Toronto subway extension to York Region now open for rides
Roughly $3.2 billion project adds 8.6 km of new track

Insidetoronto.com
Aaron D’Andrea
Dec. 17, 2017

 

For Rajithan Thambiaiah, the opening of the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) marked a once in a generational opportunity for his four-month-old daughter.

“Maybe later, like in 20 years, she will be looking at the picture and say, ‘I was one of the first ones to ride it,’” he told The North York Mirror.

On Sunday, Dec. 17, the TYSSE opened for regular service, making it the first TTC rapid transit line to cross Toronto’s boundary.

The roughly $3.2 billion project adds 8.6 kilometres of new track to Line 1 and six stations: Downsview Park, Finch West, York University, Pioneer Village, Highway 407 and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.

It’s estimated that riders will get from the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre to the Sheppard West Station in about 14 minutes and to Union Station in 42 minutes.

“This city is starved for transit to get people out of their cars and to get congestion reduced and to get the environment protected and give people more time with their families,” said Toronto Mayor John Tory. “The lesson of today is we can do it. Let’s just keep doing it over and over again like other cities do.”

The project was funded by all three levels of government. The province provided $974 million, Toronto chipped in $904 million, the federal government gave $697 million and York Region provided $604 million.

The opening of the TYSSE comes approximately two years later than scheduled and after two separate construction delays caused the project’s budget to balloon by $400 million.

Inside Pioneer Village Station, Lincoln Samuel told The Mirror the extension is a great idea and the city needs more transit options like it.

“It’s very crowded and with a growing city, you need growing transportation,” he said. “The highways are clogged and we need more subway lines to get traffic underground rather than on the surface.”