Ontario Line tunnelling has begun
The 15.6-kilometre transit line will be finished in the early 2030s
The Ford government announced today that tunnelling for the downtown segment of the Ontario Line has begun.
“Right now, two tunnel boring machines are about to begin digging twin tunnels which will run six kilometres from the launch shaft near Exhibition Station, to just west of the lower Don River,” Premier Doug Ford told reporters, noting that these are the first subway tunnels to be built beneath Toronto’s downtown core in more than 60 years.
Related: The Ontario Line will have protective barriers installed on its platforms
The 15-stop, 15.6-kilometre transit line is projected to be finished in the early 2030s.
Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay reminded Torontonians of the complexity of its construction, saying today, “Even the start of tunnelling operations on the Ontario Line does not mark the start of major construction progress on this project.”
Still, with the line set to carry 400,000 passengers a day, with an end-to-end travel time of 30 minutes or less, any progress is welcome.
Related: Just 64 per cent of riders are satisfied with TTC service
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.
