The Ontario Line subway has always seemed like a pipe dream — a figment of Premier Doug Ford’s imagination that he seemingly invented just in time for announcing the Government of Ontario‘s take over of major Toronto transit infrastructure projects in April, 2019.

Nevertheless, that pipe dream is gradually turning into reality — a real project with tracks, stations, trains and, well, pipes. Provincial transit agency, Metrolinx, and the “procurement and commercial lead for major provincial construction projects,” Infrastructure Ontario (IO), have announced that they have awarded a $6 billion fixed-price contract to Ontario Transit Group (OTC) for designing, building and financing the Ontario Line Southern Civil, Stations and Tunnel (South Civil) package. The award includes $5.5 billion for capital costs and $0.5 billion for financing and transaction costs.