Toronto to buy the most expensive subway trains in the world

In his Toronto Star article, Stephen Wickens raises a critical concern about the cost of new subway cars for Toronto’s Bloor-Danforth line. At $41.3 million per train, they are set to be the most expensive subway cars on record globally.

While transit planning communities are often vocal about highway projects' environmental and construction cost impacts, they remain strikingly silent when scrutinizing inflated transit infrastructure costs. This complacency risks undermining the public's confidence in public spending, particularly when the price increases appear disproportionate even after accounting for inflation and modern amenities.

The conversation must shift to hold all forms of infrastructure to the same standards of fiscal responsibility, whether it's highways or transit. Both are funded by public money, and cost overruns in either sector weaken public trust. As Wickens highlights, it’s alarming that international researchers are raising questions about Toronto's transit costs while local officials seem largely indifferent.

We must ensure that due diligence is applied across the board, especially when making multi-billion-dollar investments that affect the quality of life and mobility for millions of people in the Greater Toronto Area or elsewhere in Canada.

"In July, I mentioned the mystery to researchers at NYU’s?Marron Institute Transit Costs Project, a multinational group of academics who helped me research a 2020 report on the soaring costs of subway building in the Toronto area.

"It turns out they’ve been compiling a global database of transit rolling-stock costs and, oh, by the way, did you know Toronto appears poised to make the most expensive subway-train purchase by any city on Earth — ever?