“The Ontario Line will connect the city like never before,” reads the Metrolinx website. Verster echoed his enthusiasm, and said Metrolinx would “build the messaging and business case” for the new project around Schabas’ report.

Over half of the route is planned to run underground through new tunnels, with the remainder running along elevated and at-grade rail corridor sections of track. A map of a version of that alignment was included in a draft of the business case for the Ontario Line as late as June 3. It would have taken the Ontario Line east over the Don River on an elevated structure that would then have crossed over GO Transit’s Lakeshore East corridor and curved south towards Lake Shore Boulevard, before turning back north and entering into a tunnel near Eastern and Pape avenues. Business Case from Metrolinx in July 2019. Today, in the third post of a three-part series, we review the line’s East segment.

Moving west of the downtown core, Ontario Line will bring the subway system to Liberty Village. If you do not yet have a Torstar account, you can create one now (it is free), Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited.

Like the old project, the Ontario Line would divert riders off the TTC’s overburdened Line 1 subway, but would be roughly twice as long, stretching about 15.5 kilometres from Exhibition GO station to the Ontario Science Centre, and serve more riders. “At East Harbour, we are building the Union Station of the east, so we will need strong connections between the subway and GO,” says Mathieu Goetzke, Chief Planning Officer for Metrolinx. He’s also been involved with bids to buy rail companies in Hungary, Estonia and Malawi, and studied the potential for Uzbekistan Railways to attract tourism. GO HERE FOR THAT STORY A Harvard-educated transportation planner and owner of a U.K.-based consultant firm, Schabas, 63, has a colourful resume that includes leading roles in major international rail projects such as London’s Docklands Light Railway and Vancouver’s SkyTrain. To order copies of

Metrolinx intends to build a new Ontario Line station under Osgoode Station, stretching between Simcoe Street (#1) and just west of University Avenue (#2), image: Metrolinx. Making easier connections will be one of the important principles behind the design of Toronto’s new Ontario Line subway, which will connect with GO Trains and TTC routes. Earlier plans for the Ontario Line—and even earlier plans for the Downtown Relief Line subway before that—proposed stations that were near, but not under, the current Osgoode and Queen stations. “With the GO line elevated above ground level there, the challenge is to get Ontario Line and the GO line working together providing as seamless as possible transfers.”. ROLLING BACK THE YEARS. In December, Verster asked him to review an analysis by another consultant who argued the relief line plan council had been pursuing was out of date. Originally intended as a replacement to the City of Toronto’s Relief Line South, a 7.5-km project connecting Line 2 at Pape Station to Line 1 at Queen Station and Osgoode Station with eight new stations, the project has grown under the direction of the Ford Government. This quickly developing project will provide fast and efficient transit through downtown and also bring the subway to new neighbourhoods. An above ground station at East Harbour also means Ontario Line can cross the Don River by bridge, eliminating the need for a costly tunnel, saving tax dollars. Getting from a GO train to an Ontario Line vehicle, using cross-platform design, would mean a direct route, rather than climbing stairs and changing platforms. Metrolinx has redacted every word in the versions provided to the Star. “Getting out through a cascade of escalators from 38 metres to the top would be a slow experience for customers,” Goetzke explains. On Feb. 26, Verster presented the new concept to the premier, who gave it the green light. “So — having been dismissive of the (relief line), I now think that, re-crafted, it can be a great project,” he wrote in a Jan. 3, 2019 email to Verster, attaching the report.

All to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about “Paris, Montreal, and more than 40 other cities have now adopted this approach. Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Announced by the Province of Ontario in 2019, the proposed Ontario Line is one of four priority transit projects Metrolinx is leading for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). “Given the importance of this project and the pressing need to provide relief to the rapid transit network in Toronto,” the agency performed “an exhaustive amount of work” over a “a short period of time to advance the project as quickly as possible,” she said. But it’s clear Schabas believed he’d found a way to improve the relief line. From east to west, north to south, from Ontario Place to the Ontario Science Centre, there’s never been a connection in the heart of the city like this one.”. “There is fear about a possible leak,” Schabas wrote later that day. By continuing to browse this site you permit us and our partners to place identification cookies on your browser and agree to our use of cookies. A Business Case from Metrolinx in July 2019 shows the proposed project spanning 15.5 km across 15 new stations, including six interchange stations and 17 new connections to GO Transit, existing subways, and streetcars. They say that life is easier the more connections you make. GO HERE FOR THEIR STORY She defended the decision to recommend the project to the provincial government before settling on an approximate route, arguing that other aspects of the Ontario Line made it clear it was worth pursuing. The City of Toronto had been developing a rapid transit line, known as the "Relief Line South", between Pape station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth and Osgoode station on Line 1 Yonge–University. Keep up with Metrolinx News features via email by clicking the Follow link at the top right-hand side of this page, or you can follow us as we post on social media. rights reserved. To order Construction can involve the removal, replacement, relocation and upgrading of utilities. Metrolinx stands by its work on the Ontario Line, which it pitches as an improvement to the relief line subway. Overall, it will put 154,000 new people within walking distance of rapid transit.