Interestingly, the 939B, which runs all the way from Kennedy Station to Finch West Station via Scarborough Centre, McCowan Road, and Finch Avenue, uses the York University Busway to get between Dufferin Street and Finch West Station. That busway, opened in 2009, was built to speed up travel times between the former subway terminus at Downsview Station (now called Sheppard West Station) and the university campus as the Line 1 extension to Vaughan was underway. When the Scarborough Busway opens — likely by the end of this year — it will use that exclusive transitway (also a temporary measure to speed buses along a subway project) as well.
From Finch West Station, it took 44 minutes to ride to the other end at Humber College Station, 20 minutes faster than during a problematic ride back in December. The average speed was 14.1 km/h, with a short spurt of speed (up to 56 km/h) up the hill between Islington and Kipling Avenues.
Screenshot from a GPS app with the distance, average speed, and time it took to get from Humber College to Finch West Station
On the return trip, it took almost 46 minutes from Humber College to Finch West, less than 4 minutes faster than my last eastbound ride in December, and with an average speed of 13.8 km/h. The eastbound train I was riding managed to arrive at Kipling Avenue (Mount Olive Station) just as the LRT signals were turning from amber to red (motor traffic still had 10 seconds of green light), followed by the stop at the far-side station there. The train also managed to arrive at Islington Avenue as the LRT signal was turning red, resulting in another long wait. At each intersection, the trains crawled at 15-20 km/h as parallel traffic sped by, and the Alstom Citadis cars were noticeably rough riding. The section between Humber College Station and Westmore Drive is especially painful, with LRV cars making the turn at 7-8 km/h.
On Eglinton Avenue east, the two-car Bombardier Flexity trams manage to glide through at-grade intersections at a less frustrating speed, and they noticeably provide a lighter, quieter ride.
On the positive side, station dwell times on Line 6 were noticeably reduced, and it seems that operations are a bit more consistent after two months of operation; there were no notable gaps between LRV cars. However, there are still issues to be worked out, as Friday, February 27 saw more switch problems that closed part of the line for several hours.
Hopefully, further operational improvements and signal priority follow, and the signal and track issues get sorted out. I’ll return later in March for another ride to see if the ride improves further. I worry, though, about the Citadis LRVs, as they are looking more and more like a defective product that may not be redeemable.
On Sunday, February 8 the Eglinton-Crosstown LRT opened to the public without any pomp or circumstance. Perhaps embarrassed by the public’s reaction to Line 6 Finch West, there were no giveaways, no parties, and no promotional materials. That turned out to be a shame, in a way, because Line 5 seems to be alright so far, a week after its initial opening. Travel times on the LRT are improved over the previous 32 and 34 bus routes, though with lesser speed improvements on the surface section versus the western portion. The two-car Bombardier Flexity trains do not crawl through intersections on Eglinton Avenue East unlike the single-car Alstom Citadis Spirits on Finch Avenue West.
Furthermore, learning some lessons from the botched Line 6 launch, the TTC — the operator of Line 5 trains — is looking for public feedback and promises improvements to speed and frequencies later in 2026. There are certainly ways in which this line can improve further. All that said, the Eglinton-Crosstown LRT offers needed optimism for Toronto’s transit future, especially as more projects are underway.
Mostly smooth operation of Line 5 during the first week(more…)
A westbound LRV train on Eglinton Avenue in Scarborough, January 2026
After fifteen long years, the wait is over. On Sunday, February 8, the Eglinton-Crosstown LRT will finally open to the public, with the first train leaving Kennedy Station at 7:00 AM. (The first eastbound train will depart Mount Dennis at 7:07 AM.) Rides will be free on that first day, but there will be no opening celebration, no ribbon cutting, and no giveaways. At first, trains will run until 11 PM, with Line 5 shuttle buses from 10 PM until 1AM, when the 334 night bus takes over.
After the botched opening of Line 6 Finch West, it is clear that no one in charge wants to celebrate the opening of this new transit line after years of construction delays and false hope of completion in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. So if you want to check out Toronto’s new ride, go do it at your own convenience. You won’t miss anything.
There will be no party, like the one arranged last December at Finch West
But even if the trains run slower than originally planned at first, there should be a ramping up of speeds and transit priority in the surface-running eastern section. The tunneled section will have speeds up to 60 km/h between stations, making it considerably faster than the buses it will replace. During a visit to Scarborough last month, it already seemed that trains were running a bit faster in the outdoor section than on Finch West, so there’s definitely some reason to welcome the LRT in its initial “soft opening” phase.
The TTC notes that once full service is operational later in 2026, the end‑to‑end travel times will be “approximately 50–55 minutes.” That’s about twice as fast as the bus when going all the way from Mount Dennis to Kennedy. Perhaps, once the trains are running on a full schedule until 1AM and with expected performance improvements, there will be a formal ceremony to conclude this long journey.
Notably on Sunday February 8, there will be significant changes to the bus network, including 2 discontinued routes, 13 route changes, and 4 new routes. Most notably, Routes 54 and 954 on Lawrence Avenue East will now terminate at Don Valley Station instead of at the subway at Eglinton Station. Route 35 Jane will no longer continue south of Weston Road, but will instead terminate at Mount Dennis (with new Route 27 Jane South taking over that southern section). The 47 Lansdowne will be split into two, with 18 Caledonia providing service north of Eglinton. Routes 51 Leslie and 56 Leaside will be merged (with a short 151 Leslie North bus on the north end), and the 32C branch will be replaced with the new 158 Trethewey bus. The map below shows how the TTC buses will connect with Line 5. (Route 901, between Mount Dennis Station and Pearson Airport via Dixon Road, has not yet been approved.)
