Metrolinx has put out a call for qualified bidders to do a preliminary study on what, until now, was termed the downtown relief line.

It’s a very early step, but transit watchers, eager for any word of progress, will see it as a clear sign of progress.

A request for qualifications from consultants has been posted on a website for public agency procurement. The notice refers only to a “relief line” study — a look at the options for moving more people into the city core without further burdening the Yonge subway.

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The word “downtown” has been removed from the relief line scenario because “it was giving people the wrong impression,” said Metrolinx spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins.

“What people weren’t getting was, it was to give relief to people coming in from the region, the outer suburbs,” she said.

“We’re working very closely with the TTC to study options for the relief line,” said Aikins.

But the study will also consider other options, including “better ways we can use the GO rail lines,” she said.

The consultant won’t be chosen until the end of August or early September. Although 20 companies have requested details of the project, it’s not known how many will apply and qualify.

Metrolinx has internal estimates of what the study will cost, but those won’t be published until the bids have closed.

The posted document asks for consultants with project management, transit network and travel demand experience. It also asks for experience in rail operations and service planning, demographic forecasting and public communications.

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A relief line is among a second wave of transit projects earmarked by Metrolinx, which so far remain unfunded. The provincial transportation agency has recommended the province raise the HST by 1 per cent, hike gas taxes by 5 cents a litre and charge property owners for commercial parking spaces and steeper development charges. Combined those measures would raise about $2 billion a year to be invested in public transit.

The relief line is seen as critical if the Yonge subway is ever to be expanded north to Richmond Hill.

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