With 10 kilometres of tunnels in place below Toronto's Eglinton Avenue, construction of Metrolinx's Crosstown LRT is progressing, with work now advancing for the underground section's stations. Set to open in 2021, the 19-kilometre light rail line's underground section will include 13 stations, and now, three videos recently released by Metrolinx offer a glimpse into the ongoing construction.

Inside Laird Station, image via CrosstownTO Youtube

At the west end of the line, one station short of the Mount Dennis terminus, Keelesdale Station will feature a pair of entry buildings at the intersection of Keele and Eglinton. The video for this station shows views of progress on the future main entrance, the the huge station box and LRT platform, and a detailed rundown of the work carried out to date from the site’s project manager, Daniel Sanchez.

Continuing east just over 6 kilometres, the line's busiest point is expected to be Eglinton Station, where the Crosstown connects with the Yonge branch of the Line 1 subway. Crews are digging 21 metres, or six storeys below grade, to build the new LRT platform—with a footprint the size of two hockey rinks—below the existing subway station. The Line 1 tunnel is being underpinned with steel beams and concrete columns, allowing station construction to progress with minimal disruption to existing transit service. To allow a direct connection between the two lines, the existing subway station is being shifted 24 metres to the north.

Another 2.8 kilometres to the east, the underground section's easternmost station is well underway, where work is progressing at the Laird and Eglinton site of Laird Station. Unlike the cut-and-cover method being used at most other stations, the mining method was chosen for the Laird site due to site-specific challenges. With a dig over 500 metres in length, Laird will be among the line’s longest stations, work area stretching far beyond the two excavated pits visible from street level.

You can learn more about the Crosstown stations mentioned in this article by visiting their associated database files, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the Forum threads, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.