TORONTO, June 9, 2025 – Starting today, Toronto community members can submit potential names for the TBMs (tunnel boring machines) through a quick online survey that will remain open until Monday, June 23, 2025.
The Ontario Line is a brand-new subway Metrolinx is delivering as part of the province’s transit expansion plan. The line will bring 15 new stations to the city, with a trip from one end to the other taking less than 30 minutes compared to the 70 minutes it takes on transit today.
For naming the new TBMs that will dig the southern tunnels for the subway, Metrolinx encourages participants to draw inspiration from local landmarks, history, cultural figures or unique features about the communities these TBMs will travel through. Since the TBMs will be working in a pair, themed and twin-related names are welcome!
The Ontario Line twin TBMs assembled at the manufacturing plant in Schwanau, Germany. (Metrolinx photo)
After the submission period closes, a shortlist of names will be posted for online voting. Winners of the naming contest will be credited and have the chance be part of a photo-op with these mammoth machines at the tunnel launch shaft.
In preparation for the arrival of these mighty machines, Metrolinx broke ground last November on the 16-metre-deep shaft that will become the entry point for the TBMs.
These two massive machines will dig a roughly six-kilometre pair of tunnels underground starting just east of Exhibition Station to just west of the Don River, bringing faster and more reliable transit through the core of downtown Toronto.
You can learn more about the Ontario Line TBMs and the naming contest HERE.
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