TTC riders had a rough commute on Wednesday after service on Line 1 shut down for half an hour during morning rush hour.
Around 7:15 a.m., trains stopped running along the entire line from Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station to Finch Station due to a signal problem. In response, the TTC offered shuttle buses for commuters.
Line 1 Yonge-University: No service between Vaughan and Finch while we fix a signal problem. Shuttle buses are running.Shuttle buses are running between Finch and Bloor-Yonge, and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and St George. https://t.co/ql9QKcm04L
— TTC Service Alerts (@TTCnotices) December 11, 2024
Regular service has since resumed on the line.
Service has resumed on Line 1 with some delays after a signal issue this morning. Were you impacted by the shutdown? #TTC #Toronto pic.twitter.com/1u3sM5HBly
— Now Toronto (@nowtoronto) December 11, 2024
In response, the TTC acknowledges that it was a difficult day for its customers.
“We know thousands of customers were inconvenienced, and we sincerely apologize. The #TTC is committed to running a system that is, above all, safe. But also one that is reliable,” TTC CEO Greg Percy said in a statement.
The transit system says this morning’s issue was similar to one it experienced Tuesday night around 7 p.m, where a server on its ATC signaling system went offline unexpectedly.
“This system is designed with a failsafe mechanism that stops service when an operating anomaly is detected. In these cases, the system worked as designed,” Percy said.
This marks the second time that service was interrupted on the line this week. On Monday, signal issues caused crowding at several subway stations along the network, including Union Station, Bloor Station, St. Clair Station, and York Mills Station.
The TTC confirmed it was due to two other ATC signal issues that occurred on Line 1 that caused delays of 60 and 20 minutes, respectively.
“While nobody wants service disruptions, the fact that the system shut down when errors were detected should give assurance that our system is safe. However, this number of ATC signaling issues so close together is unacceptable to me, and we need to understand them better in order to resolve them safely and quickly,” Percy explained.
That is why, the TTC says it is currently working with its equipment manufacturer to conduct a thorough deep dive to determine how the incidents happened and whether there’s any correlation between them.
Earlier this week, Toronto City Councillor Josh Matlow said he will be putting forward a motion at the next TTC board meeting in an attempt to improve TTC communications, propose safety protections, and better the reliability of the transit system.
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The transit chaos comes on the heels of a new report by public transit app Moovit which revealed Toronto commuters who ride transit every day are likely to spend over a year and a half of their lifetime riding transit.
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Additionally, the 2024 Global Public Transport Report found that Toronto commuters have the second worst transit commutes among Canadian and U.S. cities, with a total travel time of 55 minutes one way.
