Midtown's Connector

The Crosstown Line, opening in 2025, is a long awaited connector for east-west trips through midtown.  On opening the line will connect to surface rail at Mount Dennis, and Kennedy, and Line 1 and Line 2, with work progressing to make connections to the Barrie Line and Line 3 underway.   As an LRT, this line isn't meant to provide the speed of surface rail or the capacity of a subway line like Line 1, but rather seeks to connect neighbourhoods to surface rail and subways efficiently.   

The Greater Toronto Transit 2050 Plan seeks to extend this line from Mississauga Centre in the west to the Toronto Zoo in the east, creating a line with more stations or stops than any other in the plan.  This line isn't meant to be ridden from end to end, but runs continuously across its length so that no transfer waits are forced on passengers continuing east-west journeys.  For a rider going from Mississauga to the Toronto Zoo, it is quite likely an LRT line is the start and end of the journey, but surface rail or regional bus service accelerates the middle of that journey.

Three extension projects are planned for this line after the line opens in 2025:

1. In 2032 the extension to Renforth which is currently well under construction is expected to open.   Tunnelling work has completed, and all the construction contracts have been signed to build out the stations, elevated sections, and connection to the existing line at Mount Dennis.   At opening this would connect with the Mississauga Busway at Renforth giving immediate connectivity in advance of further line extensions.

2. In 2037 this plan would implement the long studied Eglinton East LRT connecting to Scarborough Village, neighbourhoods along Kingston Road, West Hill, the growing University of Toronto at Scarborough Campus, and the Toronto Zoo.   This route is already well developed from a land use perspective but land use intensification continues, and the already significant number of trips generated by the university will continue to rise.   The transit connection to the zoo should serve to provide two main benefits, increasing modal share of trips to the zoo using transit through better connections through the GTA, and to positively impact visitor admissions to the zoo through greater convenience and increased awareness.

3. In 2046 a final extension of the line is planned westward converting the Mississauga Busway to an LRT line.  The line will provide more efficient service along the route, increase the customer appeal of the service, allow transfer free connections through to midtown Toronto, and convenient stops around Mississauga City Centre.  Riders from Mississauga would be able to connect to the airport at Renforth, the Ontario line which would shortly after provide convenient connections to York Region, and surface rail at Mount Dennis and Caledonia for faster trips to points north and east.