Toronto LRT woes: Finch West lawsuit underway, Eglinton Crosstown won’t open before 2025

Toronto residents are all too familiar with disputes and delays hindering transit construction projects, but adding to the ongoing woes is a surprise lawsuit over the Finch West LRT and the non-surprising passing of a potential opening timeline for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

CityNews recently learned Mosaic Transit Group, the private-sector consortium responsible for building the 11-kilometre, 18-stop Finch West LRT, filed a lawsuit against the Ontario government on Aug. 15.

In a 21-page notice of application filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, it alleged an agreement involving Metrolinx (the provincial transportation agency overseeing the consortium), the TTC (which will operate the trains) and the City of Toronto breached the project agreement and that signing the TTC as an operator went against certain terms.

The document alleged Mosaic Transit Group was left out of the discussions “despite Mosaic’s central role in dealing with the operator during the commissioning phase.” It went on to say the deal failed to require the TTC to “facilitate effective implementation of maintenance and operational requirements once the line commences service.

“As a result of the execution of the [agreement], the TTC is not currently bound to perform the role of the operator in a manner that is consistent with the project agreement, or to act in the best interest of the project, before the line commences,” the document said.

“This is contributing to growing dysfunction, extensive delays and ballooning costs which are increasing on a near daily basis with a potential value of many millions of dollars.”

The lawyers representing Mosaic Transit Group sought to refer the issue to a dispute resolution process or have the deal hammered out voided along with potentially other measures. They’re also looking for reimbursement of court costs.

CityNews contacted Mosaic Transit Group to ask about the application filed with the court. A brief response issued on Tuesday said the consortium is “working hard to support Metrolinx and the Government of Ontario to ensure that all parties can get this important TTC-operated LRT line open to the public as soon as possible.” 

Despite the court action, Finch West LRT construction crews were seen working on site Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, Metrolinx officials hit back in a statement Tuesday afternoon and slammed the lawsuit.

“Our message to Mosaic is clear: get out of court and back to work,” Andrea Ernesaks, senior manager of media relations and issues with Metrolinx, wrote.

“It is time to complete the work necessary to start TTC driver training and get the line ready for opening.”

Ernesaks said Metrolinx staff have pushed to finish the project as soon as possible, adding Metrolinx president and CEO Phil Verster was involved in high-level talks with the heads of the other entities involved in addition to staff-to-staff-level discussions.

“We are on the ground with them and close to this project. Recognizing,” she said.

Ernesaks went on to say there have been two issues with Mosaic Transit Group that Metrolinx has tried to rectify. The first one alleged Mosaic “signalled financial liquidity issues” and Metrolinx “offered financial support to sufficiently complete the project,” but a follow-up agreement wasn’t reached.

The second issue involved what Ernesaks described as “Mosaic’s recent loss of six weeks of schedule due to poor work planning and poor project management,” calling that “unacceptable.”

The allegations made by both sides haven’t been tested in court.

News of the lawsuit came just days after Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria and other government officials marked what they described as the end of major construction at Humber College and Finch West stations. The legal troubles weren’t publicly known at the time.

When asked about the potential opening date during a Sept. 20 news conference, Sarkaria didn’t provide a projected timeframe.

“We are currently in the training process,” Sarkaria said.

“We have to ensure that we deliver a reliable transit system that is safe from an operational perspective on day one and we will continue to work through that process to ensure that happens.”

Sarkaria also reiterated an update given to the Metrolinx board of directors by the transportation agency’s executives on Sept. 12. He said 10 of the 15 TTC personnel who will go on to train the Finch West LRT operators have undergone vehicle familiarization and training themselves.

During the Metrolinx board meeting, officials said the TTC still needs to “validate” the operator training program later this year.

Verster said at the time that “major construction practically complete” and that he is “satisfied” there is a “clear action plan to get us to the next stage of completion of testing.”

While touring the line in September, it appeared work at many of the stops was substantially complete but there were several areas where road and landscaping finishing needed to occur. A one-kilometre stretch near Weston Road is still under construction, which has been delayed throughout the project due to what officials said were complex infrastructure issues.

The Finch West LRT, which saw its tendering process start in 2015 under the previous provincial government and a contract was signed weeks before the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario came to power in 2018. Major construction started in 2019 and it was supposed to be done by the end of 2023.

The 2023 goal was then pushed back to the first half of 2024 before being extended to the end of the year. The budget for constructing the line, buying 18 trains and providing maintenance for 30 years is $3.4 billion.

