The Scarborough Malvern LRT was a proposed light rail line in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Ontario, Canada. It was part of

Transit City Transit City was a plan for developing public transport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was first proposed and announced on 16 March 2007 by then-Toronto Mayor David Miller and Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Adam Giambrone. T ...

, a plan to develop new light rail lines along several priority transit corridors in the city. In January 2016, the plan for this light rail route was revived and rebranded as Eglinton East LRT.

History

The Scarborough Malvern LRT was part of the

proposal announced on 16 March 2007, to be operated by the

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and larges ...

. It was expected to cost approximately $1.26billion including vehicles, property, escalation and an apportioned cost of the Maintenance and Storage facilities. With construction originally to begin in 2014, the line was expected to open in 2019 as the last of the seven Transit City lines. The Scarborough Malvern LRT was approved by Toronto City Council on 30 September 2009, and the environmental assessment received a notice to proceed from the

Government of Ontario The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor� ...

on 15 December 2009. However, it was cancelled by

Rob Ford Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian politician and businessman who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014. Before and after his term as mayor, Ford was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobi ...

on 1 December 2010, when he announced the cancellation of Transit City. While LRT lines on Sheppard East, Finch West, and Eglinton were revived through a new agreement between the City of Toronto and Metrolinx, the Scarborough Malvern LRT was not included. The Scarborough Malvern LRT is still included in Metrolinx's regional transportation plan ''

The Big Move The Big Move is the regional transportation plan (RTP) published by Metrolinx for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) in Ontario, Canada. It makes specific recommendations for transit projects, resulting from seven "green papers" and ...

'' under the 25-year horizon. Aspects of the Scarborough Malvern LRT were then incorporated into the 905 Eglinton East Express (formerly the 198 U of T Scarborough Rocket) bus. On 20 January 2016, City staff recommended revisions to the Scarborough subway plan that would include reviving the original plan for the Scarborough Malvern LRT, to be rebranded as "Crosstown East".

Route layout

The Scarborough Malvern LRT line would run for 13 km, estimated to account for 14million trips in 2021. The southern terminus of the line would be built at

Kennedy station Kennedy is both a terminal and interchange station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth and Line 3 Scarborough of the Toronto subway system. Opened in 1980, it is located east of the Kennedy Road and Eglinton Avenue intersection. With the adjacent Ken ...

at Kennedy Road and

Eglinton Avenue Eglinton Avenue is a major east–west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga in the Canadian province of Ontario. The street begins at Highway 407 (but does not interchange with the tollway) at the western limits of Mississauga, as ...

, with a connection to

Line 2 Bloor–Danforth Line 2 Bloor–Danforth is a subway line in the Toronto subway system, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It has 31 stations and is in length. It opened on February 26, 1966, and extensions at both ends were completed in 1968 an ...

Line 3 Scarborough Line 3 Scarborough (originally known as the Scarborough RT or SRT) is a light rapid transit line that is part of the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The line runs entirely within the suburban district of Scarborough, encompas ...

, and

Line 5 Eglinton Line 5 Eglinton (also known as the Eglinton Crosstown or the Crosstown) is a light rail line that is under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Metrolinx and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the line will be part of ...

. The whole line would be built within

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

. The line would run along Eglinton Avenue East until it reaches Kingston Road, then continues northeast until

Morningside Avenue Morningside Avenue is a suburban arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is entirely within Scarborough, running north by north-west from the Scarborough Bluffs overlooking Lake Ontario to the eastern terminus of McNicoll Avenue near the ...

is reached, then continues north until

Ellesmere Road Ellesmere ( ) may refer to: Places Australia * Ellesmere, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland * the former name of Scottsdale, Tasmania, Australia Canada * Ellesmere Island, an Arctic island of Canada and named f ...

is reached, then continues east until Military Trail is reached, then continues northwest until Morningside Avenue is reached. Finally, the line turns north at Morningside Avenue, terminating at Sheppard Avenue East where it will meet the future Sheppard East LRT. The original layout had the LRT continuing north along Morningside Avenue directly to Sheppard Avenue East, without a detour along Ellesmere Road and Military Trail to service the

University of Toronto Scarborough The University of Toronto Scarborough, also known as U of T Scarborough or UTSC, is one of the three campuses that make up the tri-campus system of the University of Toronto. Located in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the campus is set up ...

. The original layout also had the LRT continuing west along its current terminus at Sheppard Avenue East, overlapping the Sheppard East LRT line to Neilson Road, where it would turn north and terminate at the

Malvern Town Centre Malvern is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with a population of 44,315. It is located in the northeast corner of the city. There are over 60 different cultures represented in Malvern, with the most dominant ethnic groups b ...

. This section was most likely cancelled as the Scarborough RT extension would already be servicing that area. This layout was revised, and the northern section north of Sheppard was split into a new, independent LRT line called the Malvern LRT, which would continue from Sheppard station.http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2013/pg/bgrd/backgroundfile-64550.pdf The Malvern LRT is classified a "Future Transit Project" in the 2013 "Feeling Congested?" report by the City of Toronto. The Scarborough Malvern LRT was rebranded as the "Crosstown East" extension of the Line 5 Eglinton, potentially making the Malvern LRT connect with Line 5 Eglinton at Kennedy in the future.

Proposed stops

The TTC indicated that stops would be spaced on average 400 metres apart. The distances between the stops varies, but they were likely candidates, from north to south:

On Morningside Avenue

* Sheppard Avenue East * Military Trail *

West Hill Collegiate Institute West Hill Collegiate Institute (also called West Hill CI, WHCI or West Hill) is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in eastern Scarborough in the neighbourhood of West Hill. It is under the jurisdiction of the Toronto Distri ...

* Kingston Road

On Kingston Road

* Lawrence Avenue East * Galloway Road * Celeste Drive - Guildwood GO Station (connection to Lakeshore East GO train line) * Guildwood Parkway * Scarborough Golf Club Road *

East

On Eglinton Avenue East

Markham Road Markham may refer to: It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873. Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * ...

* Mason Road * Bellamy Road North -

Eglinton GO Station Eglinton GO Station is a train station that serves the Scarborough Village and Eglinton East neighbourhoods of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a station on the Lakeshore East line of the GO Transit rail network. This station is one of few GO st ...

(connection to Lakeshore East GO train line) *

McCowan Road McCowan can refer to the following: * McCowan Baronets, British baronetcy *Millar McCowan, Scottish confectionery company *McCowan (surname) *McCowan Road McCowan can refer to the following: * McCowan Baronets, British baronetcy * Millar McCowan, ...

* Danforth Road * Falmouth Avenue * Midland Avenue * Kennedy Road -

, Kennedy GO Station (connection to

, future

, and Stouffville GO train line)

References

External links

Official TTC site
{{Big Move RT Toronto streetcar system Light rail in Canada Transit City Proposed Toronto rapid transit projects The Big Move projects