A New TTC Report Says Line 3 Should Be Replaced With Buses For 7 Years

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) wants to replace Line 3 — the Scarborough Rapid Transit (SRT) trains — with buses between 2023 and 2030.

In a new report, TTC staff say that's the best option until the new Scarborough Subway Extension (SSE) is completed in 2030.

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2030 Scarborough Subway Extension's Expected Completion

The report will be discussed at the TTC's board meeting next week.

The only other option presented is using a mix of SRT trains and buses until 2030, but the report does not endorse that option.

Instead, it recommends continuing the SRT service until 2023 when it would be swapped with a bus replacement service until 2030.

In an FAQ section on their website, the TTC says it hasn't decided which routes the buses will go along, but transit users can expect that trips "may generally take longer."

"The replacement service is planned to operate better than one bus per minute, with the aim to replace more than Line 3 Scarborough’s current peak capacity," the TTC says.

If that plan is picked, they'd need approximately 60 new buses to hit that target.

Even non-commuters will be affected, the TTC says, because more buses may mean busier roads and more traffic.

But the transit company says continuing to use the SRT is not feasible, since it would take an extra $522.4 million investment to "overhaul" the trains and still wouldn't guarantee the "required service reliability."