Officials say the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is one step closer to opening and remains on course to finally launch in September as Toronto’s transit agency takes over running trains on the line.
At an event on Tuesday, Metrolinx interim-CEO Michael Lindsay said the Toronto Transit Commission had taken over control of the 28 trains on the mid-town line as various tests continue.
“About a week ago, we moved control of the line from the backup operations command centre to the TTC’s command centre at Hillcrest, which means as of today or tomorrow, movement of trains on the line is actually governed by the TTC, as it will be when the line is in revenue service,” Lindsay said.
Giving the TTC control of the trains themselves takes the line closer to completion. Lindsay said civil infrastructure and driver training are both complete; a 14-day formal trial and a 30-day practice are still necessary before the whole project is officially finished.
The latter will mean “literally run(ning) the system as it will run when it is open to the public with no passengers on it.”
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A spokesperson for the TTC clarified that the transfer of control does not mean the complete transfer of the line.
“The good news, though, is that this week, train operations were transferred into our Transit Control Centre from a temporary control centre as testing, training and construction continue,” a spokesperson said.
“We leave it to the province to announce an opening date when we are confident the line is ready for safe and reliable operations.”
While control of the trains has been transferred from Metrolinx to the TTC, other parts of the line have not yet been given to the transit agency.
Crosslinx Transit Solutions, the consortium responsible for constructing the line, is currently counted as the project manager. When the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is ready to open, the TTC will take on the lead role and Crosslinx will be responsible only for its maintenance.
Empty retail spaces built into the stations will be given to the TTC to fill with businesses once the line is officially done, and control of ticketing and revenue collection needs to be passed to the agency as well.
Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said Tuesday he hoped the line would still open by September, as previously planned.
“As long as we ensure it’s a safe and reliable system, we’re on track for that date,” he said.
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