CANADA: The Toronto Ontario Line contract will move a three-kilometre twin-tunnel section into execution, covering Pape and Cosburn stations, two portals and an interchange with TTC Line 2.

Toronto Ontario Line Contract Covers Tunnels
Pape Tunnel and Underground Stations. Photo: Webuild

Webuild and FCC have signed a EUR 2.7 billion (CAD 4.32 billion) contract for the Pape Tunnel and Underground Stations package. Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario awarded the work to a joint venture led by Webuild, which holds a 50% stake alongside FCC.

The agreement follows the development and advanced design stage awarded in 2024. Construction under the execution-phase contract is due to begin after completion of that phase, while the Progressive Design-Build model has allowed design, methods, risk allocation and pricing to be refined collaboratively.

Three kilometres under Pape Avenue

According to Infrastructure Ontario’s PTUS project scope, roughly three kilometres of twin tunnels will run beneath Pape Avenue between the Gerrard portal and the Don Valley bridge area at Minton Place.

The two underground stations are also precisely defined. Pape Station will be built at Pape Avenue and Danforth Avenue, where the Ontario Line will connect with the TTC’s existing Line 2 station, while Cosburn Station will sit at Pape Avenue and Cosburn Avenue. The package also includes two tunnel portals, three emergency exit or service buildings, underpinning of the existing Pape Station and a rail crossover near Sammon Avenue.

That scope gives the contract a concentrated physical footprint through Toronto’s east end rather than covering the full Ontario Line. The wider line is planned to run 15.6 kilometres with 15 stations and more than 40 connections to existing public transport.

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Two TBMs will drive the northern tunnels

Metrolinx’s Gerrard tunnel portal description says the northern tunnel boring machines will be assembled and lowered into a launch shaft northeast of the future Gerrard Station. From there, the two TBMs will travel north beneath Pape Avenue, passing Pape and Cosburn stations before reaching the Minton Place portal.

Concrete segments stored at the launch site will be used to form the tunnel walls. Excavated soil, rock and debris will be carried back to the shaft by conveyor for removal, concentrating much of the tunnelling logistics at the launch site.

At Pape, Metrolinx has documented excavation around and below the active Line 2 station to create an underground cavern for the future Ontario Line station and tunnels. Bracing, or struts, is used to reinforce the walls around the excavated area.

The staged works illustrate the engineering challenge behind the contract: new tunnels and station caverns must be built through a dense urban corridor while existing subway infrastructure, roads and utilities remain in service.

Once the full Ontario Line is complete, end-to-end journeys are expected to take less than 30 minutes.

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