Toronto's next major transit hub is years away but you can already ride through it
The first permanent infrastructure of the future 15.6-kilometre Ontario Line is now popping up around Toronto.
In recent months, the megaproject has produced a new bridge over the Don River, emerging supports for a massive Don Valley crossing, guideway piers for an elevated stretch of the route, and even one of the route's 15 stations.
You won't be able to ride this $27-billion subway line between Exhibition Place and the Line 5 Eglinton until at least the early 2030s, but trains are already passing through the massive new multimodal hub at Exhibition Place as it takes shape around the active rail corridor.
Metrolinx
The first signs of this futuristic new rail terminal appeared over the rail corridor in May when its permanent steel began to emerge above the active tracks.
Known as V-columns, these structural elements have been rapidly installed just west of the existing Exhibition GO train platform.
According to Metrolinx, more than 90 sets of these V-columns are to be installed over the summer, which will set the stage for construction of the station's concourse where commuters will eventually move between Ontario Line subway and GO train platforms.
New sets of V-columns continue to appear as the future intermodal hub takes shape over the busy commuter infrastructure.
The V-columns now appearing are easily identifiable in renderings of the future Exhibition Stadium, and the image below offers some context as to how these structural elements will plug into the final product.
Metrolinx
However, it will still be years before any commuters get to experience the station itself. This above-ground station will be the only one along the downtown portion of the Ontario Line, and the real task ahead will be the tunnels carved east and north of Exhibition Station.
Due to this configuration, the Exhibition Station site is where the Ontario Line's tunnelling phase recently kicked into gear.
Earlier this summer, tunnel boring machine (TBM) "Corkie" officially joined its sibling TBM Libby on their journey carving under roughly six kilometres of busy downtown Toronto streets.
Libby and Corkie will form the line's twin tunnels between Exhibition Station and the Don River, where trains will transit the Don River on a newly installed arch bridge before descending underground again through the east side.
The Ontario Line has been touted as the silver bullet needed to fix the TTC's overcrowding woes, relieving congested interchanges at Bloor-Yonge and St George by providing a new direct link between downtown and the east side of the Don.
