Some Assembly Required?

The Progressive Conservative Ontario government of Doug Ford made a surprise announcement in April 2019: the provincial transit agency, Metrolinx, would build a fifteen-station “downtown relief line” to help relieve pressure on Toronto’s congested subway system, particularly on the Yonge-University Line. Local transit officials had discussed such a project for decades, and the City of Toronto had been studying a $6.8-billion extension, but these new plans were drawn up by a British railway consultant in a mere three months. Despite the Fordian mantra of “Subways, subways, subways!” the so‑called Ontario Line would run above ground through Toronto’s leafy Riverside neighbourhood before crossing the Lower Don River and tunnelling beneath the city centre.

Much about the Ontario Line, now projected to open in the early 2030s, has proven controversial, from the selection of rolling stock to the terminal locations. But before work began in Riverside, it was the decision...