Map showing TTC bus route changes; several of these were already implemented in late 2025. Only the 901 express route to Pearson Airport has not been approved.
I will certainly make time to check out Line 5 on Sunday, followed by a more fulsome review a week or two after opening to form an honest and thoughtful opinion.
Passengers boarding the 34 Eglinton East bus, January 28, 2026
On Sunday, February 8, the long-awaited (and long-delayed) Line 5 Crosstown LRT will finally open to the public (or maybe not). The new line, 19 kilometres long with 25 stops, is nearly twice as long as the 11-kilometre Finch West LRT that opened in December.
Unlike the troubled Finch West LRT, the Eglinton-Crosstown line is largely underground, with twelve stations, from Mount Dennis to Laird, completely separated from road traffic. A western extension through central Etobicoke to the Mississauga border at Renforth will also be completely grade-separated. There are several other major differences: the Crosstown line will be more frequent than Finch West, and will have more capacity, with two-car trains operating at all times. The equipment will be different too: Bombardier Flexity cars, the same as those used in Kitchener-Waterloo, will make the up the trains. Furthermore, the underground section will be computer controlled (which might turn out to be a complication, rather than an advantage).
A light rail train passes traffic on Eglinton Avenue East in Scarborough
However, some aspects will be the same. The surface-running eastern section between Leslie Street and Kennedy Road will feature 10 outdoor stops and 16 traffic signals, though the LRT will dip below ground at Don Mills Road (formerly Science Centre Station, now Don Valley Station) and under Kennedy Road into the Kennedy Station transit hub. As with Finch West, this was a Metrolinx-led project with a private consortium in charge of construction and maintenance, with the TTC in charge of train operations. So it will be interesting to see how Line 5 fares.
With subway, light rail, buses, and GO trains, Kennedy Station is becoming a proper transit hub
In the meantime, just as with my visits to Finch West, I decided to see how long it takes to get across the LRT corridor. In May 2024, I walked the entire route over three days, getting to know the corridor better (while documenting my stroll on a social media platform that I have since abandoned). With rumours of a mid-winter 2026 opening, I decided to ride the buses to get further context and time the rides.
Congestion at Eglinton Avenue West and Oakwood Avenue, May 2024
Tuesday, January 20 was an ideal day to ride the 32 Eglinton West and 34 Eglinton East buses. That was several days after the last snowfall (and a few days before the next big dump), and the roads and sidewalks were completely clear. It was a bright, sunny (albeit cold) day, and there was only one short construction zone on Eglinton Avenue, near Caledonia Road. Though only a small number of riders would use the entire Crosstown LRT line as part of a regular commute, it was worth getting a sense of how long the trip would take between each station.
I started at Kennedy Station after taking a Stouffville Line GO train one stop from Union Station, rode the 34 Eglinton East bus all the way to Eglinton Station at Yonge Street, and then after a break (including a stop at Cinnabon), continued west to Mount Dennis Station, which is already open to GO and UP Express trains, as well as a few TTC routes. The last half of the ride coincided with high school dismissal times that resulted in some crowding, especially between Avenue Road and Dufferin Street.
From Mount Dennis, I returned eastbound during a busy weekday afternoon rush hour, transferring to the first available 34 Eglinton East bus at Eglinton Station all the way back to Kennedy.
Waiting for the 34 Eglinton East bus to Kennedy Station, January 20, 2026
The table below shows the timings at each LRT stop.
Westbound (read down)
Stop/Station
Eastbound (read up)
1:28 PM dep.
Kennedy
5:35 PM arr.
1:32
Ionview
5:30
1:34
Birchmount
5:28
1:37
Warden Ave. (Golden Mile)
5:24
1:39
Hakimi Lebovic
5:22
1:42
Pharmacy
5:20
1:43
Victoria Park Ave. (O’Connor)
5:18
1:46
Bermondsey
5:15
1:49
Wynford
5:08
1:51
Don Mills Rd. (Don Valley)
5:01
1:53
Leslie St. (Sunnybrook Park)
4:58
1:57
Laird
4:50
2:00
Bayview Ave. (Leaside)
4:48
2:04
Mount Pleasant
4:44
2:10 PM arr. 2:47 PM dep.*
Eglinton Station (Bus transfer)
4:39 PM dep. 4:32 PM arr.***
2:52
Avenue Road
4:25
2:54
Chaplin
4:19
2:58
Bathurst St. (Forest Hill)
4:15
3:03
Cedarvale Stn.
4:09
3:07
Oakwood
3:56
3:11
Dufferin St. (Fairbank)
3:51
3:18
Caledonia**
3:44
3:21
Keele St. (Keelesdale)
3:41
3:25
Mount Dennis
3:37 PM
87 minutes
Total ride time (inc. a 7 min transfer at Eglinton Stn.)
