Group of friends walked entire length of Finch West LRT on opening day
Toronto celebrated a monumental transit expansion on Dec. 7 with the opening of the Finch West LRT, and a group of friends known for their long-haul walks marked the occasion in their trademark style.
The Walkers, a group of five friends who have taken the internet by storm with their walking escapades throughout the Greater Toronto Area, knew the opening of the TTC's Line 6 Finch West was a landmark event they couldn't miss.
"We met up at 6 a.m. so that we could get to Finch West for the opening ceremony starting at 7 a.m.," Katie Wang tells blogTO. Naturally, there was a motive for arriving bright and early: the commemorative coin the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) gave out to the first 100 people in line. And, apparently, The Walkers weren't the only ones with their eyes on the prize.
"I saw online that the first 100 customers at Finch West could get a special commemorative coin, and we thought there were only going to be 20 or so people there." But to their surprise (and perhaps, disappointment?), there were over 200 people in line already.
"The line stretched down the whole block! We talked to the first few people in line, and the first person got there at midnight, and the second person got there at 2 a.m.," Wang recalls.
Chaos was unleashed as soon as the doors opened at 7 a.m. With no luck securing a coin at Finch West, Wang admits they dashed to the second station, Sentinel. Finding none there either, the Walkers pressed on to station three, Tobermory, where they finally secured the last five coins. Mission accomplished.
From there, they continued walking to every station.
Despite being exhausted from all the running, Wang confirms that "the whole walk was around 15 kilometres and took us about five hours. It was pretty cold, and it was snowing, but it was cool to explore a new neighbourhood that we've never seen before."
Reflecting on the expansion, Wang says, "I'm glad to see the TTC expanding so that more residents of other neighbourhoods in Toronto can be connected to the downtown core by public transport. It was so fun to see other people excited about Line 6 opening. We saw so many people excited about riding it for the first time."
And, of course, a moment like this was bound to attract some eyeballs on the Walkers, too. Wang was thrilled to meet and greet a few The Walkers fans on board.
The 10.3-kilometre Line 6 runs from Finch West Station to Humber College, connecting transit-goers across northwestern Toronto. Originally slated to open in 2023, construction on this much-anticipated transit line initially began in 2019.
The Walkers | Fareen Karim
