INFRASTRUCTURE TRANSPORTATION
February 06, 2026 9.5K
The Next Round of Transit in the GTHA: Rapid Transit Everywhere
Eglinton Line 5 opens on Sunday, and Toronto will have a new transit line, for better or for… Will it perform any better than Finch West Line 6 did when it began operation in December? The ‘soft opening’ planned for Line 5 says that the TTC wants you to give it some time for them to work the bugs out, and the City is still working on bringing signal priority to both lines… just a few more months for that it seems.
In anticipation for the new line’s opening, it’s a good time to revisit several recent posts where we looked at what projects might constitute a next round of transit expansion in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. We’ve looked at subways, new GO stations, bus rapid transit and light rail expansion, as well as ‘hybrid’ rail. And now it’s time to tie everything up in a bow, looking at the changes we might expect and hope for in the coming two decades, following up the many transit projects Toronto is currently cooking up. So let’s take a trip around the city for a roundup.
Existing and potential new transit infrastructure for the GTHA, map by UrbanToronto Forum contributor WB62
West
In the west of the region, we can probably expect to see the Dundas BRT built—if piece by piece. There are also the planned downtown extensions of the Line 10 Hurontario-Main tram line through both Brampton and downtown Mississauga. In Waterloo region, we will likely see the ION tram route extended south to Cambridge, nearly doubling its length, and of course there is also the Hamilton tram project moving along.
Existing and potential new transit infrastructure in the west of the GTHA, map by UrbanToronto Forum contributor WB62
I also think the western parts of the region offer among the most compelling corridors for “Hybrid Rail” or Railbus type services operated using small multiple unit trains operating a regular connective service on minimal infrastructure, including one from the Junction to the Bloor Dundas West hub, and another from Guelph to Cambridge.
New GO stations will also enable new connections, with stations likely to pop up on the Lakeshore line in Mississauga and at Park Lawn in Toronto, on the Kitchener Line in Waterloo Region, not to mention the under construction station at Woodbine.
As for new subway, Eglinton Line 5’s likely final western extension the rest of the way to Pearson Airport is already being studied, and some extension of Line 2 west also seems likely. While going as far as Sherway Gardens seems almost inevitable given major planned developments and the ability to build much of the extension at grade, given York Region will have gotten two subway extensions by this time, it only seems logical that Line 2 be extended.
East
To the east of the region, the Durham Scarborough BRT is the rough equivalent to the Dundas BRT in the west, and would run from Line 2 east into Durham Region.
Some readers noted the lack of the “city priority” Eglinton East LRT in my recent projection posts, and that’s for a few reasons – for one, quite obviously the public’s appetite for slow surface aligned tramways has been significantly dulled by the slower-than-the-bus Finch West line, and the city already had taken a lot of wind out of the project’s sails over a year ago by stating that service would be slower than the buses on Eglinton East that are already benefiting from RapidTO bus lanes. The second, and firmer reason this project is unlikely to go anywhere, is that the Province has not shown any interest in funding it, and the City simply does not have the resources to go it alone. A smaller project that just connects Kennedy station to the Lakeshore East GO line would be easier to justify, and possibly unnecessary if Metrolinx fixes the aberration that is its plan to not connect both Lakeshore and Kitchener-Stouffville train services where the Kitchener-Stouffville line branches off at Scarborough station.
Existing and potential new transit infrastructure in the east of the GTHA, map by UrbanToronto Forum contributor WB62
The issue with Scarborough is that it is sprawling, and so the same problems that afflict rapid transit plans – that they can never hope to come close to a majority of residents, also applies to tramways, all while tramways don’t offer the speed benefits that at least rationalize a total bus network reorganization to funnel passengers to a much faster trunk line. For a transit network as dependent on a mesh of distributed bus lines as Scarborough (I should know, I live here), the ideal transit initiative is likely enhanced connections to existing and under construction GO and subway services, and VIVA style bus priority infrastructure. The introduction of low floor bi-articulated buses that are now common in Europe, and would also be perfectly suited to a suburban environment meshing perfectly with existing bus infrastructure, expanding capacity and enabling overhead line electrification, just as would be the case with a tramway. A series of VIVA style bus corridors forming a grid across Scarborough would have a bigger impact for more riders and could probably be done for less than the Eglinton East project.
