TTC staff are being re-deployed for potential July 2025 opening of Eglinton Crosstown LRT

Even if Metrolinx hasn't shared any public updates through the Eglinton Crosstown LRT's social media pages for months now, crews are still working behind the scenes to get the new transit route ready, at long last, for its many-times-postponed opening.

More than 13 years into construction and five years past its initial launch date, Line 5 has in many ways become the butt of the joke for Toronto residents, some of whom doubt they will ever be able to actually use it, let alone anytime soon.

But, even if the agency helming the fiasco of a project has declined to provide any more estimates of when it may debut — insisting staff will only release one when they are positive they are three months away from the date to avoid further disappointment — there have been other indications, largely from the TTC.

Most recently, we have obtained information that the TTC is deploying staff to the LRT starting this month.

An operator who wished to remain anonymous confirmed to us that crews working on both the Crosstown and its sibling, the Finch West LRT — which was completed back in September but has yet to actually go into operation — are in the very last stages of preparation for their opening.

Those TTC drivers who were previously trained along the lines are now officially being moved to the Black Creek division on March 17, and are due to sign on for shifts for the Crosstown starting March 30.

"There will be a final period of refresher training for those signing Line 5 and then ghost trial operation during spring, with opening aiming for July," they explained. "Line 6 initial training will commence once the Line 5 operators are confirmed certified and have started ghosting service."

A spokesperson for the TTC was unable to verify these exact dates, saying the commission "does not have an opening date at this time, as it's up to the Province and Metrolinx to announce that." But, they did say that training preparations for the LRTs "are ongoing."

Meanwhile, new signs at bus stops along Line 5's route have appeared in recent weeks advising passengers that stops are being "updated in preparation for the opening of Line 5 Eglinton." Similarly, certain stops along Finch Avenue West now have stickers designating them as shuttle bus stops if and when Line 6 is down.

Prior to that, the public was given other clues from officials like TTC Board Chair Jamaal Myers, who pushed for TTC tokens to be usable until June 1, 2025, as this would be "the earliest possible opening date for Line 5 Eglinton Crosstown and Line 6 Finch," neither of which will be able to accept legacy fares.

The TTC's proposed budget that was tabled in early January also revealed that millions in operating costs were being set aside in July for Line 5, and in August for Line 6, pointing to these two months for the respective launches.