The ribbon has officially been cut on Toronto’s first new subway project in 15 years, though members of the public will still have to wait until this weekend to use the new stations themselves.

A host of dignitaries, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier Kathleen Wynne and Mayor John Tory, cut the ribbon on the new extension at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre on Friday morning and then hopped aboard a southbound train for the 13-minute ride to York University station.

The invite-only ride was held in advance of the official start of service on Sunday morning.

Officials estimate that the subway extension will ultimately result in about 36 million additional transit trips a year while also eliminating about 30 million car trips.

The total commute time between Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and Union Station will be about 42 minutes.

“This new connection between cities and regions and between suburban and urban areas will help create an even greater Toronto region,” Premier Kathleen Wynne told reporters following the trip. “Students at York University will be able to take the subway to school for the first time, elementary students visiting Pioneer Village can now take the subway and downtown foodies looking to check out the authentic cuisine in Richmond Hill can hop onto the VIVA rapid transit to check out the city’s growing restaurant scene.”

The 8.6 kilometre, six-stop subway extension was initially supposed to be up and running in 2016 but its completion date was pushed back amid numerous delays.

Speaking with reporters on Friday, Tory said that the long-awaited opening of the line represents a “milestone day” for Toronto and the region and will hopefully be the first of many “grand openings” in the TTC’s future.

“This is the first subway extension that we have opened in 15 years and I think all of us share the determination together to make sure we are not ever again waiting 15 years for a significant transit expansion in this region,” he said. “We all know that we have to keep on building. I know we have to keep on building, the provincial and federal governments and all the people who make them up know we have to keep on building.”

Protest held over unpaid claims

The subway extension was initially projected to cost taxpayers $2.6 billion; however cost overruns later brought the price tag to $3.2 billion.

The cost could conceivably go higher than that as well, as numerous contractors are currently engaged in a protracted legal fight with the TTC over unpaid claims.

The TTC had previously put aside $400 million to settle those claims; however dozens of workers protesting outside York University Station on Friday said that the actual amount owed is about $1.1 billion.

“Right now there is no plans to settle these claims and we are here to represent the workers who can’t get paid for the work they have done on these stations,” one of the protesters told CP24.

The workers say that numerous claims for everything from mechanical work to plumbing and tiling at stations have went unpaid, though TTC CEO Andy Byford pointed out to CP24 that the protesters are sub-contractors who will ultimately be paid by the general contractors involved in the project and not the TTC.

He conceded that there are a number of outstanding claims with general contractors, which would seemingly prevent the sub-contractors from being paid, but said that such a situation is rather typical for major infrastructure projects.

“I don’t know where that figure ($1.1 billion) comes from. What I do know is that with any big construction job, and they don’t get much bigger than this, you always end up with claims at the end of the job. Typically the claims come in at the end because the contractors have to finish, say a station, before they can then make their claims,” he said.

Byford said that the TTC is working to settle the outstanding claims now and will “pay money that is owing” so long as it is “justified.”

One councillor, however, told CP24 on Friday that high-level officials, including Mayor John Tory, have a lot of questions to answer over the claims.

“Something is being hidden here and we need to find out the truth,” York West Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti said.

The extension is the first new subway to open in the City of Toronto since the ribbon was cut on the Sheppard Line on Nov. 22, 2002.

The province contributed $974 million to the subway extension while the City of Toronto chipped in $904 million, the federal government put in $697 million and York Region put in $604 million.

There are six new stations along the route (Downsview Park, Finch West, York University, Pioneer Village, Highway 407 and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre), all of which are fully-accessible and Presto-enabled.