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Yesterday, Metrolinx’s board of approved a revised plan that calls for completing the “Big 5” transit projects over a 10-year period. The board plans to present the revised project plan to the Ontario government for final approval.

In April 2009, the province announced it would provide $9.5 billion for the Big 5 projects, which include the Sheppard, Finch and Eglinton Crosstown light-rail lines; refurbishment of the Scarborough rapid transit system; and York Region’s VIVA bus rapid transit system.

“Our plan means that within a month, projects worth $7 billion of [that] $9.5 billion will be under way,” said Metrolinx President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Prichard in a prepared statement. “This is the largest public transit investment in Canadian history and we need to get going now.”

Although Ontario’s 2010 budget would fully fund all five projects, including cost escalations, the province has asked Metrolinx to develop a plan to reduce the project’s funding requirements in the first five years by $4 billion. Metrolinx’s new “5 in 10” plan would enable the five projects to be completed by 2020 while saving $4 billion during the first five years, said Prichard.