Many expected it to be an announcement about funding for new streetcars.  Instead, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Dalton McGuinty jointly ponied up provincial and federal contributions of almost $1-billion to construct a new light rail transit (LRT) line. 

Construction of the Sheppard East LRT line will begin in July and is expected to be finished by 2013 at a projected cost of $950 million.  Ontario will foot the bill for two-thirds of that total, with the Feds picking up the rest.

The new transit line will run from the Don Mills subway station to Meadowvale Road , connecting with the Finch West LRT and the Sheppard subway.

But even more importantly, according to Harper, it will create almost 10,000 jobs, and help to stimulate a sagging economy.

"This project will provide exactly the kind of short-term economic stimulus Canada needs to mitigate the impact of the global recession and in the long term, it will help ensure that Toronto's public transit system is second to none in the world, a modern, efficient system, designed to keep Toronto moving, working and growing," he said.

"This billion dollar project will create thousands of jobs for construction workers, engineers, and countless suppliers and subcontractors," he added.  "Indeed, the state of the art light rail cars that will eventually roll up and down the Sheppard line will be built by Canadian workers at Bombardier."

The TTC was hoping for more than a billion dollars to replace aging streetcars, but there's been no government commitment to such a project so far.

Still, mayor David Miller was impressed.

"Today's announcement is terrific," he said.  "Investments in public transit in Toronto matter to the country as a whole."

Sheppard East LRT By The Numbers

What Is It?

15 kilometre Light Rail Transit (LRT) system from the Don Mills subway station to Meadowvale Road. Will segregated right-of-way along Sheppard Ave. E.

Timing

Construction is scheduled to begin at the end of 2009. Expected to be finished by 2013.

You Can Get There From Here

• Finch West LRT
• Sheppard subway
• Scarborough RT extension
• GO Rail (Stouffville Line)

Cost

About $950 million. Full cost of the combined Sheppard-Finch corridor estimated at $2.2 billion

Source and artist's conception: Government of Ontario