What to know
- A morning service shutdown between Ossington and Woodbine stations followed a hydraulic fluid spill, with delays lasting hours into the commute.
- TTC CEO Mandeep Lali suspended the work car fleet and ordered a full review after the second incident involving a hydraulic leak this week.
- City councillors are demanding accountability and transparency, citing ongoing reliability concerns for riders relying on Line 2.
Those commuting in Toronto early this morning faced major TTC closures due to a second hydraulic fluid spill incident this week which prompted a suspension of its work car fleet and a full service review.
At approximately 5:30 a.m. on Friday, TTC warned customers of Line 2 service interruption between Ossington and Woodbine stations due to the spill.
Service was resumed about two hours later, with the TTC warning commuters could still face delays, as investigations were carried out.
The service interruption sparked reaction from local city councillors, who called on the TTC to take accountability and prevent the issue from happening again.
“A second oil spill shutting down Line 2 for the morning commute in one week… Riders need more than apologies. They need accountability from the CEO and the mayor,” Brad Bradford wrote on X.
Coun. Josh Matlow also reacted to the service interruption, saying he will be bringing up the hydraulic leak issues in the next TTC board meeting, and push for transparency and accountability.
“This impacts our ability to rely on the TTC to get to work, school or appointments on time. Investigations have already occurred, yet the problems persist. This cannot be allowed to continue. I’ll be asking questions and demanding transparency, accountability, and most importantly action,” he wrote on X.
This was the second time this week that a hydraulic fluid spill caused service disruptions along the line.
On Tuesday, TTC CEO Mandeep Lali apologized for “letting customers down,” after a major Line 2 service disruption interrupted the rush hour commute, which Lali said prevented safe and timely travel.
At the time, the CEO said that incidents like that “must not happen again” and promised the agency would “do better” moving forward.
Read More
TTC CEO suspends work car fleet
Following Friday morning’s issues, Lali released another statement apologizing to commuters and taking “full accountability” for the incident.
“This is unacceptable. The TTC must provide safe, reliable service from the beginning of every day, and this week we did not meet that standard,” he wrote.
According to the CEO, the hydraulic fluid leak came from a work car, which was providing maintenance services on Line 2 overnight, and disrupted the start of the service.
Following the incident, Lali said he has immediately suspended the work car fleet, with an exception for any “exceptional circumstances,” while the TTC conducts a full review of the two incidents to determine what caused the leak and carry a full inspection of the fleet.
The CEO said that today’s work to quickly take action and clean the area to reinstate service reflected a response plan adopted earlier this week following the first incident. Meanwhile, the agency’s focus moving forward is to “prevent a recurrence.”
“We will move with urgency, we will be transparent about the outcome of this review, and we will take the necessary actions to restore confidence. Toronto should be able to count on the TTC to deliver safe, reliable service from the start of every day.”
