A group of Toronto comedians held an opening ceremony for the Eglinton Crosstown
The long-awaited transit line launched over the weekend, and people camped out to be the first to ride it
After 15 years, many delays and apparently no public inquiry as to what took so long and why it cost significantly more than initially budgeted, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT opened to riders over the weekend. Reports have been positive and spirits are high.
Related: A timeline of every single Eglinton Crosstown disaster, from 2010 until today
To celebrate the momentous occasion, Toronto comedians Jacob Balshin and Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll enlisted a group of friends to carry a torch around the city, from downtown all the way to Cedarvale station. (No one was injured in the making of this Instagram Reel. The torch was made of paper towel rolls wrapped in foil, with a Presto pass taped in the middle—a grand homemade representation of the journey we’ve all taken to finally board this thing.)
Balshin said in another video that he wanted to be one of the first people to ride the Eglinton LRT, so he set up a tent to camp out ahead of his DIY opening ceremony. Even in temperatures around minus 20 degrees, so did others, according to a CBC report. “I have five layers on right now,” said one camper. “Of course it’s worth it!”
“I feel like this is a historic moment,” said another. “I want to be a part of it.”
A few months back, Balshin hired a mariachi band to play at Cedarvale station, in honour of Eglinton Crosstown construction’s quinceañera. We were a little worried then that it would take another 15 years to finish. But here we are!
Related: The Eglinton Crosstown is almost ready—but at what cost to Little Jamaica?
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
