There's no 'credible plan' to complete the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, confidential documents say

The total cost of Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown project has increased by about $1 billion and the provincial agency overseeing it has raised concerns the consortium building the transit line hasn't offered a "credible plan" to complete it, according to confidential documents obtained exclusively by CBC Toronto. 

The budget for the project was $11.78 billion in 2018, which included the design, construction, financing and 30-year maintenance of the light rail transit (LRT) system. Now, that number has increased to $12.81 billion and more work still needs to be done, according to the documents from Metrolinx — the provincial agency overseeing the Eglinton Crosstown and other major transit projects in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

The records paint a picture of how unresolved issues between the two provincial agencies involved in the project and the consortium building it are contributing to delays. They outline concerns Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario (IO) have about the quality of some work completed, "over-ambitious" timelines and the lack of a plan to complete the LRT.

The revelations come as critics are raising concerns about the effectiveness of using the public-private partnership (P3) model for large projects and members of Toronto city council are expressing frustration at the delays plaguing the LRT line.

"Metrolinx has no idea when we're going to see the light at the end of the tunnel," said Coun. Josh Matlow, who represents Ward 12, Toronto-St. Paul's. Matlow has been critical of the project's delays and what critics say is a lack of transparency on the part of Metrolinx. 

"This project has been completely mismanaged," he said.

As CBC Toronto first reported two weeks ago, Matlow and Coun. Mike Colle are calling on the Ontario government to launch a public inquiry into the Eglinton Crosstown project.

The 25-stop,19-kilometre line was last slated to be up and running this fall. Work began in 2011 and Metrolinx previously announced completion dates of 2020 and 2021.

The internal documents are dated earlier this fall. They detail the status of the project and show the current approved budget to be $12.81 billion. 

A report to Metrolinx's board dated Dec. 1 says the project's total cost is $12.57 billion, but the documents obtained by CBC Toronto show the consortium, Crosslinx Transit Solutions, has $260 million in unresolved claims against Metrolinx and IO. They also appear to show the agencies believe that figure can be reduced by $13 million. 

The documents also appear to show that because of those outstanding claims, Crosslinx has yet to provide an updated work schedule that would detail what's being done to reduce the project's delay, though they note a new schedule is expected. 

The internal records state there's a "lack of a credible plan" to finish the LRT and there's no mention of when it might finally open.

About 98 per cent of the construction and engineering work is complete, according to the documents. Track and train testing is behind schedule with about 79 per cent of it done.

The documents say the testing and commission schedule is "overly ambitious and not achievable" and that the challenge of achieving the targets could significantly delay the completion of the project.