‘I Know It Can Be Faster’: Mayor Chow Looks To Speed Up Line 6 Finch West LRT Amid Complaints

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says she’s taking steps to address complaints from TTC riders that the new Line 6 Finch West LRT is too slow.

“The train is not as fast as it can be, absolutely,” Chow conceded at city hall on Tuesday morning.

“I’m hearing the feedback. I rode the train and I know it can be faster.”

Excitement over the newly-launched Line 6 Finch West LRT was tempered by reports of the sluggish slog between Finch West subway station and Humber College station, with some saying it took nearly an hour to complete the full 11-kilometre, 18-stop trek.

Chow said she’ll be bringing forward at item to council this week “asking for transit signal priority, removing speed caps where possible and increasing service frequency.”

“That motion will become public by Thursday of this week, and council will be dealing with it this round,” she said.

“I’ve also spoken directly with the TTC chair and the CEO. There is a motion that he’s preparing that he’s bringing to the TTC (board) meeting tomorrow, seeking for ways to get the train going faster,” she added, without providing further details.

According to a Metrolinx website on the Finch West LRT project, light rail vehicles “will take approximately 33-34 minutes to travel from end to end, for an average speed of 20 to 21 km/h (including stops).” It also said the top speed will be around 60 km/h.

CityNews put that to the test on Monday. With one employee driving from Finch Station to Humber College station in a car, and the other taking the LRT.

Both left at around 11 a.m.

The car trip took approximately 23 minutes, with the LRT taking double the amount of time, clocking in at 47 minutes.