Tunneling activities will start on December 4th, aligned with St Barbara day - World Tunneling day with a spiritual ceremony performed on site. This refers to the cavern excavation at either Queen-Spadina/King-Bathurst or Corktown, using Mitsui roadheader machines, expected to be seen delivered on site in the upcoming days. A contest for naming these machines has been held with elementary school students and the result to be announced soon.
TBMs are expected to be shipped from Germany by ship in March 2025 to (most likely) Port of Baltimore. TBMs will be then assembled, tested and launched by fall. Manufacturer is Herrenknecht from Germany who came with the highest bid, 20% pricier than the lowest bid from a Chinese candidate. Both are technically compliant with the Chinese having an edge with positive experience in recent Copenhagen metro project. The other bidder, Robbins - US, is not technically compliant. Metrolinx finally stepped in and blocked the Chinese vendor.