Ontario Construction News staff writer
After months of voting and deliberation, the winning names have been announced for the Scarborough Subway Extension’s tunnel boring machine (TBM) and the two TBMs that will build the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension’s twin tunnels.
The winners are:
- Diggy Scardust for the Scarborough Subway Extension’s TBM
- Rexy and Renny for the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension’s TBMs
In October 2021, Metrolinx launched two naming contests to crowdsource the names of the earth-digging superstars that will build the tunnels for two major subway projects in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
Jean-Pierre Veilleux, who submitted ‘Diggy Scardust’ for the Scarborough Subway Extension’s TBM.
“Diggy was already on my mind and it took a half second to get to ‘Ziggy Stardust’. With the assonance of ‘Star’ and ‘Scar’ for ‘Scarborough’, the leap was pretty immediate,” said he said.
“Coincidentally, 2022 also marks the 50th anniversary of the release of David Bowie’s ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ album.”
The Eglinton Crosstown West Extension’s TBMs were named by Steven Sansano, who submitted the names Rexy and Renny as a pair, and Ryan Bignell, who also submitted the name Renny, a tribute to Renforth Station (Renny) in Mississauga and the Rexdale neighbourhood (Rexy) in northwest Toronto that is adjacent to the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension.
“Public transit is very important to a community because it makes that community more accessible to the entire population and brings people closer together,” said Sansano, explaining why he submitted the name Rexy.
“Renny is for Renforth Station, which is an important hub connecting Mississauga Transit, GO Transit, and TTC all in one location.”
Rexy, Renny and Diggy Scardust have been making their way to their respective launch shafts after arriving in Canada last month. Assembly has started for all three machines and will continue over the next few months.
