line


The Ontario Line is a proposed rapid transit line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its northern terminus would be at Eglinton Avenue and Don Mills Road, at Science Centre station, where it would connect with Line 5 Eglinton. Its southern terminus would be at the existing Exhibition GO Station on the Lakeshore West line. The Ontario Line was announced by the Government of Ontario on April 10, 2019. The Ontario government estimates the cost at for this line and hopes to complete the project by 2027.

Project history

The City of Toronto had been developing a rapid transit line, known as the "Relief Line South", between Pape station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth and Osgoode station on Line 1 Yonge–University. In the early months of 2019, the Ontario government announced its intentions to take over subway construction in Toronto. In a surprise announcement in April 2019, the Ontario government announced the Ontario Line, which at that time appeared to incorporate much of the routing and many of the station locations of the Relief Line. Unlike the City design, the Ontario Line would be a "standalone" line, one that would use lighter rolling stock and shorter trainsets than the Toronto Transit Commission's existing subway lines. Members of Toronto City Council expressed their concerns that the new line would set back the delivery of rapid transit and potentially waste money the City of Toronto had already spent on the Relief Line's design.
Metrolinx prepared the plan for the Ontario Line in just three months based on a proposal by transit consultant Michael Schabas. Metrolinx hired Schabas in December 2018 to lead a team to transform the Relief Line plans into the Ontario Line. Schabas was a proponent of using lighter metro vehicles such as those used for the London's Docklands Light Railway, such vehicles being suitable for steeper grades and elevated structures. A draft plan was ready by January 31, 2019. Doug Ford approved the plan after a February 26 presentation. Metrolinx kept the project a secret until the government chose to announce it on April 10.
As initially announced in April 2019, the route of the Ontario Line seemed to follow much of the route of the Relief Line, beginning at Exhibition Place, travelling northeast to King and Bathurst Streets, then northeast to Spadina Avenue and Queen Street. It then proceeded eastward through downtown along Queen Street before turning southeast in the area of Parliament Street south to Eastern Avenue. The line had one station on King and Sumach, then made an east–west crossing of the Don River to a station at Broadview and Eastern Avenue. The line proceeded northeast to Pape Avenue and Danforth Avenue and continued north along Pape, making a north–south crossing of the Don River to the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood. The line continued northeast along Don Mills Road to terminate at Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue.
The announcement that the line would extend to a new station at Ontario Place stirred controversy, as Ontario Premier Doug Ford had spoken of transforming Ontario Place, previously a family-oriented venue, into an adult-oriented casino complex, and some suspected that the plan to have the transit line extend to Ontario Place was aimed at visiting gamblers, not the citizens of Ontario. Ford has denied that the extension is related to any casino plans. The Globe and Mail reported that no previous plan had ever considered making Ontario Place a rapid transit destination and that the announcement surprised everyone, including Mayor of Toronto John Tory.
In July 2019, the Toronto Star obtained and reported on confidential documents from Metrolinx. They showed that the proposed route would be markedly different from that of the Relief Line South and involve significant lengths of at-grade or elevated track. The Ontario Place station was eliminated with an Exhibition station added near the Exhibition GO Station. The section between Queen/Sherbourne and Gerrard stations would come to the surface and mostly follow a railway right-of-way instead of being tunnelled. The new route would substitute a Corktown station about west of the proposed location for Sumach station on the Relief Line. The Ontario Line would share less than half the planned route of the Relief Line between Osgoode and Pape stations.
In October 2019, Mayor John Tory and Premier Doug Ford reached a tentative deal in which the city would endorse the line and the TTC's subway network would not be taken over by the provincial government. The deal was later approved by Toronto City Council in a 22–3 decision.
The Ontario Line is being delivered as three separate public-private partnership procurement contracts: one rolling stock, systems, operations and maintenance contract for the entire line and two separate civil, stations and tunnel contracts – one for the southern segment and one for the northern segment of the line. The schedules for each contract will be aligned to allow for a single in-service date for the Ontario Line.

Procurement

On June 2, 2020, Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx issued two requests for qualifications for the southern civil, stations and tunnels contract and the rolling stock, systems, operations and maintenance contract – marking the first phase of procurement for the Ontario Line. The RFQ for the northern civil, stations and tunnel contract, the northern portion of the Ontario Line from Gerrard Station to the Ontario Science Centre, is expected to be issued in early 2022.

