RFQ Released for Toronto’s Scarborough Subway Extension Project
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
The Scarborough Subway Extension project will bring Toronto Transit Commission’s Line 2 subway 4.8 miles (7.8 kilometers) further into Scarborough, with stations at Lawrence Avenue and McCowan Road; Scarborough Center; and Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road.
Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx have issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the Scarborough Subway Extension’s Stations, Rail and Systems (SRS) package, advancing the $4.5 billion (C$5.5 billion), three-stop project in the Greater Toronto Area.
The RFQ covers design and delivery of the new subway stations as well as rail and systems work. A shortlist of qualified candidates is expected to be announced in early 2022; those candidates will be invited to submit further details as part of the Request for Proposals (RFP) process.
The Scarborough Subway Extension project will extend Toronto Transit Commission’s (TTC) Bloor-Danforth Line 2 subway 4.8 miles (7.8 kilometers) from Kennedy Station to a new terminus at Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road (see map above). Completion is anticipated by 2029-30, with 105,000 daily boardings by 2041.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held June 23, following a $613.8 million (C$757.1 million) contract award on May 25 to Strabag for advanced tunnel work. According to Metrolinx, “work is already well under way at the launch shaft site.”
The Scarborough Subway Extension will provide up to six connections with other transit options, including one GO Train line (Stouffville); up to two local rapid transit lines (Line 5/Eglinton Crosstown and the future Sheppard Subway Extension); and three bus services (GO Transit, Durham Region Transit and TTC buses).
“Scarborough has a wide geographic area and large parts of Scarborough rely on buses to get to the subway,” Program Sponsor Michael Hodge said. “We are building stations that will be important connection points, with buses coming in from all parts of Scarborough.”
The Scarborough Subway Extension is part of a $23.1 billion (C$28.5 billion) subway expansion program for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, which the government of Ontario announced in April 2019. The program also includes these three projects: a new Ontario Line (a nearly 16-kilometer or 9.94-mile free-standing line); the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension (extending the Eglinton Crosstown LRT 9.2 kilometers or 5.72 miles); and the Yonge North Subway Extension (a 8-kilometer or 4.97-mile extension, bringing TTC’s existing Line 1 subway to the cities of Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill). The projects are being procured and delivered by Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx.
In May, the Canadian government agreed to pay a 40% share, up to $8.7 billion (C$10.7 billion), for the four subway projects.
“We are making important progress on delivering modern and reliable rapid transit for Scarborough by starting procurement for the Stations, Rail and Systems contract,” Metrolinx President and CEO Phil Verster said. “Securing a team of skilled industry leaders to complete this major part of the project will help us get the extension completed as quickly as possible for transit riders in Scarborough and around the region.”
