Eglinton Crosstown LRT opening could now be delayed to September

After many years of headlines, rumours and guesses about the future opening of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, it seems that we can now finally say when, exactly, the ill-fated transit line that has been over 13 years in the making will launch, thanks to some mysterious inside sources.

Signs have been leading up to this in recent months (some of them literal) as the TTC makes the appropriate preparations for Line 5 along Eglinton Avenue and, for the sibling Line 6 Finch West LRT, along that thoroughfare as well.

Budget docs and words from the mouth of the TTC chair himself have, along with other hints, corroborated the rumours of a summer 2025 debut, likely in July for the Crosstown and August for Finch West, though potentially even earlier.

Most recently, we discovered that LRT operators previously trained on the Crosstown are being re-deployed to the Black Creek division on March 17 and scheduled for refresher training shifts along the line for the period of March 30 to May 10, "with opening aiming for July," as a staffer told us last week.

Now, two more inside sources have spoken on the record to another local outlet, citing a slightly later date,

TTC staff are being re-deployed for potential July 2025 opening of Eglinton LRT https://t.co/hmAIyBEc5m

— blogTO (@blogTO) March 9, 2025

The sources, who spoke under anonymity, both told the Star on Thursday that transit agencies are expecting the Eglinton Crosstown to open in September 2025 after construction wraps up in June, when TTC will take over responsibility for the route.

They did, however, note that "an eleventh-hour problem" that would defer these plans is not out of the realm of possibilities, given the countless delays to the project thus far.

Metrolinx has for many months vowed not to comment on a potential opening date until it is absolutely sure that said date is no more than three months out, to avoid letting the public down yet again.

New signs hint that Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown LRT might finally open https://t.co/lu3Zlr9Z7j

— blogTO (@blogTO) November 30, 2024

Following ground breaking in 2011, Line 5 was initially supposed to open in 2020 — which now seems hilarious — with various hiccups continuing to prolong the waiting period ever since.

These have included legal battles with the construction consortium behind the work, "cascading" technical issues during commissioning and testing, and even various repairs before operation starts.