118 minutes
* This gap provided an opportunity to use the washroom, and get a coffee and snack ** Time noted at Blackthorn Ave, the closest stop to the LRT station entrance *** Took first 34A bus to Kennedy Station that departed Eglinton after my arrival; a 34C bus to Wynford Dr. and Flemingdon Park departed first
On the surface buses, the most significant traffic delays are near the Don Valley Parkway and Allen Road, especially eastbound between Oakwood Avenue and Cedarvale Station and between Don Mills Road and Bermondsey Avenue. For anyone crossing Yonge Street, the transfer between buses takes on average seven minutes including walking and waiting time.
Line 5, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, will run deep below the Line 1 University Subway at Cedarvale Station
The dedicated right of way should allow transit riders to get ahead of traffic congestion, especially around Allen Road, where the trains will run in a deep bore tunnel. In theory, the median right-of-way will help get passengers past congestion near the DVP and the big box retail in the Golden Mile, but if the trams are as slow through intersections as on Finch and held up by red lights, the advantage here will be minimal.
At Eglinton and Warden, I did see a traffic signal hold a green light a few extra seconds to allow a train to pass through before changing, so that was a positive sign. But watching the trains go by every few minutes, I noted that the transit priority system was not at all aggressive, and as on Finch, transit signals turn red 12 seconds before the general traffic signals do.
On January 28, Eglinton and Warden, the transit signals stayed green for a short extra time to allow the non-revenue LRT train to pass through and stop at the far-side platform. The train was moving at a more reasonable clip too.
The Eglinton Crosstown LRT, unlike Finch West, serves a regional need that requires better speeds and more capacity than a mere surface tram, especially as it will have many bus routes directly feeding into it, rather than just intersecting. Several bus routes that used to continue into Eglinton Station, such as 54 Lawrence East, will instead terminate at Don Valley (formerly Science Centre) Station, where riders going west to the subway will have to transfer. For inexplicable reasons, the short section between Don Mills Road and Laird will have one at-grade station with a signalized intersection, a weak link in what will likely be a very busy section of the line.
Map of planned changes to TTC bus routes with Line 5’s opening. Some of the changes, including the introduction of Route 164 Castlefield and the extensions of routes 79, 161, and 168 to Mount Dennis Station have already been implemented.
Hopefully, some of the lessons from the Line 6 opening will be applied to Eglinton before it opens. There should also be an opportunity, just as there is on Finch, to make further changes to operations where applicable during a “soft opening” period. But we can not afford yet another botched transit project, especially after 15 years of waiting.
With planning now well underway for the Alto high speed passenger rail corridor between Quebec City and Toronto, there has been some speculation that Ottawa’s grand old Union Station, in the heart of the capital’s downtown core and a mere stone’s throw from Parliament Hill, could see trains again. Local business leaders and Mayor Mark Sutcliffe are excited by the idea of a downtown station, expecting that a downtown transport hub would help revitalize the local economy. Though it’s a very attractive idea, there are unfortunately just too many reasons why this would not be feasible.
To understand why, it’s worth diving into the history and urban politics of railways in the National Capital Region.
The Grand Trunk Central Station, opened in 1912, provided a grand entrance to Canada’s capital city that was previously served by a few smaller stations just outside the downtown core. The station, designed in the Beaux-Arts style, was built as a stub-end terminal. This meant that trains would arrive and depart from the south and would have to be backed up to change direction. This suited the Grand Trunk Railway just fine, as it lined up perfectly with its route to Montréal via Alexandria (still used by VIA Rail today). The railway also built a hotel across the street — the Chateau Laurier — and connected the station with the hotel with a pedestrian tunnel.
Entrance lobby, soon after opening. Note the tunnel under the staircase to the Chateau Laurier. (Library & Archives Canada)
The 1912 station was intermodal from the very beginning. Right outside the station’s front doors, there were Ottawa Electric Railway streetcar platforms serving several routes on Rideau and Sparks Streets, the two main commercial corridors in Downtown Ottawa. Right below the canal and railway bridge next to the station was the Hull Electric Railway’s loop; its streetcars crossed into Ontario via the Alexandra Bridge.
The Alexandra Bridge carried CPR trains, Hull streetcars, pedestrians, and motor vehicles when it opened in 1901
Soon after opening, the Canadian Pacific Railway joined the Grand Trunk, resulting in the terminal being renamed Union Station; the short-lived Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) soon followed. As the CPR’s tracks to Hull (via the Alexandra Bridge) ran next to the GTR’s station, it suited the CPR well. Unlike Grand Trunk, both the CPR and CNoR had direct lines to Toronto.
Two platforms on the west side of the station allowed through CPR trains to continue towards the Alexandra Bridge and even return to Ottawa via the Prince of Wales Bridge to the west; this was the route the iconic Canadian train between Montréal and Vancouver took when it was inaugurated in 1955. Most trains — including all GTR and CNoR, however, terminated at the six stub-end tracks. Both GTR and CNoR were absorbed into the new Canadian National Railway (CN) by 1922.
Approach tracks and Bush trainshed, Ottawa Union Station. A wintery scene, with a frozen Rideau Canal on the left. The yards at right are now occupied by the Rideau Centre, Convention Centre, and Department of Defense Headquarters (Library and Archives Canada)
In the 1940s, the federal government led by Liberal prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King wanted to beautify the nation’s capital region and address traffic congestion. Ottawa — and the federal government — was rapidly growing, while political leaders wanted a cityscape that matched the ambitions of an expanding nation. French urban planner Jacques Gréber was commissioned to plan the region’s future; Gréber’s recommendations, released in 1950, were ambitious and transformative. (You can read the entire report here.)
