The Eglinton Crosstown LRT will not open this month, the head of Metrolinx confirmed Friday.<\/p>\n
Reports had circulated, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford had suggested<\/a>, that the 19-kilometre track, which is now five years delayed and at least $1 billion over budget, was going to open in September<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, at an unrelated news conference, Metrolinx president and CEO Michael Lindsay confirmed commuters will have to keep waiting.<\/p>\n \u201cThe target that we had for passenger service in September, unfortunately, is not going to be achieved,\u201d he said, while underscoring that testing on the track which runs from Mount Dennis in the west to Kennedy in the east, is well underway.<\/p>\n Lindsay said that on Monday the system ran for the first time more than 10,000 kilometres of passenger service tests with 20 to 22 trains on the tracks. Despite that, he added, vehicle reliability and performance issues persist.<\/p>\n Once those issues are resolved, he explained that a 30-day trial, known as a revenue service demonstration (RSD), will commence before the line opens to the public.<\/p>\n \u201cNow our new focus is on making sure that hopefully it\u2019s just a matter of a couple of weeks before we\u2019re starting RSD, and we\u2019re working each and every day to bring this service into service as fast as we can, but we have to do it with reliability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Prior to Lindsay\u2019s update, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in June that he was \u201chearing\u201d the line would open in September. Toronto Coun. Josh Matlow made similar remarks about the potential opening date in April.<\/p>\n