Updated November 24, 2025 at 3:30pm:
The TTC has confirmed that Line 6 Finch West will open on December 7, 2025.
See:
The initial service is described as a “soft opening”:
Following the recommendations of the Ottawa LRT public inquiry, Line 6 Finch West will operate under “soft opening” conditions with trains running from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. until Spring 2026. The temporary early closing will provide the line’s maintainers, Mosaic Transit Group, with an extended maintenance window, allowing staff to become more familiar with the line and monitor it for any issues while in full revenue service.
The service level of 15 trains on a 6’30” headway implies a round trip time of 97’30”.
Fifteen fully accessible trains will operate during weekday morning and afternoon rush hours, with service every six and a half minutes. At all other times, including weekends, trains will arrive approximately every 10 to 12 minutes. [TTC media release]
By comparison, the 36C Finch West bus has an AM peak round trip time from Finch West Station to Humberwood Loop of 116 minutes, and a PM peak RTT of 138 minutes. These times include recovery time at terminals. The peak period scheduled time between Humberwood Loop and Humber College Station for buses is 8 minutes, and so for comparative purposes, 16 minutes should be deducted from the bus running times to compare with the LRT. TTC has not yet published off-peak travel times or train counts.
This adjustment reduces the AM peak round trip time for the 36C bus to 100 minutes and the PM peak time to 122 minutes, as against 97.5 minutes for the LRT. The greater saving comes when the exclusive lanes on Finch give an advantage over bus speeds, although one might have hoped for better in the AM peak. The wider headway (interval) between trains will add waiting time, and it remains to be seen if the TTC can avoid its usual bunching and gaps that plague every major route in the city.
36 Finch West bus service design effective November 16, 2025:
As more information emerges, I will update this post.
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Steve Munro 