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Ontario Line

The Ontario Line

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). The line will be the largest single expansion in Toronto’s subway history, helping to ease congestion on existing transit lines throughout the city and bring transit to underserviced neighbourhoods.

The Ontario Line will bring 15.6 kilometres of much-needed subway service to Toronto to make it faster and easier for hundreds of thousands of people to get where they need to be each day.

The line will stretch across the city, from the Ontario Science Centre in the northeast to Exhibition Place in the southwest.

Current plans for the Ontario Line include 15 stations, including six interchange stations and over 40 new connections to GO train lines and existing subway, streetcar, and bus lines.

 

What's New

East Segment Design Consultation

We want to create welcoming spaces that reflect the community’s interests and we need your feedback! Participate in the online survey and provide your thoughts on potential design elements. All feedback collected through this questionnaire will be reviewed, summarized and compiled into a report...

More Transit for More Communities - Sooner

The Ontario Line will bring more transit to more in-need communities sooner than previously thought by using a mix of at-grade (surface) track, elevated guideways and underground tunnels. This type of approach comes with many benefits, including:

  • Shorter construction timelines – Limiting the amount of tunneling and excavation needed for the project reduces its complexity, which in turn helps reduce construction timelines and property impacts. This will be done by aligning Ontario Line operations within sections of existing above-ground rail corridors in the western and eastern segments of the line, and along elevated structures in the northern segment. In communities like Leslieville, we are also able to streamline our work with existing GO Expansion plans along the rail corridor, which reduces the number of construction zones and related impacts in the surrounding community.
  • Faster and more convenient transfers – Customers using at-grade stations will be able to get where they need to go sooner by avoiding lengthy journeys underground and by taking advantage of faster transfers to other surface transit routes. For instance, an underground East Harbour station would have needed to be built nearly 40 metres underground to reach under the Don River. This very deep station would have added 4.5 minutes to each transfer, adding significant time to people’s commutes.
  • More rapid transit for more communities – The Ontario Line is able to reach transit-deprived communities sooner than previously thought. These include the growing and vibrant neighbourhoods of Flemingdon Park, Thorncliffe Park, Liberty Village and Fort York.

Running along a mix of above-ground and underground tracks is not a new approach --- the TTC has done this with Line 1, Line 2 and Line 3, and many other transit systems have adopted it to deliver superior rapid transit within impressive timeframes. For example, the majority of stations and tracks for world-class transit services like Vancouver’s SkyTrain network and London, England’s Docklands Light Railway system are above ground. Since those systems began in the 80s, the SkyTrain has become the longest rapid transit system in Canada and the Docklands Light Railway system has grown to nearly 40 kilometres’ worth of track.

timeline graphic with the following text: Travel times between exhibition place and the Ontario Science Center - now: 70 minutes, future: 30 minutes. Travel times between thorncliffe park and downtown (King and Bay) - now: 40 minutes, future: 25 minutes.

The Ontario Line will take you across the city – all the way from Exhibition Place to the Ontario Science Centre – in 30 minutes or less, with zero transfers.

That’s 40 minutes faster than today’s transit option, which requires getting on and off three separate vehicles.

From Thorncliffe Park, a commute to the heart of downtown would be 25 minutes instead of the 40 minutes it takes today.

 

Key Facts

Proposed stations15
End-to-end journey time30 minutes or less
Proposed connections to other transit options

Over 40, including:

  • Connections to Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East, and Stouffville GO train services
  • Connections to the TTC’s Line 1 and Line 2 subways
  • Connection to Line 5 (Eglinton Crosstown LRT)
  • Connections to streetcar lines at 10 Ontario Line stations
  • Connections to bus services at 12 Ontario Line Stations
Route length15.6 km
Ridership388,000 daily boardings
FrequencyAs frequent as every 90 seconds during rush hour
Improved access to transit255,000 more people within walking distance to transit
Improved access to jobsUp to 57,000 more jobs accessible in 45 minutes or less
Reductions in rush hour crowding
  • Up to 22 per cent at Bloor/Yonge Station, or 14,000 fewer people, during the busiest hour
  • Up to 16 per cent at Eglinton Station, or 5,000 fewer people, during the busiest hour
  • Up to 14 per cent at Union Station, or 14,000 fewer people, during the busiest hour
Daily reductions in traffic congestion28,000 fewer cars on the road
Yearly reductions in fuel consumption7.2 million litres

Our Commitment to You

We are committed to continuing public engagement to keep you informed and collect your feedback. During this time, all engagement activities will remain online to follow public health advice and protect the community and our staff.

Learn more about the project and how you can get involved.