The delay- and litigation-plagued Eglinton Crosstown LRT remains just out of reach to riders despite construction being all but complete. And while the project has indeed taken some significant steps forward in recent months, it's looking less likely by the day that commuters will get to ride the line in 2024.

The most recent news on the future TTC Line 5 emerged during Metrolinx's September board of directors meeting, which included updates on the many transit infrastructure projects under construction across the Greater Toronto Area.

Metrolinx stated in a September report on its capital projects that "following a 28-train 'stress test' on the line, operator river training began on August 12, bringing us closer to operational readiness."

While, on paper, this reads as a relatively minor update, it is evidence that significant progress has been made behind the scenes.

One of the critical issues holding back the line's opening has been software defects plaguing the Crosstown's signalling and train control system — a problem Metrolinx claims to have resolved this past spring through a software update.

That issue prevented the start of training for the 110 operators who will be needed to keep the line running smoothly, and confirmation that driver training is now one month underway stands as proof that Metrolinx is inching closer to the finish line.

In its recent board meeting, Metrolinx noted that the project contractor, Crosslinx Transit Solutions, continues "progressing testing across the alignment and implementing updates to the automatic train control software system to correct deficiencies. 

"Progressive updates to the software improved system performance such that it was possible to complete the Train the Trainer program in July and then allow the line's future TTC workforce to begin operator driver training in August."

Crosslinx states that "Operator driver training will be completed in three cohorts and is a
major step forwards towards substantial completion. "

Despite the apparent progress behind the scenes, it is now becoming increasingly unlikely the line will open in 2024.

Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster has promised to notify the public three months ahead of the Crosstown's opening, and with September now on its back half, there are less than two weeks for the transit agency to announce a 2024 opening date.

If indeed the timeline is pushed to 2025, that would bring the Crosstown into its fifth year past the initial opening estimate of 2020.

Even the Finch West LRT, which started construction five years after the Crosstown broke ground, now threatens to beat its more prominent to the finish line.

Delays and negative publicity have overshadowed the line's importance to the communities it serves, the transformative wave of development it has fostered, and the extensions that will bring transit to even more neighbourhoods in the years to come.