The Ford government issued tenders for seven Eglinton Crosstown West extension stations on Monday, the next step in expanding a priority transit project that's been plagued by delays.
The 9.2-kilometre extension would bring the main 25-stop LRT project from Toronto's Mount Dennis Station to Renforth Station in Mississauga. There could be three more stations if the province chooses to link Renforth Station to Pearson Airport.
Tunnelling work for the extension is more than halfway complete, with about five of the 9.2 kilometres already dug up. Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster said the tunnelling should be finished by the end of April.
Monday's announcement to build the actual stations was the last of four contracts for the extension project.
Transport Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria didn't say how much it would cost or how long construction would take. The public will get more information as the bidding process plays out, he said.
The public did, however, get more information on what's holding up the main Crosstown LRT project.
The biggest issue remains system integration testing, Verster said.
"What concerns me most though, is the software defects in the signalling and train control system," Verster said, which is the "nerve centre of moving trains punctually, on time, as well as safely."
More than half of the necessary testing is done. When Verster last gave a project update in December, it was just 15 per cent complete.
Crosslinx Transit Solution (CTS), the construction conglomerate building the LRT, and Alstom, the company building the trains, are "making good progress ... but it's not as fast as we would like it to be," Verster said.
The sixth software patch was recently released but another is planned for June.
TTC operators will be trained once the technological bugs are fixed.
"The second biggest thing that concerned" Verster was getting construction certificates, which confirm the construction was done properly, he said.
Metrolinx has just one of 46 certificates so far.
The integration testing and construction verification aren't the only outstanding issues.
"All of the major construction is now complete," Verster said, though some "smaller work, such as replacing broken tiles and water leakage," still needs doing.
Metrolinx also needs to secure five more station occupancy permits.
Despite the holdup, Verster still struck an optimistic tone.
"The schedule is moving forward relentlessly. And once we are within three months of an opening date, we'll declare that day."
In Verster's December update, he said he had a "very good understanding" of when the line will open based on a revised schedule from CTS but "decided against" sharing that information with the public because he doesn't have an ironclad guarantee.
CTS gives Verster a new schedule every month, he said in December.
For its part, the TTC expects the line to open in September 2024, according to the agency's 2024 budget, though that's subject to change.
The $13-billion project broke ground in 2011 and was expected to be in service by 2020 but has been delayed several times thanks to quality issues, the pandemic and legal battles between Metrolinx and CTS.
The 25-stop, 19-kilometre transit line will run from Etobicoke's Mount Dennis station in the west, through midtown Toronto, to Scarborough's Kennedy Station in the east. It'll connect to dozens of existing TTC bus routes, four subway stations, GO routes and the Union-Pearson Express.
