Line 2 Capacity Enhancement Program

Background

Ridership demand will continue to grow with the completion of the Line 2 East Extension (Scarborough Subway Extension) and as the population and employment increases within the city of Toronto. If demand regularly exceeds capacity, the quality of the transit service will decline.

What we’re doing

The purpose of the Line 2 Capacity Enhancement Program, is first to identify all key system constraints that are hindering the TTC from increasing capacity on Line 2. The project will then look at specific target horizon years (2031, 2034, 2037 and 2041) and explore, assess and recommend improvements that address issues for the entire system and at individual stations where capacity constraints are identified.

The Line 2 Capacity Enhancement Program is assessing and evaluating the following elements: fire ventilation, electrical traction power, and substations and modifications at our Greenwood Yard to accommodate the new train fleet.

As part of the Line 2 stations assessment, the project team will evaluate innovative and effective measures to improve service and customer experience. From this analysis, the TTC will introduce pilot studies with unique tactics at some of our busiest stations. These tactics could include changing the direction of an escalator, adding new wayfinding decals or signs to a station or other innovative tactics that help shape travel preferences and patterns.

Benefits

• Expanding capacity and improving circulation on Line 2
• Less frequent overcrowding
• Reduced travel time
• More frequent trains on Line 2
• Improved customer experience

Funding

The Line 2 Capacity Enhancements program funding is listed in the January 2020 report, “TTC’s 2020-2029 Key Capital Investment Priorities: Subway Infrastructure and Accelerated Vehicle Procurement”.

The TTC Board approved key capital priorities for the application of $4.23 billion in net new funding made available through the dedicated City Building Fund and a one-time Federal Gas Tax amount. $817 million of the total estimated cost of the $3.92 billion required was approved to begin the Line 2 Capacity Enhancement program. 

Next steps

• Once a preliminary plan is developed, further refinement of potential improvements, solutions and recommendations is required, supported with additional analysis, scope definition, passenger and other modelling and review by subject matter experts leading to a project update in 2022. This update will include the development of a preliminary business case, cost estimate and schedule.

Reports

TTC Board Reports

TTC’s 2020-2029 Key Capital Investment Priorities: Subway Infrastructure and Accelerated Vehicle Procurement (January 27, 2020)