Ontario Construction News staff writer
The Ontario government has begun construction on the first of three stations for the Scarborough subway extension, a project expected to employ 3,000 workers each year. Crews have started piling work at Scarborough Centre Station, which will feature a new bus terminal with passenger pickup and drop-off spaces.
Scarborough Transit Connect (STC) was selected as the development partner in January 2025 through a $5.7 billion Target Price Agreement. STC is a 50/50 consortium comprising Aecon Group Inc. and FCC Canada Ltd.
Once complete, the station is expected to handle more than 10,000 passengers and 7,000 transfers during rush hour, and bring 38,000 people within walking distance of transit, the province said in a release.
The announcement comes as the head of provincial transit agency Metrolinx confirmed further delays for the long-delayed Eglinton Crosstown LRT. Premier Doug Ford had suggested the 19-kilometre line would open in September, but Metrolinx president and CEO Michael Lindsay said the target will not be met.
“The target that we had for passenger service in September, unfortunately, is not going to be achieved,” Metrolinx president and CEO Michael Lindsay told reporters Friday, adding that vehicle reliability and performance issues remain.
He said testing on the track which runs from Mount Dennis in the west to Kennedy Station in the east saw the system run on Monday for the first time for more than 10,000 kilometres of passenger service tests with 20 to 22 trains on the tracks.
He said the line will open to the public after a 30-day trial and once reliability issues are resolved.
“We’re working each and every day to bring this service into service as fast as we can, but we have to do it with reliability,” he said.
Construction on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT began in 2011 but work stoppages during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with lawsuits and technical issues, have resulted in five years’ worth of delays and at least $1 billion in budget overruns.
Lindsay said he’s now “hoping” the line will open in October.