As many TTC riders across the Eglinton Crosstown corridor adjust their commutes to take advantage of the new Line 5 Eglinton LRT, some in Toronto say they’re already starting to see time savings even though service isn’t fully optimized yet.
CityNews spoke with riders at Avenue station early Monday, which is a day after the 19-kilometre and 25-stop line opened as part of a subdued launch of “introductory” service.
One commuter who travels between Mount Dennis and Avenue stations said he’s been used to one-hour bus trips, but on Monday that dropped to around 30 minutes with Line 5 Eglinton.
“It’s great, it’s awesome … it’s faster than waiting for the bus (on) the other side of Eglinton,” another commuter said, noting the easier transfer to the Eglinton Crosstown corridor from the existing Line 1 subway.
The early sentiments echo observations shared with CityNews by transit enthusiasts and curious travellers who rode Line 5 Eglinton early Sunday when service began.
However, many of those same people voiced frustration with the above-ground section of the Eglinton Crosstown line where trains do not have priority at intersections. Instead, vehicles turning left at many signalized intersections can advance before trains.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and members of council voted in January to expedite adding transit signal priority measures at intersections where trains and vehicular traffic interact. By changing how signals operate and moving trains through intersections more quickly, overall end-to-end trip times are expected to decrease.
As the TTC operates in a “phased opening” stage while maintenance and operating crews become more familiar with the infrastructure and how trains perform, tunnel speeds are currently capped at around 60 km/h. When train service is ramped up, the limit is expected to be increased to 80 km/h — a speed the tracks in the tunnel can already handle.
What are trip times like across the Eglinton Crosstown corridor?
Before Line 5 Eglinton service launched, TTC officials said it would take approximately 55 to 59 minutes to travel between Mount Dennis station at the western end and Kennedy station at the eastern end. They also said a bus travelling between the same two points could take up to 105 minutes.
CityNews wanted to test those estimates during the first weekday in which Line 5 Eglinton was operating.
After the morning rush-hour commute period finished, a CityNews reporter boarded a westbound train at Kennedy station while a CityNews camera operator left in a car. Both journalists started their journeys near roughly the same spot around the same time.
The whole trip took 47 minutes by car and 55 minutes by train (the total train trip time matched multiple trip durations seen on Sunday).
Here’s an informal breakdown of the approximate travel times at different points heading westbound:
- Kennedy station to Victoria Park Avenue/O’Connor station: 15 minutes by train
- Kennedy station to the eastern tunnel opening just west of Leslie Street: 15 minutes by car, 27 minutes by train
- Kennedy station to Eglinton station: 36 minutes by train
- Kennedy station to Cedarvale station: 34 minutes by car, 43 minutes by train
During the lunch period, the reporter boarded a 34 Eglinton bus to head back to Kennedy station. However, a lack of directional signage and confusion among on-site TTC personnel resulted in some difficulty boarding the bus.
The reporter and camera operator left at the same time. In his car, the camera operator drove eastbound along the entire Eglinton Crosstown corridor in 52 minutes. After stopping at two subway stations between the two ends of the corridor, a delay of several minutes waiting for a driver to be relieved at a stop in Scarborough and brief interactions with riders with questions, it took the reporter an hour and 27 minutes to go end to end.
Here’s an informal breakdown of the approximate travel times at different points heading eastbound:
- Mount Dennis station to Cedarvale station: 18 minutes by bus
- Mount Dennis station to Eglinton station: 34 minutes by bus
- Mount Dennis station to Laird station: 34 minutes by car, 46 minutes by bus
- Mount Dennis station to Don Valley Parkway/Aga Khan Park and Museum station: 55 minutes by bus
- Mount Dennis station to Victoria Park Avenue/O’Connor station: 62 minutes by bus
- Mount Dennis station to Birchmount station: 79 minutes by bus
