'We have to build,' Ford says, as cost of Scarborough subway extension tops $10B
Project set to open by 2030, will replace Line 3
New figures from Metrolinx show the cost of extending the Scarborough subway line has nearly doubled since the project was first announced.
The three-stop extension of Line 2, which has been under construction since 2021, will connect Kennedy Station to Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road, and replace Line 3 after it derailed two years ago. It's currently set to open in 2030.
In 2020, a business case from Metrolinx put the project cost at roughly $5.5 billion.
But figures disclosed in an update at the provincial transit agency's latest board meeting shows the route is now expected to cost more than $10 billion to complete.
In a statement provided to CBC News, a Metrolinx spokesperson says the initial cost estimate only included construction costs – something the agency says is standard practice.
The new $10.2 billion figure includes additional costs like property acquisition, installation, testing equipment and interconnection with the TTC, the spokesperson said.
Premier Doug Ford defended Metrolinx at an unrelated news conference Tuesday, saying the initial figure didn't factor in those additional costs.
"It didn't add the cost to the trains then, they didn't add in the maintenance. They didn't add in the extension out by Kennedy Road, too. And so that's the cost is going up," he said.
"But you know, we have to build. It goes back for decades and decades. Everyone talked about a Scarborough subway. No one would do anything. We still stepped up and did it."
Calls for transparency
Filip Panaitescu is one of hundreds of thousands of Scarborough transit users waiting for the Scarborough subway extension to open. He said the new price tag raises questions about how Metrolinx communicates costs to the public.
"Metrolinx needs to be more like transparent about how much things are going to cost from the get-go," said Panaitescu, a member of TTCriders. The same goes for when projects are going to be completed, he said.
"I want them to be more transparent about how long, realistically, things are going to take," Panaitescu said, pointing to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT as an example.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the public is entitled to know the full costs of Metrolinx projects upfront.
The "culture of secrecy, wasted dollars, and delays cannot continue," she said in a statement, calling for a public inquiry into Metrolinx.
"When you're dealing with public dollars, you need to give public answers — and we have yet to hear an explanation for why the Scarborough Subway Extension budget has doubled."
According to the Metrolinx website, 10 to 15 metres of the eight-kilometre line are being dug out every day.
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With files from Tyler Cheese