What's happening with the Ontario Line?

Construction on the Ontario Line just hit a major milestone but it's still going to be a while before you can ride it. The tunnel boring machine, also known as Libby, has carved through over a kilometer of bedrock reaching the new King West Station right here at King and Bathurst. Libby, nicknamed after Liberty Village, started at Exhibition Place seven months ago and since then has cut through 1.3 kilometers of bedrock underground. The next stop for Libby will be the future Chinatown station, located at Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue. Chinatown will mark the third stop on the new line, with 12 more to follow, all the way to the Don Valley. In total, the Ontario line will span over 15.5 kilometres across Toronto. Although progress has been made, there's still a lot of work to be done. Over 14 kilometers more of tunnel boring, not to mention putting in the walls, platforms, and of course getting trains running underground. This transit expert says that on past projects like the Eglinton LRT, this is where progress has stalled. In many cases, the trickiest part is not the construction, it's the testing, the commissioning, the putting the finishing touches on the project to make sure that it can operate safely. The last update we got from Metrolinx suggested early 2030s as the estimated completion, but the Ministry of Transportation won't share a firm timeline. I think that there's reluctance to commit to a date because obviously some things are legitimately unpredictable, like the geology that you run into underground. And I think, you know, people don't necessarily want to be on the clock and be worrying about an approaching deadline when they're trying to resolve these problems. On the other hand, having a deadline does help focus minds. In spite of the laundry list of work still to be done, English says this is positive news. Well, look, I think things are actually making some pretty impressive progress here. This is a big, big landmark. With over 14 kilometers of track to go, there's a lot more Ontario line work that needs to get done before you're avoiding the King streetcar. Mercedes Gastambide, CBC News, Toronto.