The Gréber Plan — formally titled “Plan for the National Capital” — called for new highways, the abandonment of Ottawa’s streetcars (which were seen as antiquated with unsightly overhead wires), and the removal of all railway infrastructure within the City of Ottawa. The old CN and CPR lines would make way for new roads, including a four-lane arterial along the east side of the Rideau Canal, leading to a new road bridge replacing the Alexandra. A new railway bypass along the periphery of the city would replace all urban trackage, with a proposed new Union Station site in Gloucester Township, south of Walkley Road. Most industrial uses — including the historic paper mills along the Ottawa River — would be moved to the new railway line.
Proposed highway system for Ottawa-Hull and environs, from Gréber’s reportProposed Railway system: Ottawa Hull and environs from Gréber’s report
Though the plan was not fully implemented, it did set the stage for much of the urban planning and infrastructure changes during Ottawa’s next fifty years. The railway bypass was constructed between Bell’s Corners in the west and Ramsayville in the east, with the old Grand Trunk tracks through the city replaced with The Queensway, now part of Highway 417. New parkways lined the rivers and canals. Two new multilane traffic bridges crossed the Ottawa River (though the Alexandra Bridge was maintained for traffic and pedestrians) and Albert and Slater Streets were made one-way, with a new bridge over the Rideau Canal (the Mackenzie King Bridge) linking them to the east. A large Greenbelt encompassed the city region, intended to direct growth while preserving natural areas.
Fortunately, the passenger station was relocated to a point much closer to the city centre than the Gréber Plan envisioned: the old CN and CP tracks along the Rideau River south of the city centre were kept in place but rerouted to serve a new modernist station that opened in July 1966. The new Ottawa Station, designed by John C. Parkin, is one-of-kind. The architecture invokes an airport terminal, with large, sheltered driveways and an airy open lobby/concourse, and was the last grand railway station built in North America. In 1966-1967, there were still two daily transcontinental trains departing from Ottawa Station, along with multiple trains to Toronto and Montreal, including a Toronto-Ottawa night train. Today, there are just eight trains to Toronto and five trains to Montréal.
Ottawa Station, which opened July 31, 1966
Soon after the new station opened, the tracks and ancillary buildings around Union Station were removed, making way for Colonel By Drive, the Rideau Centre shopping mall, a new convention centre, and headquarters for the Department of Defense. The station building itself survived, however, first becoming a temporary museum space during the 1967 Centennial celebrations, then a government conference centre, mostly closed off to the public.
The temporary Senate Chambers in the former train concourse at Ottawa Union Station
Right now, the grand building is the temporary home of Canada’s Senate, and is again accessible to the public, via a free tour. The renovations to the building are very sympathetic to the built heritage. As reconstruction of Centre Block, the regular home of both Houses of Parliament, is still five years away from completion, there’s still lots of time to take the tour.
Awaiting Alto
The Alto high speed rail line project, now in the planning stage, will connect Québec, Montréal, Ottawa, and Toronto, with a total of seven stations (the other three are planned in Trois-Rivières, Laval, and Peterborough). The first segment, with the start of construction set for 2029, will link Montréal, Laval, and Ottawa. Consultations on the specific route and station locations are underway, with the broad corridors noted in maps available on the Alto website.
Map of potential routings for the Alto high speed line in OntarioMap of the planned routing for the Alto high speed line in Quebec
The maps clearly show a route between Ottawa and Montréal that will pass through Prescott & Russell Counties, roughly following an abandoned CPR corridor until about Hawkesbury, at which point it would cross into Quebec (following an older abandoned CNoR route) to Laval, then continue south into central Montréal, though not necessarily the existing Central Station (this would likely require a new tunnel under Mount Royal). The Montréal station appears to be a terminal for trains coming from Ottawa and from Trois-Rivières and Québec, much like the existing VIA Central Station.
Alto’s next phase towards Toronto could follow one of two broad routes between Ottawa and Peterborough, either just north of Highway 7, through the Canadian Shield, or a southerly alignment through the Rideau Lakes region and then through South Frontenac and passing near Stirling and Campbellford. All planned routes would require passing through Ottawa entirely on the Ontario side of the Ottawa River, making a through station particularly likely, especially for the critical Toronto-Montréal market.
On the detailed consultation map, highlighted areas show where the seven station locations are being considered.
The map for Ottawa shows possible station locations in an area including the current VIA station and the old Union StationThe Montréaland Laval station locations under consideration. The Montréal station area highlighted includes the locations of Central and Lucien L’Allier Stations.The Montréal station for Alto is clearly intended to be a terminal.
The idea of a downtown Ottawa Station for the new high speed rail corridor is certainly enticing. It would breathe new life into a 114-year-old landmark, provide a very convenient spot for Ottawa politicians, public servants, business travelers, tourists, and students attending nearby University of Ottawa. Rideau O-Train Station is less than two blocks away. However, it would require a new tunnel and/or elevated structure to reach the station from the rail corridors to the south. Furthermore, Centre Block would have to reopen on schedule so the Senate can move back before construction can start on refurbishing the station for passenger service.
