Newly opened Finch West LRT hit by ‘switch issues’

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Service on the new Finch West LRT went down on two separate occasions Thursday morning.

Around 7:15 a.m., the TTC alerted Line 6 users that there was “no service between Finch West and Humber College due to switch issues.”

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About 40 shuttle buses were brought in to supplement service for more than 30 minutes while fixes were made before service resumed shortly before 8 a.m.

It was the second time that issues were reported on the same line on Thursday.

Trains were also halted around 6 a.m., but service was restored not long after.

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Complaints of slow service

The service suspension couldn’t come at a worse time for the transit agency, which has been inundated with complaints about slow service times on the line that opened to the public just days earlier.

Rush-hour trains on the FInch line are expected to depart every six-and-a-half minutes and every 10 to 12 minutes at other times.

However, that hasn’t been the case, resulting in rider complaints.

The 10-kilometre LRT project marks the city’s first new transit line since 2002, but it opened two years later than its initial projected 2023 opening and with a cost of $1.2 billion more than Metrolinx’s original estimate.

Ensuring rapid transit is actually rapid

Mayor Olivia Chow was one of many elected officials in attendance at Sunday’s ceremonial first run. In the ensuing days, she has pledged to intervene after an outcry from riders who have complained about slow service.

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TTC chairman and Councillor Jamaal Myers also addressed the complaints, calling the service up to now “unacceptable.”

He told reporters on Wednesday that he will be putting forward two motions “to ensure Line 6 and Line 5 (the yet-to-open Eglinton LRT) and our entire streetcar network operate the way rapid transit should, which is, of course, fast.”

Myers added: “Riders are right to expect better. Rapid transit must be rapid. If our LRTs move too slowly, riders will stay in their cars and congestion will worsen and the billions of dollars invested in public transit will not deliver the expected results. This is unacceptable.”

Trouble from the start

The line was first proposed in 2007 — during then-mayor David Miller’s tenure at City Hall — but was delayed by years of political debates, changes in funding and repeated construction setbacks, which generated criticism from locals in the area.

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The line was first proposed in 2007 but construction didn’t begin until 2019.

A report by Metrolinx earlier this fall said the line’s total cost was $3.7 billion.

The same report also showed the Eglinton Crosstown LRT — which was also first proposed in 2007 — has so far incurred a cost of more than $13 billion.

Premier Doug Ford said last week the Eglinton Crosstown system is expected to open in 2026, six years after its original opening projection.

— Additional reporting from Jordan Ercit and Jane Stevenson

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