SmartTrack

John Tory first proposed SmartTrack, an $8 billion, 22-stop, 53 kilometre in length  “surface subway” to be  built in seven years in 2014, during Toronto’s 2014 mayoralty race. 

For Scarborough, SmartTrack was billed as offering commuters three new rapid transit stations at Lawrence Eats, Finch-Kennedy and near Ellesmere Scarborough RT (SRT) station. As originally envisioned, Scarborough residents  would be able to take express buses to these stations instead of taking TTC buses to terminuses on the TTC’s Line 1 (Yonge), Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth) and the soon to be closing Line 3 (the SRT).

In fact, when proposed, Mayor Tory claimed his plan would enhance GO’s regional rail to the point where a trip from Kennedy Station to Union Station would take less than 30 minutes, in comparison to the 40 minute trip along the TTC’s Line 1 Yonge-University and Line 2 Bloor-Danforth.

For the City as a whole, SmartTrack was meant to relieve the overcrowded Yonge-University Line and the Bloor-Yonge interchange station using electric GO trains that would provide all day service throughout Toronto, approximately every 15 minutes, and be integrated into rider’s existing TTC fare. 

However, the proposal was met with criticism, especially in Scarborough, as the province’s proposed 3-stop Scarborough Subway Extension (the SSE) was within two kilometers of the SmartTrack corridor, leading to fears the proximity of the lines would cannibalize the other’s ridership. This prompted the removal of SmartTrack’s Lawrence East stop and then Ellesmere stop as well. Today, the station at Finch-Kennedy remains in Scarborough.

Currently, the City and Province plan to move forward with only five of the 22 promised SmartTrack stations, at a cost of $1.4 billion for SmartTrack stations and serving 14,500 rides a day. The City anticipates the stations to be fully constructed and operational by 2026.

In light of the recent announcement of the decommissioning of the SRT in 2023 before the expected completion of the SSE in 2030, Scarborough Transit Action is calling for provincial, municipal and federal funding for fare-integration at all GO stations in Scarborough (Scarborough, Eglinton, Guildwood, Rouge Hill, Kennedy, Agincourt and Millien) to allow Scarborough residents to take TTC buses and GO trains in Scarborough for one TTC fare. This is the very least the City and Province can do for their mismanagement of the SRT replacement and the removal of two-thirds of proposed SmartTrack stations in Scarborough.