Federal government joins Ontario in promising money for new Toronto subway cars

After waiting much than a year, the City of Toronto has yet received confirmation from some the provincial and national governments that they’ll assistance enarthrosis the monolithic outgo of replacing a fleet of subway trains.

On Friday, the national authorities announced it volition springiness Toronto $758 cardinal to bargain caller subway cars, signing connected to a committedness the provincial authorities made past twelvemonth arsenic portion of its caller woody for Toronto.

“Our authorities knows improving nationalist transit is indispensable to ensuring our system reaches its afloat potential,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said successful a statement. “The TTC needs caller subway cars to support up with the increasing transit demands of our increasing city.”

The subway car backing from Ottawa is portion of a broader, semipermanent transit commitment.

Toronto has been asking for assistance to bargain a fleet of caller subway trains to tally connected Line 2: Bloor-Danfoth arsenic method issues with the existent fleet grew. The outgo of buying caller trains, however, was thing the metropolis said it simply couldn’t grip connected its own.

Last year, arsenic portion of a caller woody with Toronto that besides uploaded work for the Gardiner Expressway to Queen’s Park, the provincial authorities promised it would assistance with the costs of 55 caller subway cars — connected information Ottawa pitched successful too.

With the confirmation of $758 cardinal from Ottawa, Queen’s Park said its identical backing volition besides flow.

“It’s astir 12 months to the time that the Government of Ontario reached a historical woody with the City of Toronto to assistance guarantee the city’s semipermanent fiscal stability,” Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said successful a statement. “After months of uncertainty, we are pleased to spot the national authorities measurement up.”

Toronto’s existent fleet of Line 2 trains is astir 30 years aged and is reaching the extremity of its utile life.

Over the past year, successful particular, the TTC has been expanding its warnings astir the authorities of Line 2, which runs from Scarborough successful the eastbound to Etobicoke connected Toronto’s occidental edge.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has been beating the drum to get a woody signed to unafraid backing since her predetermination successful 2023.

“I americium precise acrophobic astir the lifespan of the Bloor subway cars, it is getting precise aged and it takes a portion for america to get caller ones and for caller ones to get constructed,” she said successful October past year.

Chow said the metropolis had to cancel plans to bid caller trains erstwhile nary different levels of authorities came to the array with a unafraid backing plan.

“We person one-third of the backing acceptable now,” said Chow astatine the time.

The TTC has suggested it takes betwixt 3 to 4 years to person caller subway cars, with a information of the existent fleet acceptable to scope the extremity of its plan beingness by 2026.

— with files from Global News’ Matthew Bingley