(Toronto, ON) – TTCriders, a membership-based transit advocacy organization, and Environmental Defence, released the following statement in response to Premier Doug Ford and Unifor National President Lana Payne’s statement urging federal funding for TTC subway trains:
“Transit users in Toronto need a reliable TTC to get them to school and work on time. If the federal government does not chip in their share of funding for new subway trains soon, subway service will become less reliable and the TTC will need to spend at least $1.6 billion on overhauling and extending the life of existing trains.
Ordering new subway trains is not like ordering something on Amazon. New trains will take years to build and deliver, but Line 2 subway trains will start reaching the end of their design life in 2026.
That’s why the federal government must chip in as soon as possible to match provincial and city funding for new trains, and speed up the Permanent Public Transit Fund. The City of Toronto and Province of Ontario have been ready to chip in their share of funding for 7 months.
The federal government has delayed the Permanent Public Transit Fund to 2026 -- this is far too late. TTCriders and Environmental Defence have long called on the federal government to accelerate and expand this program to include operations funding, as it is crucial to meeting Canada’s climate goals.”
Statement by Premier Doug Ford and Unifor National President Lana Payne: https://news.ontario.ca/en/statement/1004795/premier-ford-issues-a-joint-statement-with-unifor-national-president
TTC Backgrounder on Line 2 Subway Train Procurement: https://cdn.ttc.ca/-/media/Project/TTC/DevProto/Documents/Home/Public-Meetings/Board/2024/June-20/TTC-FAQ---Line-2-Subway-Train-Procurement.pdf