Subway riders across the Greater Toronto Area can expect more frequent trains and fewer signal-related delays on Line 2 Bloor-Danforth after the TTC awarded a contract to Hitachi Rail Canada to install a modern signalling system.
The contract, announced in a TTC news release, will bring Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) — also known as Automatic Train Control — to the east-west subway line that connects Etobicoke to Scarborough and carries hundreds of thousands of riders each day.
What CBTC changes
The system automatically controls train speed and the distance between trains. Because train locations can be tracked more precisely, more trains can run closer together, allowing shorter headways — meaning service arrives more often and runs more reliably.
The new technology will replace the existing fixed-block signalling on Line 2. CBTC has already been operational on Line 1 Yonge-University since 2022.
"We're getting Toronto moving by making public transit faster for everyone," said Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, in a TTC news release. "By modernizing Line 2 we can run more trains more reliably, while supporting 200 local jobs."
TTC Chair Jamaal Myers said the upgrade, combined with the new subway trains coming to Line 2, will ensure the TTC can keep providing safe, reliable and efficient service for years to come.
"We're modernizing the TTC by investing in systems that increase capacity, improve reliability, enhance safety and support a growing city," said TTC CEO Mandeep S. Lali, in a TTC news release. "CBTC is the next evolution in signalling, enabling us to better manage trains in real time and deliver more frequent service to customers."
A homecoming for the technology
Hitachi Rail will install its SelTrac CBTC system on Line 2. The technology is already in use on major transit systems worldwide, including New York's Flushing Line, London Underground's Four Lines Modernization program, and Singapore's North-South and East-West lines.
Arnaud Besse, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Hitachi Rail in Canada, noted the technology's Toronto roots.
"We're proud that our world-leading technology, designed in Toronto, will transform passenger experience, reliability and increase capacity on Line 2," Besse said in a TTC news release. "Today, our invention comes home. 50 years ago, we developed this technology here and exported it to the world's most complex transit systems. Now, it returns to where it all began."
The system will be designed, tested and delivered from Hitachi Rail's Canadian headquarters in Toronto. The company's Scarborough office houses its global signalling competence centre, which employs more than 1,100 people and supports projects across Canada and internationally.
Timeline and what riders should expect
Work on the project begins this year, with design and engineering activities continuing through 2028. Implementation will unfold in phases, with full completion scheduled for 2037.
The TTC says it will provide regular updates throughout the project on its website and will notify customers in advance of any planned service impacts or closures.
For daily commuters and visitors travelling into the city from across the GTA, the upgrade is aimed at easing waits and delays on one of the region's busiest transit corridors.
