Editing Line 3 Scarborough (section)

===Replacement with alternate transit<!--Note: Changing the section name will break section links from other articles.-->===
{{See also|Line 2 Bloor–Danforth#Scarborough Subway Extension}}
[[File:Toronto Line 3 new Line 2 Extension comparison.svg|left|thumb|Superimposed former Line 3 (grey) and the under-construction Line 2 Bloor–Danforth extension (dark green)]]
The TTC and the City of Toronto completed an [[Environmental impact assessment|environmental assessment]] in 2010 to convert the line to [[light rail|light rail transit]] and extend it to [[Malvern, Toronto|Malvern]] from its current eastern terminus, McCowan, with potential new intermediate stations at Bellamy Road, [[Centennial College (Canada)|Centennial College]]'s Progress Campus and Sheppard Avenue with a possible additional station at [[Brimley Road]] between the existing [[Midland station (Toronto)|Midland]] and Scarborough Centre stations.<ref name="SRT EA">{{cite web |url=http://www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/scarborough_rapid_transit/index.htm |title=Extension of the Scarborough Rapid Transit & Kennedy Station Improvements |publisher=City of Toronto |date=May 29, 2012 |access-date=March 10, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006162230/http://www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/scarborough_rapid_transit/index.htm |archive-date=October 6, 2012}}</ref>

After initially planning to include the line with the proposed [[Line 5 Eglinton|Eglinton Crosstown LRT line]] and create a single line called the "Eglinton–Scarborough Crosstown line", [[Metrolinx]] proceeded with plans to convert the line to light rail and extend it to Sheppard Avenue with a single new intermediate station at Centennial College. The existing line would have closed after the [[2015 Pan American Games]] and be completed in 2020. In January 2013, [[Ministry of Infrastructure (Ontario)|Infrastructure Ontario]] issued a [[Request for proposal#Other requests|request for qualifications]] to shortlist companies to construct both this line and the Eglinton Crosstown line.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.infrastructureontario.ca/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2147489840 |title=Request for Qualifications Issued for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and Scarborough LRT Lines |date=January 22, 2013 |access-date=March 10, 2013 |archive-date=October 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005015642/http://www.infrastructureontario.ca/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2147489840 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Eglinton Crosstown line was later renamed Line 5 Eglinton and officially given the colour of orange.

In June 2013, [[Toronto City Council]] again debated having the Scarborough line replaced with an extension of Line 2 Bloor–Danforth north to Sheppard Avenue along a different right of way. Metrolinx issued a letter to Toronto City Council indicating it would cease work on the Scarborough portion of the line, because its position strayed from the original LRT agreement.<ref name="GlobeAndMail2013-07-02a">{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/metrolinx-to-toronto-subway-is-yours/article12942512/ |title=Metrolinx to Toronto: Subway is yours |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |first=Oliver |last=Moore |date=July 2, 2013 |access-date=July 3, 2013 |archive-date=July 7, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707014128/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/metrolinx-to-toronto-subway-is-yours/article12942512/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The subway alternative would cost between $500{{nbsp}}million and $1{{nbsp}}billion more than converting the Scarborough line to use the same rolling stock as the Eglinton Crosstown line be so it could be a continuation of that line. ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' reported that Scarborough councillors had argued that providing Scarborough residents with light rail, not heavy rail, treated them as "second-class citizens".

Two competing subway plans were proposed to replace Line 3. TTC chair [[Karen Stintz]] proposed extending Line 2 Bloor–Danforth to the east before turning north, with three new stations at Lawrence Avenue and McCowan Road (primarily to serve the [[Scarborough Health Network|Scarborough Hospital's]] [[Scarborough General Hospital (Toronto)|General Campus]]), at Scarborough Town Centre and then at Sheppard Avenue East and McCowan Road, where it would connect to the Sheppard East LRT. Transportation Minister [[Glen Murray (politician)|Glen Murray]] made an alternative proposal to extend Line 2 along the Line 3 route but have it terminate at Scarborough Town Centre. Under the Murray plan, there would be only two stations and there would be no direct connection with the then-proposed Sheppard East LRT. The Murray plan would have required the relocation of Kennedy station as a new northbound curve from the existing Kennedy station would have been too tight for subway trains. It would also have required the complete shutdown of the line during construction, something that the Stintz plan avoided.<ref name="Subway deal">{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/scarborough-subway-will-be-built-with-shortened-route-ontario-to-announce/article14104101/ |title=Scarborough subway to be built with shortened route, Ontario announces |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=September 4, 2013 |access-date=September 4, 2013 |archive-date=September 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904162515/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/scarborough-subway-will-be-built-with-shortened-route-ontario-to-announce/article14104101/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

