Toronto underground line 6, known as Finch West, entered commercial service on Sunday 7 December. A light rail line, the new line offers a fast travel option on one of the city’s most in-demand corridors.
The line connects Humber College Station in the west to Finch West Station in the east, covering some 11 kilometres and with 18 stops. It is the first light rail in Ontario’s capital city, which has 5 “heavy” metro lines and several tram lines.
Unlike the latter, the Finch West runs completely segregated from traffic and uses international gauge. The rest of the network uses the Toronto gauge of 1495 mm.
The service is operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). Customers can pay for their trip by PRESTO card, debit or credit, and thanks to the One Fare programme, they only have to pay once when changing between different regional transit systems.
The line connects to Metro Line 1, GO Transit, MiWay, Zum, York Region Transit and Brampton Transit.
The authorities expect the 6 Finch West line to carry 12 million people a year by 2031. The service is provided by 18 Citadis Spirit trams on the same 121-tram contract for the Hurontario system, which is still under construction.
It features Hitachi’s CBTC SelTrak system, which optimises line capacity.