The 1966 Ottawa VIA Station, on the other hand, has its own advantages. There is plenty of room to build new high speed train platforms, which should provide level boarding for efficient passenger movement. There is also room for parking, passenger pick-up and drop-off, as well as easy access to the highway, unlike Union Station. With the closure of the Ottawa bus station, the VIA Rail Station has become a multimodal hub, with Ontario Northland, Flixbus, and Orleans Express all using the station’s driveway, along with a KLM/Air France shuttle to Dorval Airport. There is also a dedicated O-Train LRT station on-site, though it could be better integrated with the station building.
Perhaps most importantly, the existing VIA station can help ensure the existing Corridor service remains integral, as passengers from Kingston, Belleville, and elsewhere on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River will not be served by Alto; neither would Casselman, Alexandria and Dorval. That the station is a through-line, and not a stub-end terminal, will also ensure that the crucial Toronto-Montréal market will see minimal delays from back-tracking and reversing at a downtown terminal. Though there are instances of high-speed trains reversing directions at major hubs — Trenitalia’s Frecciarossa mainline between Milan and Salerno turns back at Roma Termini and at Napoli Centrale — this is an uncommon arrangement.
All the planned Alto high speed rail stations will have to be easily accessible and close to the downtown cores of the cities it serves. At this point in the planning process, this looks like it will be the case at all three big city stations. But it will need more than walk-up traffic like downtown office workers and tourists; it will be most successful as part of a complete network of local, regional and intercity transport, including the conventional VIA rail system. With specific improvements, including new platforms and better O-Train station integration, the modern yet historic 1966 Ottawa Station is well suited for all of these needs.
There is a light rail system in Ontario that works in the snow. ION LRT at University of Waterloo.
Less than a two hours drive or train ride from Toronto, where that city’s first light rail line opened to universal disdain, a light rail line has been operating without incident for over five years. Trains operate like clockwork, signal priority works, and it has become the backbone of a regional transit system.
A southbound Ion LRV turns from Charles Street to Borden Avenue. Note the white bar signal and the “no right turn – train” sign lit up.
Funded by all three levels of government, the Ion LRT was constructed and operated by GrandLinq, a public-private partnership (P3) consortium that includes operator Keolis and engineering and construction firms such as Aecon, Kiewit, and Plenary Group. Though design-build-operate P3 models are common for Canadian transit infrastructure projects, they have their challenges, as Waterloo Region would later find out. Fares and service are integrated into the Grand River Transit bus system, which is owned and operated by the regional government.
Waterloo Region is the smallest urban region in North America with a light rail system, and it works largely because of Kitchener-Waterloo’s geography. Many important regional destinations line up along the corridor: the terminals are both major suburban shopping centres that already functioned as major bus transfer points. In between the two malls are Downtown Kitchener and Uptown Waterloo, the two historic town centres, University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital. The LRT serves or passes near all these destinations (though Laurier’s campus is centred a few blocks east of the LRT corridor). Furthermore, the region’s master plan focuses urban growth along the LRT corridor with new high-rise residential and mixed-use development. A planned extension of the LRT into Cambridge south to the historic Galt town centre will further support regional urban intensification goals.
Ion trains operate every 10 minutes during weekday daytime hours; they operate every 15 minutes on weekends and weekday evenings, with 30-minute service from about 10:30 PM to the end of service starting around midnight.
Map of Waterloo Region’s urban system, which directs growth to existing and planned transit corridors and limits growth outside the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge.From the regional official plan.
Despite following a linear corridor, the LRT winds its way along city streets, railway rights-of-way, and hydro corridors. This allowed the region to reduce property and road construction costs as well as achieve higher speeds in specific off-road sections. The fastest section is north of Uptown Waterloo, where the corridor makes use of a freight railway spur line between Kitchener and Elmira that also happens to run directly past University of Waterloo. In the south end, a different railway corridor and a hydro corridor allow trains to reach Fairview Park Mall on a mostly off-street alignment. These off-road segments are protected by railway signals and barriers, like those in along LRT lines in Calgary and Edmonton.
This ability to switch between different alignment types is a clear advantage of light rail transit for medium-capacity transit systems. During overnight hours, freight trains headed to a plastics plant in Elmira use the same rails north of Uptown Waterloo as the LRT does during the day, making it an example of the “tram-train” model more common in Europe.
The on-street sections, though slower than the off-road portions, provide access to Downtown Kitchener and Uptown Waterloo, including the planned new transit hub in Downtown Kitchener that will provide a better connection to GO Transit trains to Toronto. Unlike Toronto’s streetcars and Finch West LRT, however, the signal priority system works. On King Street between Downtown and Uptown, there are many intersections with traffic signals, but the LRTs generally do not have to stop at any of those red lights. At intersections, LRVs continue at regular speed, typically 40 km/h through this section.
A southbound LRV on King Street. It just passed two signals with a clear (white vertical bar) signal; the next signal ahead will soon change to allow the LRV to proceed. Note that there are no “transit signal” signs, as Waterloo Region worked to have these approved by the province.
Waterloo Region also worked to permit unique transit signals, which feature only white bar aspects. A vertical bar indicates “proceed” while a horizonal bar indicates “stop.” A flashing horizontal bar lets the operator know that it will soon switch to “proceed” while a flashing vertical bar warns of an upcoming stop signal. This reduces the sign clutter that is found on Toronto’s streetcar and light rail corridors.
