After years of work in Mississauga and Brampton along with various delays on the project, the head of Metrolinx says major construction on the Hazel McCallion LRT is set to extend well into 2027 while insisting progress has been made.
During a Tuesday announcement marking completion of tunnelling on the Eglinton Crosstown West extension, CityNews asked for an update on the 18-kilometre light-rail line after a notice was issued advising crews are set to start putting trains on a small but key segment of tracks.
Michael Lindsay, Metrolinx’s president and CEO, said that trial movements of trains is based on lessons learned during the Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West LRT projects in an effort to speed up “system integration” testing, which is part of the final phase of commissioning a new light-rail line.
“We’ve hit every civil infrastructure milestone we set for ourselves over the course of last year: 75 per cent of the track work is done, guideways (the track bed and tracks) almost done, eight out of 14 traction power substation is now energized (and the) maintenance and storage facility energized,” he said.
“We hope to have all civil infrastructure on this project complete by roughly this time next year, and at that point we’d enter the kind of testing phase that this jurisdiction saw from Eglinton and Finch.”
Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said crews are making in-roads on the project.
“Building transit is difficult, but we’re learning along the way and we continue to make progress,” he said, adding he has seen crews working on weekends.
“It tells you the level of teams we have out there on this line trying to complete it as quickly as possible.”
Despite the upgrade, a more specific timeframe on the final testing and commissioning work wasn’t provided. Based on Line 5 Eglinton and Line 6 Finch West, that essential work could take months — potentially stretching an opening of the 19-stop, $5.4-billion line to the end of 2027 or into 2028.
Beginning as early as Wednesday, trains could beginning moving from the storage yard near Kennedy Road South and Highway 407 to Hurontario Street and Topflight Drive (south of Highway 407), which is the juncture point where all light-rail vehicles will enter and exit service.
As CityNews reported in May 2025, the intersection of Hurontario Street and Topflight Drive was completely ripped up and rebuilt due to “track rework” and deficiencies.
The tendering process began under the previous government in late 2016. Crews for Mobilinx, the private-sector consortium charged with building the Hazel McCallion LRT line, started construction in early 2020, but encountered delays due to COVID-19 and aging infrastructure.
Add CityNews Toronto as a trusted source on Google to see more local stories from us.