Supplementing enhanced buses ought to be a number of new GO stations. Streets like Lawrence, Finch, Brimley and McCowan form the major corridors across the district, and should be connected to the Kitchener-Stouffville and Lakeshore lines with new stations that would provide more connections and direct services to areas that trains currently pass through without stopping, and likely without any travel time penalty once we have electric trains.
On the subway front, the LIne 2 Scarborough subway extension is finally under construction and progressing well, and it will likely open with new trains from Alstom being deployed as well as a new signalling system, which is very exciting. Furthermore, the odds seem decent that the government will move forward with the Sheppard Line 4 east extension. These two projects would together form east-west and north-south backbone corridors for Scarborough, plugging into which would be the Durham Scarborough BRT, as well as potential new BRT corridors on McCowan, Kennedy, Lawrence, Finch and Victoria Park which would weave together subway routes, major trip generators and GO services. These rail rapid transit links would provide fast connections to the Bloor-Danforth corridor, downtown Toronto, and North York.
North
To the north of the region, there is already a fairly comprehensive bus rapid transit network in VIVA, so while I think it’s likely we will see a VIVA Silver route built on Jane Street, connecting Line 1 and VIVA Orange to Canada’s Wonderland and a major mall and hospital, I don’t think we will see too many other routes in York Region. Instead the focus here should be on improving the currently pitiful VIVA service frequencies, introducing some night bus routes, and expanding 407 GO bus service into a frequent 24/7 operation that more or less functions as rapid transit given the never congested status of the 407. Within the City of Toronto, it seems sensible to try to implement bus priority corridors, akin to VIVA routes – albeit with more modest shelters – on key routes, like Steeles (which had a proposed VIVA route), as well as Finch, Dufferin, Don Mills, and Bathurst. A Finch West tram extension to the new Woodbine station along with general speed improvements to that route would be very valuable.
Existing and potential new transit infrastructure in the north of the GTHA, map by UrbanToronto Forum contributor WB62
For “Hybrid Rail”, a new route on the Richmond Hill line could be overlaid on the current very infrequent commuter services. This new service could operate small 80 metre trains operating every 15 or 20 minutes, akin to what’s used on Ottawa’s O-Train Line 2, which would provide minor relief to the Yonge line, but also would provide enhanced all day connectivity along a line Metrolinx already owns (potentially with an extension slightly beyond this territory to connect to Line 1 at the new Bridge bus and subway hub at Highway 407, bookending the route with connections to Line 1), while also providing a number of rapid transit connections, and links to all kinds of places in and around the Don Valley that are currently hard to reach. From Regent Park, to Evergreen Brick Works, the Don Valley Parks, and parts of North York. The small number of trains, basic stations with short platforms, and periodic double tracking for passing loops should be inexpensive even in Toronto, and would bring huge connectivity benefits.
New GO stations ought to be built on the Barrie line, as long as faster trains are deployed, improving connectivity between Eglinton and Sheppard, as well as at Highway 407 to connect with GO buses and VIVA – this connection would mean that 407 GO buses would connect to each leg of Line 1, as well as the Kitchener, Barrie, Richmond Hill, and Stouffville GO lines.
And finally, a number of subway connections should be contemplated to improve the robustness of the network in this part of the city. While an extension of the University leg of Line 1 north would be costly, if Vaughan continues to enable the kind of high density development we’ve seen in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre area, kicks in money, and has the line go elevated along this section of Jane to reduce costs, it doesn’t seem like a totally senseless project, especially since it would offer connections to a number of major, in some cases regional trip generators, and could even use some unique design approaches to reduce cost further. What’s much more certain is that Sheppard Line 4 should be extended west, at least to Sheppard West station to bridge the two legs of line 1, but potentially a little bit further through the Downsview development site, serving a massive number of housing units, and also creating more connections to the Barrie Line – something that would be even more attractive should the project be built cut and cover through the development site, utilize an expanded Wilson subway yard, and serve some sort of permanent event venue at the Downsview site, which is actually quite well connected as far as suburban locations go. It also seems like we will see the Ontario line extended north to connect to the current eastern terminus of Line 4 (which would instantly make the line quite a bit more useful). This project should be able to be built entirely elevated making it more affordable and quick to build, and would serve a ton of dense housing, the shops at Don Mills lifestyle centre, and with a modest extension north of Sheppard, more dense housing and the main campus of Seneca College.
