Metrolinx has handed the TTC a ticket off the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown, Finch and Sheppard light rail lines some nine years before they’re supposed to be complete.

The provincial agency sent TTC executives and city manager Joe Pennachetti a letter Wednesday confirming that Metrolinx would be pursuing an alternative financing and procurement (AFP) model for the provincially funded projects, including a private partner for the operation and maintenance of the Eglinton, Sheppard and Finch LRTs.

Metrolinx says the decision is based on getting better value for money.

“Under the AFP model, we protect taxpayers by building in strict penalties for any cost and schedule overruns. If the project is late, the private sector pays. If project is over budget, the private sector pays,” said a statement late Wednesday from Metrolinx.

It also said the two transit agencies will continue to work together. However, TTC chair Karen Stintz says the TTC’s input will now largely be restricted to the design of the interchange stations where the subway intersects with the LRT at Eglinton West, Yonge and Kennedy.

The decision to choose another operator follows months of behind-the-scenes tension between the TTC and Metrolinx over the province’s determination to use Infrastructure Ontario and an AFP to design and build the projects, worth more than $8.4 billion in provincial funding. Metrolinx had always planned to use an AFP process with some parts of the project, including station construction.

“It’s not our money. It’s their money, their project,” Stintz said.

But the decision raises many questions about what happens to commuters if the Crosstown runs GO green instead of Rocket red.

Among them: Will commuters have to pay two fares? And who sets the Crosstown fare? If it is higher than the TTC fares, what happens to riders who can’t afford to pay more, since the Crosstown is supposed to replace the Eglinton buses?

There are also questions about how riders will transfer between the subway and the Crosstown given that the two will be separate operations in the same location.

“(Is the province) now going to take on the full cost of operating the line?” wondered Stintz, who noted that neither GO nor the TTC recover their operating costs through the fare box.

Nevertheless, she called it a clean, net gain for the TTC. The savings from bus operations on Eglinton would have been funneled back into the Crosstown. Now the cash-starved TTC will probably be able to channel that money into its other expenses. There won’t be room to run buses on Eglinton because the bus lanes are being removed to make way for the LRT, she said.

“If there’s ever an issue on that line, how are they going to move people?”

Stintz said it’s not clear what’s driving the decision. If Metrolinx is hoping to build an integrated regional transit system, bringing another operator into the equation doesn’t make sense, she said.

In a Sept. 12 letter to Metrolinx, TTC chief capital officer Sameh Ghaly says there are two viable approaches to building the light rail lines.

One has the TTC fully operating and controlling the Metrolinx LRT lines from the TTC’s existing transit control centre. It would also maintain the LRT right-of-way, including the 11-km tunneled portion of Eglinton. Metrolinx and its private partner would, however, provide all the maintenance for stations and car houses.

The second viable option, wrote Ghaly, would see all aspects of the lines, including Metrolinx’s own transit control centre, operated and maintained by a private sector partner.

“During normal operating conditions, the stations (existing TTC station and the newly constructed Metrolinx LRT station) (would) be integrated, providing seamless customer experience and free movement between the two,” he said.

In an emergency, however, the two stations would be designed and constructed to operate independently, with separate evacuation routes, mechanical, electrical and ventilation systems. This would allow both operators to react quickly without the risk of confusion or miscommunication, he said.

Ghaly has raised concerns about Metrolinx’s ability to meet its timelines and the impact on the neighbourhoods along Eglinton during construction. To meet the aggressive Metrolinx schedule the road would likely be torn up in long stretches, causing severe congestion and upheaval, according to a report he presented to the Toronto Transit Commission in May.

Provincial officials have long pointed to Vancouver’s Canada Line, which is operated by SNC Lavalin.

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Fares on the Canada Line are governed by the same zone system that the publicly operated TransLink system uses. But when leaving from any of the three stations on Sea Island, including from Vancouver International Airport, travelers must pay an extra $5, called the YVR AddFare.

The TTC says it’s a completely different scenario because the Canada Line is restricted to a single route with far fewer connections than the Eglinton line will have, and no zones.

Files from Kamila Hinkson

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