Understanding the Eglinton Crosstown in Seven Illustrations

February 7, 2026

Data Illustration
by Michael DeForge with text by Wency Leung

From Shohei Ohtani’s salary to the tunneling rate of a mole—an unorthodox guide to the numbers behind Toronto’s newest transit line.

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT is expected to open this Sunday, a historic development for the city’s public transit system. Torontonians have been waiting for this moment for a long time. How long? We examined the numbers. When Line 5 was first proposed, the year was 2007. That was the same year a brand new reality TV series took North America by storm: Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
The Eglinton Crosstown LRT is expected to open this Sunday, a historic development for the city’s public transit system. Torontonians have been waiting for this moment for a long time. How long? We examined the numbers. When Line 5 was first proposed, the year was 2007. That was the same year a brand new reality TV series took North America by storm: Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
Four years later, on November 9, 2011, Mayor Rob Ford enjoyed a Jamaican patty from a nearby restaurant and joined Premier Dalton McGuinty for the groundbreaking. Out of 25 transit projects that started in 2011 around the world, from Beijing to Istanbul to Moscow, the Crosstown is the last to open. By comparison, it would have taken moles, which can dig 100 feet per day, about a year and eight months to dig the line’s entire 19-kilometre length. An early, overly ambitious estimate for a longer version of the Crosstown put the cost at $2.2 billion. Today, it’s projected to be around $13 billion. With that kind of money, you could buy every Torontonian 1,432 Jamaican patties. That’s a patty a day for nearly four years... The Dodgers could pay Shohei Ohtani to play for more than 185 years…
Four years later, on November 9, 2011, Mayor Rob Ford enjoyed a Jamaican patty from a nearby restaurant and joined Premier Dalton McGuinty for the groundbreaking. Out of 25 transit projects that started in 2011 around the world, from Beijing to Istanbul to Moscow, the Crosstown is the last to open. By comparison, it would have taken moles, which can dig 100 feet per day, about a year and eight months to dig the line’s entire 19-kilometre length. An early, overly ambitious estimate for a longer version of the Crosstown put the cost at $2.2 billion. Today, it’s projected to be around $13 billion. With that kind of money, you could buy every Torontonian 1,432 Jamaican patties. That’s a patty a day for nearly four years... The Dodgers could pay Shohei Ohtani to play for more than 185 years…
Or you could line up nearly 190,000 diamond-studded Rolex watches along the entire length of the line.
Or you could line up nearly 190,000 diamond-studded Rolex watches along the entire length of the line.
The original Yonge Subway, from Union to Eglinton stations, cost about $784 million in 2025 dollars. That means you could’ve built it 16.6 times for the cost of the Crosstown. Or you could also replace TTC’s entire fleet of buses with newer hybrid-electric models five times.
The Crosstown will undoubtedly change the way many Torontonians get around the city. If all goes well, riders may forget the years of turmoil and just enjoy the ride. But let’s hope the launch goes more smoothly than that of Line 6-Finch West LRT, which opened Dec. 7. That line was delayed 350 times in December alone.
The Crosstown will undoubtedly change the way many Torontonians get around the city. If all goes well, riders may forget the years of turmoil and just enjoy the ride. But let’s hope the launch goes more smoothly than that of Line 6-Finch West LRT, which opened Dec. 7. That line was delayed 350 times in December alone.

___
Sources

About the artist, Michael DeForge

Michael DeForge works as a cartoonist in Toronto, Ontario. His upcoming short story collection All The Cameras In My Room will be published by Drawn & Quarterly in 2026.

About the author, Wency Leung

Wency Leung is a senior reporter for The Local. She was previously a health reporter for The Globe and Mail. You can reach her by email at wency@thelocal.to or on Bluesky @wencyleung.bsky.social.

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