A typical Toronto assembly, with red, amber, and green transit signal aspects that look similar to the larger traffic lights above and accompanied with a “transit signal” sign. Of course, the Finch West LRV approached an amber signal, rather than being given a go ahead.
To be fair, the advantage in Waterloo Region is that most of the on-street sections of the LRV corridor are on narrower urban streets rather than suburban arterials like Finch Avenue. King Street and Charles Street in Kitchener only have two general traffic lanes and are not major throughfares (a provincially-maintained freeway between St. Jacobs, Waterloo, Kitchener, and Highway 401 absorbs much of this traffic). The regional government also widened a section of Weber Street to four lanes to divert traffic from King ahead of LRT construction. This resulted in the loss of about two dozen houses and businesses.
But by maintaining a narrow right-of-way on King Street, the LRT runs with minimal delays. It is easier to provide aggressive transit signal priority with short pedestrian crossing distances, narrow intersections, and lower traffic volumes.
The video below illustrates how the LRT runs along King Street northbound from Kitchener Central Station.
View from the front of a train heading north towards Waterloo
Despite the LRT working well, it is still far from perfect: there are several sections in which the trams crawl at a 10 or 15 km/h speed, particularly on the south end. At Hayward Avenue the route switches from a railway corridor to an alignment alongside Courtland Avenue; this section has two tight turns and crosses an industrial driveway. Had a few more properties been expropriated (at additional cost) this would not have been an issue. Until a proper protected pedestrian crossing is installed at a path connecting Trayner Avenue to Fairway Road (a critical pedestrian link that was overlooked during the planning phase), LRVs must also slow down along the hydro corridor approaching Fairview Park Mall.
The P3 contract also limits the ability to make service improvements. In 2024, Waterloo Region proposed revising the LRT schedule to run trains every eight minutes during peak periods, but because of a fixed staffing contract, it would have resulted in 30-minute service after 8PM. Luckily, local transit advocates successfully opposed that change. Had the LRT been operated directly by Grand River Transit, they could have simply trained more operators on the LRT service, even transferring bus drivers to the rail division.
Overall, however, the LRT works in Waterloo Region both as a transit service and a planning tool. It provides useful lessons on what to do (real signal priority and proper signal aspects, make effective use of on-street and off-street routing where each makes sense), and what not to do (enter strict operating contracts) when building a new transit line. Waterloo Region made its rail transit work for its geography and its needs, and that is the most important thing.
Adding priority bus lanes is one way to speed up transit across the entire city
Transit planning is a long-term endeavour, not a one-time project with a single solution. In a municipal election year, we need to demand more from leaders and those charged with planning and running transit services than simple soundbites that recall old political slogans.
In Spacing, I wrote about the trouble of resorting to catchphrases such as “subways, subways, subways” when our transit troubles are more widespread — yet also fixable. We simply cannot rely on a single solution to our transit woes.
Buses on the Orange and Blue routes await departure at Orangeville Transit’s transfer hub
Earlier in December 2025, I took a short trip to Orangeville, Ontario, to take a ride on the province’s only fare-free transit system. Though Orangeville Transit provides a vital service for the town’s residents, the fare-free service is not necessarily a model for larger transit systems.
The town of Orangeville, population approximately 30,000, is on the outer edge of the Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area. Until 2021, it was connected to the Canadian Pacific mainline at Streetsville by a municipally-owned railway; Highways 9 and 10 link the town with Highways 400 and 410. GO Transit runs a limited weekday bus service from Brampton, and the remnant of Grey County’s GTR system runs between Orangeville, Shelburne, and Dundalk.
Orangeville Transit, GO Transit, and GTR Route 2 signs on Hansen Blvd.
These three services meet at a curbside stop on Hansen Boulevard at First Street adjacent to the Orangeville Mall on the north side of town, where there is a standard bus shelter. After getting off the GO bus here, a GTR van arrived a few minutes later, dropping off a few more passengers. A few minutes after that, a yellow school bus arrived, sporting an Orangeville Transit sticker on the side. This would be my bus.
After a winding route through several residential subdivisions, circling back on Hansen Boulevard, the bus arrived at the central transfer point located in a field west of the downtown core. The transfer point, located behind a small shopping plaza, is adjacent to the abandoned Orangeville-Brampton Railway corridor. However, the new terminal is not served by GO or GTR. GO Transit buses layover at the old Canadian Pacific Railway station site on Townline before heading south to Brampton GO Station.
Orangeville Transit map, with two routes operating on 45-minute schedules
In some ways, the fare-free service in Orangeville is a success. Ridership more than doubled between 2019 and 2023, the year it introduced free fares. The program has since been extended through 2026. However, Orangeville Transit is a very small operation, with only two routes, each on a 45-minute schedule. The two routes are made up of circuitous, one-way loops that provide service to the entire municipality, but do not provide through or speedy service.
Though large systems, like GO Transit and the Toronto Transit Commission, get more than half their funding from fare revenue (in the late 1990s, fares made up 80% of the operating costs for those two systems due to provincial austerity), smaller systems, with lower costs, can get by with free fares. This is also true of some mid-sized American systems, such as Richmond, Albuquerque, or Kansas City, where fare collection might be more trouble than it is worth. But there’s a trade off; for many riders, a more frequent and faster ride would be worth a few dollars — reliable government funding along with targeted reduced fare programs might be a better solution.
