TORONTO — As they prepare to dig and trudge through hard soil to help make way for the future Ontario Line southern subway tunnels, the massive tunnel boring machines (TBMs) need a little personality.
Last month, Metrolinx invited the community to submit potential names for the twin TBMs.
The following names have been shortlisted for their high scores across four different categories – tunnelling/topic relevance, historical and/or geographic relevance, creativity and ease of reference.
- Titan and Terra: The word “Titan” represents strength and power, while “Terra” means earth in Latin.
- Queenie and Corky: “Corky” – a play-on words for Corktown Station, located in the Corktown neighbourhood for which the TBM will travel through. “Queenie” – a play-on words of Queen Street, for which the TBM will primarily tunnel under. Also, a throwback to renowned Canadian author Alice Munro’s short story “Queenie” on a story about spending a summer in Toronto.
- Libby and Corkie: “Libby” for Liberty Village where the downtown tunnelled portion of the line will start and “Corkie” for Corktown where the downtown tunneled portion will end.
- Lucie and Thornton: Lucie and Thornton Blackburn escaped to Canada through the Underground Railroad in 1833 to settle in the Corktown neighbourhood, where they would later emerge as prominent figures in the history of Toronto. The Blackburns also established the city’s first taxi cab service, painted in iconic red and yellow colours later adopted by the TTC.
- Chipper and Chewie: One happily chips away at the bedrock and the other chews through the earth.
You can cast your vote for the favourite pair of names here. Polls are open until Monday, July 28. The names with the highest number of votes wins and the author of the chosen name will also be credited and have the chance be part of a photo-op 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 machines will dig a roughly six-kilometre pair of tunnels underground starting just east of Exhibition Station to just west of the Don River.
Once complete, the Ontario Line will have 15 new stations, with a trip from one end to the other taking less than 30 minutes, states Metrolinx.
