TORONTO — A long-delayed Toronto light rail line is finally set to open Sunday and while Premier Doug Ford describes the process of getting to that point as a “nightmare,” he also says it’s time to move on.

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT is opening six years after it was originally scheduled to open, and 15 years after construction began.

“Finally,” said Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, as she opened a press conference Friday with politicians and transit officials.

Critics have been calling for a full public inquiry to ensure accountability and that any lessons learned get applied to future transit projects, but Ford quickly dismissed that idea.

“I’m the first to come out and acknowledge the mistakes, but I’m not going to waste time on inquiry and all the nonsense, tie all these people up,” Ford said, pointing to transit officials at the press conference.

“It would be different if we didn’t acknowledge it. But yeah, has it been a nightmare for all of us? One hundred per cent. The good news is we’re moving.”

Michael Lindsay, president and CEO of provincial transit agency Metrolinx, said officials have learned that how a transit line’s vehicles, systems and civil infrastructure integrate has to be top of mind from the start. They’ve also learned how to better manage construction disruptions for local communities and businesses, and that finding the right contract models is key, he said.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles partly blamed the public-private partnership, or P3, model for the issues plaguing the construction and rollout.

“I would say one of the biggest problems with all of that is that nobody can ever give you any answers,” she said. “There is zero accountability.”

But with the premier uninterested in looking back at mistakes, he urged everyone to move forward and celebrate the line’s opening. He chided reporters for asking questions he deemed too negative about Crosstown LRT communications failures and mistakes.

“Guys, you’re beating a dead horse here,” he said. “We’ve been going through this for years.”

The 19-kilometre LRT line that is partly underground, with 25 stations, is set to open in phases, with increasing levels of service over the next six months.

The line is set to run from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, with trains arriving every four minutes and 45 seconds during peak periods. In six months, the line is supposed to operate from 5:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m., with trains arriving every three minutes and 30 seconds during peak periods.