ttc subway new trains

Toronto is getting 70 new subway trains as part of huge deal with province

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow announced an enormous new deal for the city on Monday, one that will bring dozens of modern subway trains and a huge jolt of funding to the cash-strapped TTC.

The new deal between the provincial and municipal governments brings up to $7.6 billion in capital relief for Toronto, including several huge transportation announcements.

The biggest news of the morning — the province uploading the money-gulping Gardiner Expressway and notoriously slow-moving Don Valley Parkway — has overshadowed several other aspects of the deal, like how it will impact transit users.

Riders of the TTC's Line 2 will finally be offered the modern standards afforded to Line 1 through the introduction of 55 new subway trains, through provincial funding, provided the federal government also pitches in.

These modern subway trains will finally replace the T Series trains still plying the Bloor-Danforth a full dozen years after the fancy new Toronto Rocket trains entered service on Line 1.

Maximizing the order efficiency, a further 15 new subway trains would be purchased by Metrolinx for planned service on the Scarborough Subway Extension and Yonge North Subway Extension, bringing the total up to 70 new trains.

While not explicitly mentioned in Monday's announcement, it is almost certain that the new trains will be a new order of the Toronto Rocket trains already serving Line 1. Earlier this year, the TTC halted a process seeking proponents to submit bids for the next generation of subway trains.

In addition to swapping out rickety, old trains with gleaming new replacements, the new deal announcement will give the TTC a one-time cash injection of $300 million, in what the province is calling its One-time Subway and Transit Safety, Recovery and Sustainable Operations Fund.

Though it comes with a bit of a caveat.

The province states that this cash boost is intended to "increase transit ridership, promote subway and transit safety and ensure sustainable operations" as part of an up to $1.2 billion package providing provincial support for Toronto transit over three years.

According to a press release, these funds will help "build back ridership through more frequent service as well as the affordable, convenient, efficient and safe operation of the subway system."

The catch is that the money is "conditional on the city establishing a new Transit Rider Safety Commitment," and the TTC will only get funding if the City's plan "includes the increased presence of police or safety officers on and near transit."

Increased law enforcement on transit has proven a hot topic amid recent debates about violence on public transit, and the question of investing in policing versus mental health supports.

Lead photo by

Jack Landau


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