The Doug Ford government will fast track a new downtown relief line with lighter automated trains that will divert an estimated 9,000 people from the overburdened Yonge Street line, theToronto Sun has learned.

A government source said the “Ontario” line — to be announced Wednesday morning as part of a massive transit plan — will be running by 2027-28, two years sooner than in the city’s own plan.

Distroscale

It will also cost less, $10.9 billion compared to a city projection of up to $13 billion — in part, by sending trains over, not under, the Don River, the source said.

The province will also commit to building a three-stop Scarborough subway, not the one-stop version favoured by the city, the source added.

A subway extension into York Region will be confirmed, although it won’t be completed until after the new Ontario line to prevent overcrowding, the source said.

The province also plans an underground western extension of the Eglinton Crosstown and new Ontario line towards the airport, the source said.

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It’s all part of a $28.5-billion expansion of subway infrastructure to be announced by Ford at an Etobicoke GO Transit maintenance yard Wednesday, the largest transit plan of its kind in Canadian history.

“We’re building a transit system for the 21st century,” Ford says in a video to be released at his media conference.

The source said the provincial government intends to cover “much” of the cost, but will expect unspecified financial contributions from the City of Toronto, the federal government and York Region.

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Ford told a business crowd Tuesday that his budget — to be delivered Thursday — will make unprecedented investments in transportation infrastructure.

“Nothing’s more frustrating, you get on the QEW, or you get on the 401, and it’s bumper to bumper. It’s costing billions of dollars,” Ford said. “So we’re announcing a phenomenal, just outstanding, transit plan on Wednesday. It’s going to be the largest infrastructure project in transit in North America. It’s going to be $28.5 billion that we’re looking to invest into Ontario to get people moving from point A to point B. And that’s just the transit side.”

The better-resourced province is in a much stronger position to deliver on transit construction than the city, he said.

As many Toronto politicians have discovered over the years, “you couldn’t build subways; you just couldn’t get it done,” he said.

Ford had hinted that the province’s plan for transit would feature new technology, and the Sun has learned that will be lighter, narrower cars running on a free-standing subway line that still intersects with existing lines.

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The source said this new technology would help move more people because it wouldn’t be slowed down as older lines are by signal delays.

Once completed, the Ontario line is projected by the province to divert 9,000 people from Line 1 during peak hours and carry an estimated 390,000 to 400,000 people every weekday, the source said.

“The City of Toronto faces a congestion crisis and Toronto council has spent years debating subway expansion instead of building new subway construction,” the source said. “The province needs to be a leader on this. This project is too important for the city and the province to be bogged down with additional delays.”

The Ontario government is currently in negotiations with the city to upload its subways, while leaving the fare box and maintenance with the TTC.

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At executive committee Tuesday, Toronto Mayor John Tory and fellow councillors endorsed the city’s plan for transit which includes the relief line, the Scarborough subway and the SmartTrack Stations program.

The mayor expressed concern that any rewrite of the transit plan by the provincial government will mean further delays for major transit projects

“But we shall see how the universe unfolds,” said Tory, who added his office had not received an update on the province’s plans as of Tuesday morning.

The provincial source said there have been about 21 formal meetings with either the city manager’s office and/or the mayor’s office.

“They are well aware of our objectives and plans,” the source said.

aartuso@postmedia.com