Toronto to wait until 2025 at least for Eglinton Crosstown opening

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT project continues to be the most scrutinized and awaiting rapid transit project in Toronto, and it seems any remote hope of its opening in 2024 is now dashed.

For several months, Verster said he would provide a three-month notice ahead of the Eglinton Crosstown’s opening and as the end of September came and went it became clear the line wouldn’t be ready to ring in 2025.

Repeated questioning from reporters throughout those months saw the same messages about the three-month notice repeated, and a potential revised target hasn’t been released.

Construction on the Eglinton Crosstown began under the previous Ontario Liberal government and different Metrolinx management in 2011. It was supposed to be finished by 2020, but it has been continually pushed back due to various legal and construction issues along with COVID-19-related delays. 

CityNews once again asked for an update on the Eglinton Crosstown project on Tuesday.

Ernesaks said City of Toronto staff are completing their inspections of the physical construction of the line by Crosslinx Transit Solutions (CTS), the private-sector consortium responsible for building the line, and that “we are attending to, and clearing, minor defects as they are identified.”

She said testing and commissioning, the lengthy and ongoing process of verifying thousands of components and processes, have seen increases in “site acceptance testing” (currently at 95.3 per cent) and “system integration testing” (currently 85.4 per cent).

When it comes to certifying the construction of all the assets, Ernesaks said only five out of 46 construction certificates needed before revenue-service demonstration mode can begin have been issued. That number has remained static for an extended period of time, but she added four more certificates are being reviewed.

“We continue to work with CTS to determine what deficiencies need to be addressed in preparation for the remaining certificates to be achieved,”

Ernesaks said the City of Toronto issued 36 out of 40 occupancy permits (which allow members of the public into various areas on the line).

As for training the TTC staff who will operate the light rail vehicles, only one out of three cohorts of operators (roughly 95 in all) are currently undergoing training.

In September, Verster noted a “milestone” test for emergency services personnel was held outside Laird station.

‘Bumps in the roads’

Premier Doug Ford was asked about both Toronto LRT lines during an announcement on Wednesday about work beginning for the Ontario Line’s fourth construction contract. He defended the progress to date and praised crews working “around the clock” to finish various transit projects.

 “A lot of people want to look at all the negative things, the bumps in the road, and yes we inherited the nightmare on Eglinton. It’s our responsibility,” he told reporters.

“They’re getting trained now, the operators, on the finch LRT. The actual construction is complete and done. I guess there’s a discrepancy with some of the contractors, but they’re going to start getting trained on the Finch LRT.

“[Are] there bumps in the road? Absolutely, there [are] bumps in the roads, but it’s nothing short of miracle how far we’ve come on transit.”

Ford, when asked about the Finch West LRT not following the same path as the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, said Metrolinx and the contractors need to work “as quickly as possible” to get the dispute resolved.

“Eglinton compared to Finch [is] like night and day. Eglinton has been a real, real problem, but we’re getting that going and hopefully they’re going to sort out their differences,” he said.

“(If) need be, and I don’t like doing it, the last resort we will get involved. I want to make sure that the companies that did the work and employees they get paid, but I also have to respect the taxpayers’ money to make sure that it was done properly too.”

Ford also insisted safety and reliability are major factors in the rollout of the new light rail services. He said he didn’t want to see a similar rollout in Toronto that was experienced when Ottawa opened its LRT system.

A public inquiry launched by the Ford government found in 2022 that the City of Ottawa and the Rideau Transit Group consortium lost sight of the public interest amid political pressure to rush the $2.1-billion project across the finish line, adding problems were caused by “deliberate malfeasance.”

Justice William Hourigan’s report said two instances stood out as “egregious violations of the public trust:” the project’s unrealistic deadlines and the fact that information about testing was withheld from the public.

“My number one concern is we do not want an Ottawa disaster — we push something along and it keeps breaking down,” Ford said Friday morning.

“We want to make sure it’s safe for the people that are operating the vehicles and it’s safe for the people that are riding them, and it’s all right to push it a couple months faster and God forbid something happens. No, let’s just make sure all the t’s are crossed, i’s are dotted and we get a safe operation.”

Ford also defended Verster’s performance as head of Metrolinx as many signature projects still aren’t finished, adding that Verster and other executives have been charged with delivering a large mandate involving a massive expansion of local and regional transit.

“We hold him accountable at Metrolinx all the time, but I’m a fan of Phil,” Ford said.