Toronto’s red rocket will live up to its name again when a batch of new, Canadian-made subway cars is delivered.
New renders released by the provincial government on Thursday show that replacement trains and cars on Toronto’s Line 2 will be bright red, with black and white detailing.
The vehicles will be made in Thunder Bay, Ont., after a push to focus public procurements on Canadian jobs in the face of tariffs from the United States.
“The manufacturing of new subway trains at Alstom’s Ontario facilities will keep skilled workers on the job and ensure Ontario and Canada have the domestic manufacturing capacity,” Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said in a statement.
The cars are being funded through an agreement between the municipal, provincial and federal governments. The province said the new cars will support 946 jobs, including 240 in Thunder Bay.
The trains on Line 2 are roughly 30 years old and close to the end of their useful life cycle. The city has been under pressure to find a way to replace them for years.
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Over the past year, in particular, the TTC has been increasing its warnings about the state of Line 2, which runs from Scarborough in the east to Etobicoke on Toronto’s western edge.
At the end of 2024, the TTC suggested it takes three to four years to receive new subway cars, with a portion of the current fleet set to reach the end of its design life by 2026.
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