# Toronto breaks ground on new Ontario Line

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2022-03-27

exhibition-station, metrolinx, mobility, new-transit, ontario-line, ontario-subway-line, science-centre, subway, topoli, toronto, transit, transit-construction, urbanism

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/9dd58e3b5a6f701c635b683e3a8a96b9.jpg)

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/514a9efcdcab5354fd807f00d0b0aab5.jpg)

This past weekend it was [announced that ground has been broken](https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1001832/province-breaks-ground-on-ontario-line) (i.e. construction has started) on the new Ontario subway line that will connect Exhibition / Ontario Place to the Science Centre by way of the light purple line labeled "C" on the above map. (The other image is a rendering of the proposed Exhibition station.)

This transit line has gone through many permutations over the years and was previously called the [Downtown Relief Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relief_Line_\(Toronto\)) (but that was seen as too downtown-centric); the Yonge Relief Line (still too specific); the Relief Line (not Ontario-specific enough, I guess); and probably a bunch of other names corresponding to various lines on a map.

So it is exceedingly easy to be cynical when you hear of an announcement like this. Is it really happening? Are we actually building new and much-needed transit? And as you might imagine, if you read through [the chatter on Twitter](https://twitter.com/C_Mulroney/status/1508129029181906951?s=20&t=1cqd1dVgjk4vgpoxO-VkvA), you will find an overabundance of this sort of cynicism, along with what appears to be a general dissatisfaction with the current state of everything.

But in my simple view, I reckon that it is far better to be starting construction on an important new transit line than _not_ starting construction on an important new transit line. So this is exciting! Let's go! If you'd like to learn more, I also tweeted out the [initial renderings for the 14 stations](https://twitter.com/donnelly_b/status/1508153260229734411?s=20&t=bj4ZZqk7zve0SqEk9glvUw) that are planned for the Ontario Line.

_Images:_ [_Province of Ontario_](https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1001832/province-breaks-ground-on-ontario-line)

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/toronto-breaks-ground-on-new-ontario-line)*