<img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://display.blogto.com/articles/20250424-toronto-lrt.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;quality=70&amp;format=jpeg" width="100%" /><p>It's been a long time coming for Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown LRT and Finch West LRT, both of which, after numerous delays, are, at long last, nearing&nbsp;the finish line for a&nbsp;2025 debut.</p><p><a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2025/01/ttc-budget-toronto-lrt-lines-open-summer/">Internal documents</a>&nbsp;and the <a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/12/ttc-hints-toronto-overdue-lrt-lines-open/">TTC Board Chair himself</a>&nbsp;had previously hinted that commuters could look forward to finally boarding the new transit lines as early as this summer, but Metrolinx, which is behind both&nbsp;projects, has yet to substantiate that timeline.</p><p>What we do know for sure is that staff at the regional transit authority will let the public know as soon as they're positive&nbsp;we are no more than three months out from an opening, which, after many passed deadlines, was most recently&nbsp;looking like <a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2025/03/eglinton-crosstown-lrt-opening-delayed-september/">September 2025 for Line 5 Eglinton </a>and <a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2025/03/ttc-staff-deployed-july-opening-eglinton-lrt/">August 2025 for Line 6 Finch</a>.</p><p>An incident that took place on the latter route earlier this week could hinder things, though.</p><p>A fire that took place on&nbsp;Finch Avenue West near Jane Street early&nbsp;Monday afternoon &mdash; and led to the full&nbsp;closure of an entire 1.2 km of the thoroughfare &mdash; unfortunately involved one of the LRT vehicles currently being tested along Line 6.</p><p>According to<a href="https://toronto.citynews.ca/2025/04/21/lrt-fire-finch-driftwood-north-york/"> reports</a>, smoke and flames were cascading&nbsp;from the roof of the vehicle after overhead power lines fell on top of it.&nbsp;</p><p>Though local police opened the road about three hours later, the TTC said that as of Tuesday, driver training was still suspended on that portion of the line, and that the commission was "looking at ways to continue training on other sections."</p><p>As we know, TTC staff who had previously been trained on the new LRT vehicles<a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2025/03/ttc-staff-deployed-july-opening-eglinton-lrt/"> were redeployed to the Black Creek division on March 17</a>, taking on&nbsp;shifts for the&nbsp;Crosstown starting on March 30.</p><p>Line 6 initial training started soon after, with the TTC confirming that&nbsp;a trainer and a student on the LRT at the time of the accident on Monday, though neither was injured.</p><p>While the incident has minorly impacted training, Metrolinx has not responded to blogTO's inquiries about whether the hiccup will affect Line 6's opening plans.</p><p>All a representative&nbsp;did verify to us&nbsp;was&nbsp;that&nbsp;"a potential fire incident was reported along the Finch West LRT route due to a fallen power line overhead," that "the built-in safety systems were initiated and functioned as intended," and that "the incident is currently under investigation."</p><p>In the spirit of potential delays, it was "an eleventh-hour problem" on the sister&nbsp;Line 5 Eglinton last month that pushed the opening of that route a few weeks, from what was previously <a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2025/03/ttc-staff-deployed-july-opening-eglinton-lrt/">thought to be July 2025</a> to what is now likely early fall.</p>