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TORONTO – Excavation for the launch shaft for the Ontario Line subway tunnels at Exhibition Station is officially underway.

The 16-metre-deep shaft will be the starting point for two tunnel boring machines that will dig six kilometres east, from Exhibition Station to the Don Yard, west of the Don River, states a release. Once tunnelling is complete, the launch shaft will be repurposed as a tunnel portal where Ontario Line trains will transition from above to below ground.

“It’s been more than 60 years since the first subway tunnels were built in downtown Toronto,” said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Ontario’s minister of transportation, in a statement. “Under the leadership of Premier (Doug) Ford, we’re getting the Ontario Line done to tackle gridlock and increase access to fast, reliable and affordable transit for millions of people across the GTA.”

The Ontario Line will be 15.6 kilometres and will have 15 stations, running from Exhibition Place through the downtown core and connecting to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT at Don Mills Road.

The trip across the city from Exhibition Place to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT at Don Mills will take 30 minutes or less compared to the hour and 10 minutes it takes today, the province states. The Ontario Line will also have 40 connections to other subway, bus, streetcar and regional train services.

The project is slated to support 4,700 jobs annually during construction over the next 10 years.