Next stage of tunnel construction underway for the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension

On March 13, at the site of the future Highway 407 Station, the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Labour and Member of Parliament for Halton; the Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario; the Honourable Glen Murray, Ontario Minister of Transportation and Minister of Infrastructure; His Worship Rob Ford, Mayor of Toronto; Bill Fisch, Chairman and CEO of The Regional Municipality of York; His Worship Maurizio Bevilacqua, Mayor of the City of Vaughan and Karen Stintz, Toronto Transit Commission Chair together launched the next stage of tunnel construction for the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE).

This stage of construction will see two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) “Yorkie” and “Torkie” create twin tunnels linking the site of the future Highway 407 Station to the Steeles West Station site.

“Our Government has made significant investments to reduce gridlock, cut commute times and make public transit more convenient for commuters,” said Minister Raitt. “This is the kind of smart urban transportation that will improve air quality, create good local jobs and long-term economic growth in the GTA.”

“The new Ontario government is working with all its partners to build a stronger province that will create good jobs and strong, healthy communities through projects like the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension,” said Premier Wynne. “We are making it easier for people to get to work and home again, no matter where they live.”

“This subway extension – the first to cross our City’s border – will provide transportation options for hundreds of thousands of daily commuters, reduce gridlock on our roads, improve travel times and create better productivity for businesses in the Toronto area,” said Mayor Ford.

“The Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension will provide an important transit connection into York Region and the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and help create a seamless transit network across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area,” said Chairman Fisch. “When completed, this subway line will help manage traffic congestion and ease commute times for all travellers.”

The TBMs will bore a little more than one kilometre of twin subway tunnels at a rate of approximately 15 metres a day, southeast from this launch location to an extraction site. “Holey,” “Moley,” “Yorkie” and “Torkie” are the official names of the four TBMs that are being used to build the tunnels for the TYSSE.

The TYSSE project is an 8.6-kilometre extension of the Toronto Transit Commission’s (TTC) Yonge-University-Spadina subway line from its present terminus at Downsview Station to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre at Highway 7. It will have six new subway stations, including one at York University and three new commuter parking lots. The subway expansion will bring the line into York Region.

The TYSSE project will improve transit service by supporting a reliable multi-modal transportation network that is integrated with other transit systems within the GTA. This initiative will promote economic growth, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by helping take cars off the road, and reduce travel times for commuters.

The TYSSE is expected to be completed by fall 2016 and will generate thousands of jobs from construction.

The Government of Canada has committed up to $697 million to the project, $622 million through its Building Canada Fund. The remaining $75 million has already been transferred to the project under the Public Transit Capital Trust 2006.

The Province of Ontario has provided $870 million towards the TYSSE project through the Move Ontario Trust. The City of Toronto is contributing $526 million to the project and The Regional Municipality of York is contributing $352 million. The TTC is the project manager for the extension.

SOURCE: Transport Canada