TTC confirms Eglinton Crosstown LRT will open on Sunday

TTC CEO Mandeep Lali has confirmed the Eglinton Crosstown LRT will open on Sunday and offer free rides, marking the end of more than a decade of construction and testing on the line.

The long-delayed route will launch under a cautious, phased opening as the city looks to learn lessons from both the Ottawa and Finch LRTs.

Lali said Tuesday that the TTC and Metrolinx had achieved some “huge milestones” on the Crosstown in recent months. He said there were no outstanding safety issues with the line.

The TTC CEO said the most recent tests for the line had been undertaken through a service simulation that involved more than 1,000 staff.

In December 2025, Metrolinx finally accepted the line as substantially complete from the company building it, roughly 14 years after work on the project began.

Construction work on the line struggled along for more than a decade in Toronto, causing major congestion issues and forcing businesses along Eglinton Avenue to shut down.

The project was also hit by lawsuits and ongoing battles between the contractor and Metrolinx.

The province stopped offering an opening date for the line around 2023, saying the builder had not provided any credible timeline. Eventually, it began its final testing toward the end of 2025 and completed it in early December.

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The provincial government then transferred responsibility for the line to the TTC for the final stages of testing and integration ahead of its launch. The province had wanted to see the line open at the end of December, but the city pushed back with the target of early February.

Pressure on the opening date has only increased since the troubled opening of the Finch West LRT in early December.

That line, which was described as simpler than Eglinton by Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay, has been plagued by breakdowns and service interruptions, particularly with its switch technology in freezing temperatures.

Riders have also complained about slow travel speeds on the line, which has not yet been given priority at intersections and has been stuck waiting for vehicles to turn.

Lali said lessons had been learned from the Finch launch and were already being applied to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.