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GTA transit gets a $9B boost – Metro US

GTA transit gets a $9B boost

Two years after the TTC mapped out a vision for sleek, Euro-style light rail lines stretching to the city suburbs, Queen’s Park has given the city the money it needs to begin building.

Jubilant politicians and transit officials gathered in a York Region bus garage yesterday for a precedent-setting $9 billion provincial announcement that gives the city the $7.2 billion it needs to pay for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and the Finch West line, two of seven proposed light rail lines, plus expanding and refurbishing the aging Scarborough RT.

“This is the delivery of the money, the commitment the premier made, to fund Transit City,” said Mayor David Miller.

Calling it “the most ambitious project of its kind in Canadian history,” Premier Dalton McGuinty also suggested there is more funding to come.

Yesterday’s announcement did not cover the Sheppard East LRT line, which is supposed to be the first of the Transit City lines to appear.

Plans are to begin building it in September for completion around 2013, at a cost of $1.2 billion.

The TTC also plans to issue a contract later this month, worth at least $1.25 billion, for 204 streetcars to replace its deteriorating 30-year-old fleet.

What gets the bucks
• Eglinton LRT line

• Finch West LRT line

• Expansion of Scarborough RT

• York Region VIVA bus service