In Orangeville’s case, the rider gets what they pay for — a slow, infrequent, and circuitous service where you might end up picked up by a school bus.
Transit journeys, wrapped
Orangeville Transit was the last of 32 distinct transit services I got to ride in 2025 and was one of 10 systems I rode for the first time (another three of those were in Italy). Unfortunately, my first ride on Deseronto Transit was also my last. With the obvious exception of the Vatican, I have been on at least one transit service in every one of the 21 countries I’ve been to so far.
Local and regional transit systems taken in 2025: Toronto Transit Commission GO Transit Brampton Transit MiWay York Region Transit Durham Region Transit Burlington Transit Hamilton Street Railway Orangeville Transit (1st time) Simcoe County Linx Barrie Transit Wasaga Beach Transit(1st time) London Transit Deseronto Transit(RIP) Belleville Transit Kingston Transit Brockville Transit (1st time) River Route(1st time) Transit Windsor LTW Transit(1st time) Thunder Bay Transit (1st time) OC Transpo Société de transport de l’Outaouais (Gatineau QC) Société de transport de Montréal Winnipeg Transit Calgary Transit TransLink (Metro Vancouver) BC Transit (Greater Victoria) Azienda Napoletana Mobilità (Naples) (1st time) Azienda per la mobilità di Roma Capitale (1st time) Ente Autonomo Volturno (Campagna IT) (1st time)
December 7, 2025 may be a day that will live in transit infamy. That was the day Line 6, the Finch West LRT, opened to the public, and it did not go well.
First off, any discussion on the initial failure of Line 6 should acknowledge that was never designed to be a rapid, regional transit link. The LRT, serving Northwestern Toronto, was intended to be an upgrade to the slow, congested, and busy 36 Finch West bus, feeding into the rapid transit network at Finch West Station. Line 6 is a legacy of Transit City, a LRT plan proposed under previous mayor David Miller intended to connect the inner suburbs of Etobicoke, North York, and Scarbrorough to the subway and to each other.
As with all proposed Transit City routes (with the exception of the tunneled central section of the Eglinton-Crosstown LRT), there were always going to be compromises on Finch that would not make it a true rapid transit service. Situated almost entirely on the surface, Line 6 trains are easier for residents to access than subways in deep tunnels; closer stop spacing was intended so the new transit line continues to serve the needs of those who live, work, go to school, and frequent the corridor, without the necessity of a parallel local bus. Anyone expecting subway speeds were in for disappointment.
Still, the LRT was supposed to improve travel times over the existing bus, with wider stop spacing than the legacy streetcar network, a congestion-free right of way, signal priority, and decent operating speeds. With a promised average speed of 20-21 kilometres per hour, a total trip time of 33-34 minutes each way, it would have been a bit faster, more comfortable, and certainly more reliable than the bus. It was never going to be as fast as a subway, but for Finch Avenue West, that was okay.
Screen capture of a Metrolinx FAQ webpage, with frequent and relatively speedy transit service promised for the Finch West LRT. The webpage was still up as of December 18, 2025.
As the first modern LRT to open in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), Line 6 was to be a preview of additional lines planned and under construction elsewhere in the Golden Horseshoe, including the yet-to-open Line 5 Crosstown LRT, the Hurontario Line, the Hamilton LRT, and a proposed Line 7 on Eglinton Avenue East towards the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus and Malvern. Delivered by Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency, each line would be constructed and maintained by a P3 consortium, though the Toronto LRTs would be operated by TTC employees.
The hoped-for narrative that the provincial government, Metrolinx, the city of Toronto, and the TTC all touted — a smooth new ride, worthy of including on the subway maps — quickly fell apart on Sunday December 7, though there were plenty of warning signs of slower-than-promised operations.
Opening day crowds on December 7. Passengers disembark from a wrapped LRV that touts Line 6 as “far and wide the best way to go far and wide.”
On Sunday, December 7, there were plenty of people eager to try the new LRT: railfans and urbanists, curious families, and local residents, lured by free fares on the opening day. Though I was there and took several trips, I wasn’t going to make too many judgements on opening day. There would be inevitable hiccups with the large crowds and cold, snowy temperatures. Still, there were visible problems.
An eastbound LRV approaches Islington Avenue (Mount Olive Station) as the transit signal switches from green to amber. The traffic signals are still green.
So far, a lot of the post-opening discourse has been on operating speeds and traffic operations. Instead of 33-34 minutes, as claimed by Metrolinx, trips were taking 55 minutes each way. Additionally, the transit signal priority (TSP) system has not been activated, causing light rail vehicles (LRVs) to wait entire light cycles, even for private vehicles to turn left before proceeding. The dedicated transit signals turn red about 10-20 seconds before general traffic gets a red light, even as LRVs approach the intersections. On December 16, Toronto City Council approved a motion to implement “more aggressive” TSP on Finch West and the surface portion of the Line 5 Eglinton-Crosstown LRT, as well as on the legacy streetcar network.
