Crews preparing for tunnel boring machines to dig from Exhibition Station to the Don Yard.

The Ontario Line will be a 15.6-kilometre subway line that will make it faster and easier to travel within Toronto and beyond.

TORONTO – The Ontario government has officially started excavating the launch shaft for the Ontario Line subway tunnels at Exhibition Station, marking another milestone in the province’s plan to slash commute times across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and bring nearly 230,000 people within walking distance of public transit.

“It’s been more than 60 years since the first subway tunnels were built in downtown Toronto,” said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation. “Under the leadership of Premier Ford, we’re getting the Ontario Line done to tackle gridlock and increase access to fast, reliable and affordable transit for millions of people across the GTA.”

The 16-metre-deep launch shaft will be the starting point for two tunnel boring machines that will dig six kilometres east, from Exhibition Station to the Don Yard, west of the Don River. Once tunnelling is complete, the launch shaft will be repurposed as a tunnel portal where Ontario Line trains will transition from above to below ground.

“The Ontario Line subway is part of one of the biggest partnerships to construct public transportation in Canadian history,” said the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, on behalf of the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities. “Work is progressing and today’s groundbreaking is another step toward affordable, reliable and quick public transit for Torontonians.”

Exhibition Station will be a vital transit hub, serving both the future subway and existing GO rail customers. A trip across the city from Exhibition Place to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT at Don Mills Road will take 30 minutes or less compared to the hour and 10 minutes it takes today. The Ontario Line will offer more than 40 connections to other subway, bus, streetcar and regional train services, bringing hundreds of thousands more people within walking distance of transit.

As part of the Transportation Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the government is delivering Ontario’s priority transit projects, which include the largest subway expansion in Canadian history – the Ontario Line, the Scarborough Subway Extension, the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension and the Yonge North Subway Extension.

Quick Facts

Quotes

"By preparing the launch shaft, we’ll soon be able to start tunnelling the Ontario Line. By building fast, underground transit, we’re providing people with more options and reducing gridlock. Our government is also seizing a unique opportunity to create vibrant, mixed-use communities known as transit-oriented communities (TOCs), which will bring more housing, jobs, retail and community amenities. These TOCs will be all along the Ontario Line and will create more than 13,000 new homes."

- Kinga Surma
Minister of Infrastructure

"The start of excavation to support tunnelling throughout the downtown core represents another major development for the Ontario Line and for the people of Toronto. With station, bridge and above-ground track construction now underway across the route, we are gaining critical momentum on a project that will curb crowding on transit lines and roadways by putting 227,500 more people within easy reach of fast, safe and reliable transit."

- Phil Verster
President and CEO of Metrolinx

"The Board applauds this milestone set to redefine how residents, workers and visitors move across our city. Given the estimated 1.2 million more cars on the road since 2000, the Ontario Line will provide long-overdue relief to transit lines bursting at the seams, while unlocking opportunities for economic growth. People are feeling stranded across this region. Enhanced mobility to ease our crippling congestion is the key to ongoing prosperity and a growth-oriented future."

- Giles Gherson
President and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade

"Breaking ground on the tunnel shaft is an exciting milestone for the Ontario Line. This phase of heavy construction paves the way for a subway system that will better connect the Toronto area for decades to come. The Ontario Line will bring much needed transit capacity, easing gridlock, improving mobility, supporting our economy and enhancing quality of life for all Ontarians."

- Nadia Todorova
Executive Director of Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO)

"We can’t tackle traffic congestion without the provincial government’s ambitious expansion of our transit network. The Ontario Line is an investment in Toronto’s future and its construction has created good-paying jobs that support local families. TARBA applauds this important milestone that gets us closer to a more connected Toronto."

- Raly Chakarova
Executive Director, Toronto and Area Road Builders Association