Province breaks ground on 3 Ontario Line stations in Toronto

The provincial government has broken ground on threeOntario Line stations in Toronto.

The three stations King-Bathurst, Queen-Spadina and Moss Park will connect commuters to the 15.6-kilometre subway line, which is expected to be complete in 2031.

"The stations we're breaking ground on today will help tackle gridlock, reduce commute times and connect tens of thousands of commuters to homes and good-paying jobs each and every day," said Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria in a news release Wednesday.

"As our population continues to grow, it has never been more important to get people moving quickly and safely," he said.

The subway route will begin near Ontario Place, northof Exhibition Place, move through the downtown core and end at the now-defunct Ontario Science Centre in North York, with a total of 15 station stops.

The King-Bathurst Station will eventually see more than 5,000 transfers during the morning rush hour alone. It will also connect commuters using the 504 King and 511 Bathurst streetcars to the Ontario Line.

Similarly, the Queen-Spadina and Moss Park stations are expected to see more than 5,000 transfers during the morning rush hour each.

The province said the Ontario Line is expected to help reduce crowding on Line 1 Yonge-University by roughly 15 per cent. It will help reduce crowding at Union Station by 14 per cent, the release said.

Construction crews began the work Wednesday, which will include removing soil and bedrock to create up to 40-metre deep stations. It will also require tunnel boring machines to connect all the underground stations through the downtown stretch.

Once complete, the province says the route will have some 40 connections to other subway, bus, streetcar and regional train services.

Sarkariasaid the line is expected to accommodate nearly 400,000 transit riders each dayand will help take at least 28,000 cars off the road daily.

The announcement comes afterthe province broke ground on the Ontario Line Pape Station in July, with residents voicing concern overconstruction-related impacts and affordable housing.