The problem on Finch West is not just a matter of transit signal priority. The number of stops along the line, also criticized by several critics, is also not a problem, as Finch West was never intended to be a high-speed regional line. (That said, Mount Olive and nearby Stevenson could have been consolidated into a single stop west of Kipling Avenue.) The other problems are poorly managed schedules and streetcar-style slow zones on a modern LRT alignment.
Right now, LRVs are forced to slow to 25 km/h at all intersections, even though all conflicting traffic has a red light. This is an inexplicable restriction given that motor traffic, including TTC buses, have a 50 km/h limit, and many drivers will proceed at significantly above the posted limit. These restrictions are not found elsewhere in North America; in Calgary and Edmonton, LRTs are protected at many at-grade intersections with railway-style lights and gates. In places like Minneapolis-St. Paul and Phoenix, additional LED flashing signs warn drivers of an approaching LRV, which glides through the signalized intersection at higher speeds than on Finch. (There is also a lot less sign clutter, with intuitive signals for left turns and transit).
Transit schedules are also needlessly padded, with too much time for lower speeds and lengthy station stops. On a repeat visit to Finch West, on Wednesday December 17, 2025, travel times were inconsistent and slower then either 36C bus I took a few days before the LRT opened. (Even the trip with the long Starbucks pitstop.)
Line 6 travel times on Wednesday Dec. 17
Eastbound (read down)
Stop/station
Westbound (read up)
12:59 PM (dep.)
Humber College LRT Station
12:31 PM (arr.)
1:03
Westmore Dr.
12:25
1:05
Martin Grove Rd.
12:22
1:10
Kipling Ave. (Mt. Olive)
12:13
1:14
Islington Ave. (Rowntree Mills)
12:09
1:26
Weston Rd. (Emery)
11:57
1:29
Arrow Rd./Signet Dr.
11:54
1:33
Jane and Finch
11:46
1:37
Tobermory Dr.
11:35
1:45
Sentinel Rd.
11:32
1:48 PM (arr.)
Finch West Stn. (LRT Terminal)
11:27 AM (dep.)
49 minutes
Total time
1 h 4 minutes
It took eleven minutes to go two stops, less than a kilometre, from Tobermory Drive to Jane Street on the westbound trip. Lengthy station dwell times at Tobermory (five minutes) and Mount Olive (three minutes) on that westbound ride, with no onboard announcements was especially frustrating. The return eastbound trip from Humber College was 15 minutes faster, even with much of the same slow zones at intersections and switches, the 10 km/h curve near Humber College Station, and lengthy stops.
With such unpredictable and unreliable service, Line 6 is running at least as badly as the downtown streetcar routes. Without immediate fixes, people will completely lose faith in the TTC and future LRTs, including Eglinton-Crosstown. We can not just rely on tweaks to signal times; we need a complete review and overhaul of streetcar and LRT operating practices.
At least we know what can and should be fixed before the Eglinton-Crosstown line opens, a much longer LRT route that will have a regional transit role.
One more thing…
What is with all the doors between the Line 1 subway station and the LRT terminal at Finch West. Passengers have to pass through four sets of doors to transfer between two TTC services, as well as ascend one escalator or elevator, walk down one set of stairs (or navigate a long and circuitous ramp) and then ascend another escalator or elevator to get to the other platform.
Stairs or a long, circuitous ramp between the doors from subway to LRT
Though transfers can be tricky, at the very least, these doorways should be kept open, and shut only during station closures or during fire alarms, as done in hospitals or shopping centres. Other TTC stations have no such barriers between modes or may have a single door to exit a subway station terminal to the bus platform. Automatic sliding doors could have also been an option. Instead, the powered doors are left to one side, with the button against the wall. It’s not an ideal design from an accessibility point of view.
Over the last six years, Greyhound Canada disappeared after years of decline, the COVID-19 pandemic hit with travel restricted, the Ontario provincial government set up one-time funding for intercommunity transport links while deregulating the intercity coach industry, and many municipalities dipped their toes into providing rural transit services.
At the end of 2025, there was some good news to note — several rail transit lines opened in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Edmonton, while a few new rural services opened in Eastern Ontario. Unfortunately, there were also some major losses in Ontario, particularly in Grey County, Oxford County, Napanee-Deseronto, and the impending cancellation of a major route in Essex County. Unlike in Ontario, however, rural transport links remain stable in Quebec and British Columbia.
Stable funding is essential to keep these intercommunity and intercity links alive, particularly where private operators have not filled a need. For example, Flixbus recently cut back their once-a-day route from Toronto to the Lake Huron coast and will not serve rapidly-growing Saugeen Shores during the colder months. That part of Ontario is left only with a three-days-a-week TOK coach despite potential demand. A well-funded regional transport service coordinated by Grey, Bruce, and other adjacent counties could address this, but there needs to be political will to ensure stable and predictable service needed to grow ridership over the long term.
I just completed a round of edits to my intercity map, noting changes to routes, service levels, and in some cases, stop locations. A few new scheduled air shuttles in Atlantic Canada and Manitoba are included; these types of services are only mapped if they also provide non-airport service or at least connect to urban transport.
There are also more grey lines. Starting with edits in mid 2024, I have chosen to grey out abandoned routes, rather than just eliminating them. It is well worth noting where transport links have disappeared, and where replacement service might be worth planning.
Hopefully 2026 will see better service than the end of 2025.
Sean Marshall 