Historically, transit has been a major pain point in Toronto, and so far it’s no different in 2024, where people can’t stop talking about the scene that unfolded at Union Station after New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Viral videos show thousands of commuters crammed into the station, with people quickly taking to social media to share their experiences and their thoughts on the situation.
Shocking videos show people packed shoulder-to-shoulder, struggling to move amid the masses. In other clips, people can be seen trying to push onto the subway as the doors close behind them.
“We walked three hours to get home, [it] was definitely an adventure,” one person said on TikTok.
Now, some people are calling on government officials and transit agencies to do more to combat this issue in the future.
“The transportation minister is far behind to rule a big city like to. Transit is insufficient and expensive,” wrote one X user.
While others say that this shouldn’t be that shocking for people living in the GTA.
“Most people do the math: free event+fireworks =hordes of people +delays going home,” wrote one X user.
“No city can prepare for the glacial onslaught of people walking in streetcar tracks, in lanes of gridlock traffic, with kids and wagons. If you’re surprised or unprepared- that’s on you.”
“I tapped out in the early 2000s after almost getting crushed in the crowd.”
METROLINX, TTC RESPONDS
Following the drama in the wee hours of Monday morning, Now Toronto reached out to the TTC to see if they could speak to the chaos at Union.
“The safety of customers and employees is the TTC’s top priority at all times. For special events like New Year’s Eve, extra work is done to ensure that,” TTC representative Stuart Green said in an email to Now Toronto, adding that Union Station is a shared space, and that he can can only speak to the TTC’s operations.
Green explained the transit commission worked with Metrolinx, Toronto police and Union Station officials to prepare for Sunday night’s festivities, who anticipated larger crowds than last year. He shared that there were detailed and integrated plans developed to combat the swarms of people, including elevated levels of TTC staffing. Green said that there were five to six times more staff at the station on New Year’s than would be present for a normal special event.
The TTC spokesperson explained that just before 12:30 a.m. on Monday, a train had to be taken out of commission due to a fight onboard. He says this is the busiest time of the night, with people leaving downtown events to head home, and the disruption caused a 10-minute delay.
“As customers on the incident train were being offloaded onto an already busy platform, entry to the platform from the GO side of the Union Station concourse was stopped,” he continued, adding that this is a standard procedure to ensure everyone at platform level is safe when large crowds form.
“This probably accounts for some of the crowding seen outside the TTC station. In addition to limiting the customer flow to the platform, staff were helping redirect those who wanted to make their way to the next northbound station at street level.”
The TTC estimates that tens of thousands of people moved through Union’s subway hub without any problem.
“However, even the smallest delay with this many people will have trickle-down effects, and that’s what we saw on NYE with crowds backing up into the GO concourse after midnight.”
Meanwhile, Metrolinx points to the timing of the videos, saying that they appear to be from when bars and clubs downtown are closing, leading to a higher volume of customers waiting for transit.
“Significant planning and preparation is done for major events like New Year’s Eve to accommodate the expected increased customer volumes at these times,” Metrolinx told Now Toronto in a statement.
“Volumes in our concourses are also directly impacted by TTC service changes as additional people waiting for the subway creates a backlog in the Bay concourse.”
“With free GO Transit service running all night, trains and buses experienced higher than normal volumes,” Metrolinx continued, adding that everyone was able to travel safely.
Officials from the TTC, the City of Toronto and Metrolinx will be meeting later this week to review the events that unfolded on New Year’s, with the TTC saying that the meeting is planned to “ensure all users of Union Station have the safest and most comfortable experience possible in future years.”