Concerns

After a draft of the Ontario Line's business case was disclosed in July 2019, a number of concerns were raised by transit experts:
Based on Metrolinx's initial business case, the Ontario Line route would start at its northern terminus of Science Centre station at Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue. The line would proceed south along Don Mills Road on an elevated structure, passing through Flemington Park then turning west along Overlea Boulevard in Thorncliffe Park. The line would then turn to make a north–south crossing of the Don Valley on a new bridge west of the existing Leaside Bridge that carries Millwood Road. On the south side of the valley, the line would enter a tunnel under Minton Place and continue underground to Cosburn station and Line 2's Pape station. The line would return to the surface just before Gerrard station, where it would follow GO Transit's Lakeshore East rail corridor. The Ontario Line would have a surface station, named Leslieville, where the railway right-of-way crosses Queen. The route would continue along the railway right-of-way to East Harbour station, east of the Don River, near Eastern Avenue, where there are plans to build a new GO train station. The route would cross the Don River on a bridge, descending into a tunnel under the rail corridor just east of Cherry Street. The route would turn north through Corktown station at King and Parliament streets. Between Parliament and Berkeley streets, the line would turn west under Queen Street through Moss Park station, Queen station and Osgoode station. The line would continue westward to a Queen/Spadina station, then southward to a King/Bathurst station. The line would turn westward again, coming to the surface just west of Strachan Avenue before arriving at Exhibition station, its southern terminus.
Metrolinx is considering a means to link Exhibition station to Ontario Place. The link could be a people mover, cable cars or some other option.
The Government of Ontario plans to use smaller train sets and a smaller gauge for the Ontario Line than those used on the Toronto subway system. The City of Toronto's "Relief Line" proposal used the same conventional heavy rail subway vehicles as used on Lines 1, 2, and 4. By using driverless trains with automatic train control and more frequent trains, the government expects that the line would have similar capacity to traditional heavy rail. The government also claims the alternate technology will reduce construction time and cost, as single tunnels rather than dual tunnels could be utilized.
The Ontario Line's maintenance and storage facility would be located along the CP Rail corridor in the area of Wicksteed Avenue and Beth Nealson Drive in Leaside. It is planned to accommodate up to 120 vehicles.
Most of the proposed stations on the Ontario Line will facilitate transfers between other forms of public transport, and the majority will provide transfers to other rail-based transportation. This includes GO Lakeshore West trains, GO Lakeshore East trains, GO Stouffville trains, TTC subway Line 1 Yonge-University, TTC subway Line 2 Bloor-Danforth, TTC subway Line 5 Eglinton, TTC 501 Queen streetcar, TTC 502 Downtowner streetcar, TTC 503 Kingston Rd. streetcar, TTC 504 King streetcar, TTC 506 Carlton streetcar, TTC 509 Harbourfront streetcar, TTC 510 Spadina streetcar, and TTC 511 Bathurst streetcar. Cosburn, Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park stations' locations and transfers are not defined.
According to Metrolinx, the new line will do more than provide relief to overcrowding on Toronto's existing subway; it will provide new connections to the communities of Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park.

Stations

The following information, largely from the Metrolinx's initial business case report of July 2019, is subject to change.
StationTypeNeighbourhoodConnectionsNotes
Above groundFlemingdon Park EglintonIntegrated with station under construction at Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue
Flemingdon ParkElevatedFlemingdon ParkNear Flemingdon Park Shopping Centre
Thorncliffe ParkElevatedThorncliffe ParkNear Overlea Boulevard and Beth Nealson Drive
CosburnUndergroundOld East YorkIn vicinity of Cosburn Avenue and Pape Avenue
Underground Bloor–DanforthIntegrated with an existing station at Pape and Danforth
GerrardAbove groundRiverdale CarltonNorth side of Gerrard Street between Pape Avenue and Carlaw Avenue, along the Lakeshore East and Stouffville GO Transit rail corridors. Although Gerrard is the proposed site of a GO/SmartTrack station, the Metrolinx IBC made no mention of it.
LeslievilleAbove ground Queen
Downtowner
Kingston Rd		Located at the intersection of Queen Street East and GO Transit's Lakeshore East / Stouffville rail corridor
East HarbourAbove groundPort Lands Lakeshore East
Stouffville		Located along GO Transit's Lakeshore East / Stouffville rail corridor between Eastern Avenue and the Don River. The station will have six tracks, with the four inner tracks for GO Transit trains and two outer tracks for the Ontario Line. Because all six tracks will be on the same level, there will be some opportunity for cross-platform transfers. East Harbour is also a proposed station for SmartTrack service. In the vicinity of East Harbour Station, there is also a separate proposal to extend streetcar service south along Broadview Avenue into the Portlands. The location is the site of the proposed East Harbour office development.
CorktownUndergroundCorktown KingNear Parliament Street and King Street East
Moss ParkUnderground QueenAt Sherbourne Street and Queen Street East
UndergroundDowntown Yonge–University
Queen		Integrated with an existing station at Queen Street and Yonge Street
UndergroundDowntown Yonge–University
Queen		Integrated with an existing station at Queen Street West and University Avenue
Queen/SpadinaUndergroundFashion District Queen
Spadina		Near the intersection of Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue
King/BathurstUndergroundFashion District King
Bathurst		Near the intersection of King Street West and Bathurst Street
Exhibition / Ontario PlaceAt gradeLiberty Village Harbourfront
Bathurst
Lakeshore West		North of Exhibition Place, with cross-platform transfers to existing Exhibition GO Station