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TORONTO — Following a contest, the winning names have been chosen for the tunnel boring machines (TBM) that will build the tunnels for two major subway projects in the Greater Toronto Area.

The Scarborough Subway Extension’s TBM will be named Diggy Scardust and the two TBMs that will build the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension’s twin tunnels are Rexy and Renny.

Metrolinx reported that after receiving hundreds of submissions for names from the community and a shortlist was voted on, Diggy Scardust, Rexy and Renny were “the ones that stuck.”

According to the Metrolinx blog, the name Diggy Scardust, submitted by Jean-Pierre Veilleux, was inspired by Boaty McBoatface.

“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 Veilleux in a statement.

“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.”

Steven Sansano, submitted the names Rexy and Renny and Ryan Bignell also submitted the name Renny. The names are a tribute to Renforth Station in Mississauga and the Rexdale neighbourhood in northwest Toronto located adjacent to the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension.

Assembly has started on all three machines and they have been making their way to their respective launch shafts after arriving in Canada last month.