On October 8, 2013, Toronto City Council voted 24–20 to replace the Scarborough line with a three-station extension of the Bloor–Danforth subway line. Council chose the Stintz plan for the extension.<ref name="Star20131008">{{cite web |title=Scarborough subway confirmed by Toronto council |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/10/08/scarborough_subway_confirmed_by_toronto_council.print.html |work=Toronto Star |date=October 8, 2013 |access-date=October 8, 2013 |archive-date=August 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812222011/https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/10/08/scarborough_subway_confirmed_by_toronto_council.print.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2013, the rejected LRT proposal would have provided a {{Convert|9.9|km|adj=on}} line with seven stops serving 47,000 residents within walking distance. The selected 3-stop subway extension would be {{convert|7.6|km}} long, serving 14,000–20,000 residents within walking distance. In 2013, the LRT was estimated to cost $1.48 billion to build versus $3.56 billion for the Line 2 extension;<ref name="TheStar-2015-08-07">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2015/08/07/scarborough-subway-debate-suffers-from-lack-of-facts-community-groups-say.html |title=Scarborough subway debate suffers from lack of facts, community groups say |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |first=Jennifer |last=Pagliaro |date=August 7, 2015 |access-date=November 19, 2015 |archive-date=November 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121075836/http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2015/08/07/scarborough-subway-debate-suffers-from-lack-of-facts-community-groups-say.html |url-status=live}}</ref> both estimates would subsequently increase.<ref name="TheStar-2016-07-13">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/07/13/city-council-debates-scarborough-subway-extension.html |title=Toronto city council sticks with subway, rejects Scarborough LRT |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |first=Jennifer |last=Pagliaro |date=July 13, 2016 |access-date=July 13, 2016 |archive-date=July 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713205609/https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/07/13/city-council-debates-scarborough-subway-extension.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Converting Line 3 to light rail would require the complete shutdown of the line while extending Line 2 could occur without requiring a Line 3 shutdown. Circa 2013, this was promoted as a major benefit of the Line 2 extension over a conversion to light rail. At the time, the TTC estimated it could keep Line 3 operating until 2026; however, in February 2021, the TTC recommended replacing Line 3 with buses, thus eliminating that benefit.<ref name="TheStar-2021-02-04" /> A remaining benefit of the subway option is that it would eliminate the need to change trains at Kennedy station.<ref name="TheStar-2015-08-07" />

In June 2016, city planning staff proposed the elimination of two of the three stops along the planned Scarborough Subway Extension, which would have seen Line 2 Bloor–Danforth terminate at Scarborough Town Centre in order to free up funding for a proposed [[Line 5 Eglinton#Eglinton East LRT|Crosstown East LRT line]] extension of Line 5 Eglinton. The eliminated intermediate stops were at Lawrence Avenue and Sheppard Avenue.<ref name="TheStar-2016-01-20">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transportation/2016/01/20/revised-scarborough-subway-plan-eliminates-2-stations.html |title=New Scarborough transit plan 'buys peace in the land' |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |first=Jennifer |last=Pagliaro |date=January 20, 2016 |access-date=January 20, 2016 |archive-date=January 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120192953/http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transportation/2016/01/20/revised-scarborough-subway-plan-eliminates-2-stations.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Subsequently, the cost estimate for the one-stop subway extension increased to $3.2{{nbsp}}billion, leaving the Crosstown East LRT unfunded. Given the rising cost for the subway extension and the loss of funding for the LRT line, a group of city councillors led by [[Josh Matlow]] reopened the subway versus LRT debate. Matlow proposed scrapping the one-stop subway extension in order to provide funding for 24 LRT stops on two LRT lines within Scarborough. TTC CEO [[Andy Byford]] said the cost of the LRT line following the Line 3 route may have risen to as high as $3{{nbsp}}billion because of "delays and redesign" since 2013,<ref name="TheStar-2016-06-28">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/06/28/scarborough-subway-versus-lrt-debate-to-return-to-council-amid-transit-confusion.html |title=Scarborough subway versus LRT debate to return to council amid transit confusion |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |first=Jennifer |last=Pagliaro |date=June 28, 2016 |access-date=June 30, 2016 |archive-date=June 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629210939/https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/06/28/scarborough-subway-versus-lrt-debate-to-return-to-council-amid-transit-confusion.html |url-status=live}}</ref> but Brad Ross, also of the TTC, warned of "caveats around numbers and assumptions" associated with that estimate.<ref name="TheStar-2016-10-24" /> After Council's vote, Byford admitted that the cost estimates for "delays" was unnecessary,<ref name="TheStar-2016-10-24b">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/10/24/watchdog-says-city-staff-may-have-violated-public-service-code-over-scarborough-subway-advice.html |title=Watchdog says city staff may have violated public service code over Scarborough subway advice |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |first=Jennifer |last=Pagliaro |date=October 25, 2016 |access-date=October 24, 2016 |archive-date=October 26, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026162711/https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/10/24/watchdog-says-city-staff-may-have-violated-public-service-code-over-scarborough-subway-advice.html |url-status=live}}</ref> which assumed the LRT's completion would be in 2026, the same date as the subway option. However, according to Michael Warren, a former TTC chief general manager, the LRT could have been completed in 2020 at a cost of $1.8{{nbsp}}billion, an estimate not presented to City Council when it voted.<ref name="TheStar-2016-10-26">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/10/26/was-the-memo-that-killed-the-lrt-deliberately-misleading.html |title=Was the memo that killed the LRT deliberately misleading? |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |first=R. Michael |last=Warren |date=October 26, 2016 |access-date=October 26, 2016 |archive-date=October 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027060121/https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/10/26/was-the-memo-that-killed-the-lrt-deliberately-misleading.html |url-status=live}}</ref> There was also the issue of whether there would be space for both expanded GO service and an LRT north of Kennedy station; however, Metrolinx subsequently denied there would be such a problem.<ref name="TheStar-2016-10-24">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/10/24/how-a-bid-to-resurrect-scarborough-lrt-was-killed-analysis.html |title=How a bid to resurrect Scarborough LRT was killed: Analysis |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |first=Jennifer |last=Pagliaro |date=October 24, 2016 |access-date=October 24, 2016 |archive-date=October 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024130418/https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/10/24/how-a-bid-to-resurrect-scarborough-lrt-was-killed-analysis.html |url-status=live}}</ref> On July 13, Toronto City Council voted down Matlow's proposal by a margin of roughly 2 to 1.<ref name="G&M-2016-07-13">{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/toronto-city-council-shows-support-for-scarborough-subway-expansion/article30910103/ |title=Toronto City Council approves planning for raft of transit projects |newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]] |last1=Moore |first1=Oliver |date=July 13, 2016 |access-date=July 14, 2016 |archive-date=April 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404124448/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/toronto-city-council-shows-support-for-scarborough-subway-expansion/article30910103/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Councillor [[Glenn De Baeremaeker]] justified the subway extension saying "Scarborough residents need the same access to a subway system that everybody else already has."<ref name="TheStar-2016-06-01">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/06/01/shrunken-scarborough-subway-ridership-projections-a-huge-concern.html |title=Mayor Tory defends Scarborough subway extension despite new ridership data |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |first1=Ben |last1=Spurr |first2=Jennifer |last2=Pagliaro |date=June 1, 2016 |access-date=June 1, 2016 |archive-date=June 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601173037/https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/06/01/shrunken-scarborough-subway-ridership-projections-a-huge-concern.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Mayor Tory was concerned that switching from subway to LRT would delay transit improvements in Scarborough, and might not get support from senior levels of government.<ref name="TheStar-2016-06-27">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/06/27/why-i-support-the-scarborough-subway-john-tory.html |title=Why I support the Scarborough subway: John Tory |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |first=John |last=Tory |date=June 27, 2016 |access-date=June 27, 2016 |archive-date=June 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160628132935/https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/06/27/why-i-support-the-scarborough-subway-john-tory.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2013, Metrolinx prepared a draft report comparing the subway and LRT options concluding that the subway option was "not a worthwhile use of money." Metrolinx had declined a TTC request to give an opinion prior to City Council's July 2016 vote.<ref name="TheStar-2016-10-24" />