Core
A number of bus and tram projects are underway in the region’s core. For one, the Waterfront East tram — an extension of the streetcar network to and through the Port Lands — hasn’t actually got funding together yet, but land is being banked for the project which should make construction faster and less expensive than it would have otherwise been. When all is said and done, this project should enable several streetcar route extensions, down Cherry to the beach, to and through Villiers Island, across Commissioners to the Leslie Barns maintenance facility, south on Broadview through East Harbour, and on Queens Quay East mirroring the current Harbourfront route. There’s also likely to eventually be a major expansion to the Union Station streetcar facility which would switch from the current single curved platform to four different platforms allowing dedicated space for different routes, and a direct connection to the renovated and expanded Union Station lower level.
Existing and potential new transit infrastructure in the core of the GTHA, map by UrbanToronto Forum contributor WB62
Advocacy and political interest also means a number of the City’s existing streetcar routes might get speed ups and infrastructure improvements that bring them close to the experience on more modern ‘light rail’ corridors.
Even buses in the core have a promising future. The improvements made to Bathurst and Dufferin in the lead up to the World Cup, and basically exclusively in the core thanks to flaky politicians and NIMBYism, are having real impacts on speed and reliability, and there are various other corridors where similar changes and huge improvements could be made quickly if only our politicians were a little more willing to be yelled at about parking for an hour or two at public meetings.
New GO stations are finally starting to lighten the load on Union Station; East Harbour and Exhibition will let Lakeshore and some Kitchener Stouffville riders access downtown and skip Union, while King Liberty, Bloor Lansdowne, as well as a station I’d propose at Sunnyside would provide direct access and streetcar connections to specific neighbourhoods. Two new major stations at Spadina and Sherbourne could be built above grade, and would create shoulder stations for the city centre, being a shorter walk to many destinations than Union, as well as adding redundancy and platform as well as transfer capacity where passengers could change lines for cross regional trips in airy light elevated spaces and avoid descending into the cramped underground concourses at Union. All of these new stations would let downtown residents more easily catch a GO train, make it easier for suburbanites to get directly to their destinations, and even in some cases enable rapid subway-like trips across the downtown core, like from Liberty Village to East Harbour, or from Sherbourne to Bloor and Lansdowne.
On the “Hybrid Rail” front, the Don Valley corridor built along the Richmond Hill line could have several stations along the eastern Union Station rail corridor, connecting at Union and Sherbourne, but also Cherry Street, Queen East, and Regent Park.
For subways, the Ontario line is likely to be extended further west, by my estimation to the massive transport hub developing at Bloor/Dundas West, and it wouldn’t surprise me if at some point another downtown subway line is needed to distribute passengers between the heavily used regional train stations – which is a core role for many famous metros around the world from London, to Paris and Tokyo. It’s also almost certainly the case that we will see some additional big downtown subway station expansions like the ones we’ve seen at Union and Bloor Yonge, as well as the installation of platform screen doors.
All in all, unlike what we’ve seen in some regions, Toronto is not only doing a ton of transit expansion projects, but these projects are also geographically distributed, with projects of various types in each different sector of the city. This means that not only will no place be left behind, but that connectivity across the whole region is set to improve dramatically, not even over the next 20, but the next 10 years.
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Reece Martin is a well-known advocate for good transit, worldwide. He is based in Toronto and blogs at nextmetro.substack.
Base map © is by UrbanToronto Forum contributor WB62, and is not affiliated with Metrolinx or other transit agencies and should not be considered an official source or confirmation of Metrolinx projects.
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UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database files, linked below. If you’d like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Line 5 and Line 6 Forum threads, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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UrbanToronto has a research service, UTPro, that provides comprehensive data on development projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe — from proposal through to completion. We also offer Instant Reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from initial application.