Eglinton Maintenance and Storage Facility

Grounds

The facility's footprint is 23 hectare. The facility will initially service 76 Bombardier Flexity Freedom vehicles but has capacity for 135 vehicles to handle any expansion of Line 5 Eglinton. According to Metrolinx, the site's ultimate capacity could be 162 Flexity Freedom vehicles.

Structures within the MSF will include:

• Vehicle cleaning & inspection facility with a train wash, cleaning bay, and an automated vehicle inspection system
• Vehicle cleaning staff building
• Operations company building
• Maintenance building to perform all major repairs
• Bridge over the CN/CP rail corridor allowing staff and service vehicles to access the MSF from the west
• Backup power facility
• Radio mast with a height of 40 m

The October 2015 design for the facility incorporated two artificial ponds, and green tracks, so its landscaping would better integrate with the adjacent parkland in the Black Creek valley. The facility will have a "green roof".

The EMSF has a radio mast for a central radio system to communicate with staff along the line such as dispatchers, operators and maintenance personnel. Three other stations will also have radio masts. The masts at the EMSF and Kennedy station will be 40 m tall; Forest Hill and Laird stations will have shorter roof-mounted masts that rise 15 m from ground level.

Operations

Automatic train control (ATC) is used to move trains within the facility without a driver on board. ATC moves trains automatically around the facility for cleaning, inspection and storage, and will deliver trains from the yard to a hand-over area where drivers take control to move trains onto the mainline tracks.

A backup power facility is being constructed adjacent to the CN/CP rail corridor at the northwest corner of the Eglinton facility. In the event of a widespread power outage, the new facility will provide Line 5 vehicles with up to four hours of electrical power. The facility will use lithium-ion batteries, which will be charged overnight in order to reduce peak-period power demands and operating costs. The batteries will have a capacity of 10 MW / 30 MWh, equivalent to what is needed to power 8000 homes for a year. The roof of the facility will have about 250 solar panels to generate 90 kW DC of electricity. In addition to providing emergency power, the battery power would be used daily during peak hours to avoid Ontario Hydro's peak hour surcharge.

History

The site was chosen because it was a sufficiently large "brownfield" immediately adjacent to one terminus of the line. At first, Metrolinx was not open to input from neighbouring residents, but in May 2013, they announced that they would organize a mechanism for taking feedback.

In 2013, Metrolinx announced that the facility would not be operated by the TTC, and they would contract with a private company to operate it instead.

Originally, the backup power facility was to have a natural gas–fired generator to power Line 5 in order to avoid peak demand times on the provincial power grid and to handle a power outage. The facility would have saved about 40 per cent on the price of electricity and would have been 25 m wide, 62 m long and 9 m tall. Some local residents and environmental activists were critical of Metrolinx's plan to use a backup generator powered by fossil fuel. Thus, on March 28, 2017, the province announced that the facility would use a system of batteries instead of a natural gas generator and that the battery system's operating costs would not be greater than the operating cost of a gas backup power system.

By October 2018, the Eglinton Maintenance and Storage Facility was substantially complete and on January 8, 2019, received delivery of the first Flexity Freedom vehicle.

In April 2021, an LRV made the first test of automatic train control within the EMSF grounds. In the same month, testing on the communication system between Keelesdale station and the EMSF was completed.

References

References

1. "Eglinton Crosstown will open no earlier than mid-2025, TTC chair says". CBC News.
2. Lorinc, John. (2012-11-23). "Down (but not out) Mount Dennis area pins hopes on Metrolinx". [[The Globe and Mail]].
3. Gupta, Rahul. (2012-12-12). "Meeting to provide details on LRT station in Mount Dennis". [[York Guardian]].
4. Munro, Steve. (2010-02-17). "Eglinton LRT: Trouble Brewing in Mt. Dennis (Update 2)".
5. Murray, Roy. (2012-07-09). "Feedback on maintenance yard needed". [[Weston Web]].
6. Kalinowski, Tess. (2016-01-09). "Crosstown gas-fired power plant has Mount Dennis residents fired up: The electrical substation would be a backup facility, but the community wants Metrolinx to use greener technology". [[Toronto Star]].
7. (December 9, 2019). "How will the Eglinton Crosstown LRT’s automatic train control work? We break down every major element in an infographic". [[Metrolinx]].
8. (July 31, 2019). "New green energy facility is powering up the Eglinton Crosstown LRT". [[Metrolinx]].
9. (January 11, 2019). "Eglinton Crosstown Update". [[Metrolinx]].
10. (April 13, 2021). "Crosstown light rail vehicle runs using automatic operating system for first time". [[Metrolinx]].
11. D'Andrea, Aaron. (2017-03-28). "Metrolinx planning to build battery backup system for Crosstown LRT: Battery backup system to replace plans for natural gas plant". [[Inside Toronto]].
12. Howells, Laura. (2017-03-28). "'This is a dream': Residents welcome Metrolinx decision to cancel gas plant in Mount Dennis: Residents concerned about potential pollution pleased with new battery-powered system". [[CBC News]].
13. Spurr, Ben. (2017-03-28). "Metrolinx scraps Eglinton Crosstown gas plant for 'innovative' battery solution". [[Toronto Star]].
14. Novakovic, Stefan. (2015-10-07). "Plans Revealed for Mount Dennis Crosstown LRT Facility". [[Urban Toronto]].
15. Thompson, John. (2016-03-08). "Eglinton Crosstown under way, underground". [[Railway Age]].
16. Murray, Roy. (2016-01-15). "Kodak Lands Generator – the issues and a solution". Westonweb.ca.
17. Winsa, Patty. (2013-05-08). "Weston Mount Dennis residents will have input into Crosstown LRT storage site". [[Toronto Star]].
18. Winsa, Patty. (2013-05-06). "Weston-Mount Dennis residents look to Metrolinx to create jobs when it builds Crosstown LRT". [[Toronto Star]].
19. Rainford, Lisa. (2016-07-23). "Mount Dennis residents call for renewable energy to provide backup electricity for Eglinton Crosstown LRT". [[Inside Toronto]].
20. (2016). "Keele Street to Jane Section and Black Creek Maintenance & Storage Facility Environmental Project Report Addendum Online Consultation".
21. (2015-12-03). "Western Alignment and Vehicle Maintenance and Storage Facility". thecrosstown.ca.
22. (2015-12-03). "Mount Dennis Station + Maintenance and Storage Facility". thecrosstown.ca.
23. Mackenzie, Robert. (2011-03-31). "SHEPPARD SUBWAY, EGLINTON LRT TO OPERATE BY 2020, AS PROVINCE AND CITY REACH DEAL". [[Transit Toronto]].
24. (April 2013). "Eglinton Crosstown LRT Environmental Project Report Addendum". [[City of Toronto]].
25. (April 9, 2013). "Project Report Addendum for Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit (Jane Street to Keelesdales Park)". [[City of Toronto]].
26. (2012-12-12). "Keele Street to Jane Street Section and Black Creek Maintenance & Storage Facility Addendum to the Environmental Project Report". thecrosstown.ca.
27. "Pulling back the curtain on the MSF". [[Metrolinx]].
28. Spurr, Ben. (2018-08-29). "Eglinton Crosstown taking shape, despite legal tussle". [[Toronto Star]].
29. (January 8, 2019). "Bombardier delivers first LRV for Eglinton Crosstown, on track for TTC streetcar delivery". [[CityNews]].
30. (August 14, 2020). "Can you hear me now? Radio mast pops up for Crosstown’s communications". [[Metrolinx]].