In 2017, the estimated cost of the one-stop Line 2 extension was $3.35{{Nbsp}}billion, which increased to $3.9{{Nbsp}}billion by April 2019.<ref name="TheStar-2019-04-03">{{cite news|last=Pagliaro|first=Jennifer|date=April 3, 2019|title=Toronto's major transit projects–where they're at and what Doug Ford might do to them|newspaper=[[Toronto Star]]|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2019/04/03/torontos-major-transit-projects-where-theyre-at-and-what-doug-ford-might-do-to-them.html|access-date=February 6, 2021|archive-date=November 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121080915/https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2019/04/03/torontos-major-transit-projects-where-theyre-at-and-what-doug-ford-might-do-to-them.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On April 10, 2019, Premier Doug Ford announced that the province would revert the extension back to the three-stop proposal at an estimated cost of $5.5{{nbsp}}billion with an estimated completion date between 2029 and 2030.<ref name="TheStar-2019-04-10">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2019/04/10/doug-ford-vows-3-stop-scarborough-subway-the-timeline-could-leave-riders-on-buses-for-years.html |title=Doug Ford vows 3-stop Scarborough subway. The timeline could leave riders on buses for years |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |first=Jennifer |last=Pagliaro |date=April 10, 2019 |access-date=March 15, 2020 |archive-date=December 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221033431/https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2019/04/10/doug-ford-vows-3-stop-scarborough-subway-the-timeline-could-leave-riders-on-buses-for-years.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Line 2 would also receive new subway trains as part of the extension to replace the existing T1-series trains.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Toronto Transit Commission - Request for Proposals For New Subway Trains |url=https://ttc.bonfirehub.ca/opportunities/55969 |access-date=November 12, 2022 |website=ttc.bonfirehub.ca |archive-date=October 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023003428/https://ttc.bonfirehub.ca/opportunities/55969 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Murno |date=October 20, 2022 |title=TTC Issues RFP For New Subway Trains |url=https://stevemunro.ca/2022/10/20/ttc-issues-rfp-for-new-subway-trains/ |access-date=November 13, 2022 |website=Steve Munro |language=en |archive-date=November 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105013324/https://stevemunro.ca/2022/10/20/ttc-issues-rfp-for-new-subway-trains/ |url-status=live}}</ref>