Ontario Ministry of Transportation issued the following announcement on Feb. 15.

Ontario is partnering with Toronto Hydro to build an innovative energy storage system that will provide back-up power to the Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit (LRT) line, which will increase reliability, lower operating costs and reduce emissions.

Arthur Potts, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Transportation, and Laura Albanese, MPP for York South-Weston, were in the Mount Dennis community today to announce that Ontario and Toronto Hydro have awarded the contract to design and build the new facility.

The facility will be located at the site of the future Mount Dennis Station and LRT maintenance and storage facility, currently under construction. It will store energy generated at night during off-peak hours and supply energy the following day to reduce peak energy use and lower the Crosstown's overall emissions and operating costs. The facility will also provide emergency power to the Crosstown in the event of a power interruption, creating a better experience for transit riders.

The 19-kilometre Eglinton Crosstown LRT will include 25 stations and stops that will link to 54 bus routes, three subway stations, three GO Transit lines and the UP Express. The line will be completed by 2021, connecting Mount Dennis in the west with Kennedy Station in the east, with a 10-kilometre underground portion between Keele Street and Laird Drive.

Building public transit is part of Ontario's plan to create fairness and opportunity during this period of rapid economic change. The plan includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25 through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation.

Quick Facts

Toronto Hydro has entered into an agreement with Renewable Energy Systems Canada Inc. (RES) to design and build the battery energy storage facility for the Crosstown.

Ontario is making the largest infrastructure investment in hospitals, schools, public transit, roads and bridges in the province's history. To learn more about what's happening in your community, go to Ontario.ca/BuildON.

Original source can be found here.