The TTC says some subway riders might need to plan for travel disruptions over the next few days as the transit agency works to repair damage caused by a fire on a stretch of Line 2.
Subway service has been shut down both ways between Kipling and Jane stations on Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth) since a fire yesterday damaged critical equipment.
TTS Spokesperson Stuart Green told CP24 Friday that it could take several days to get regular service back up and running.
“We’re really looking at, you know, it could be a few days before full service is up and running again,” Green said.
The fire took place in an outdoor area near Islington Station, though it’s not yet clear how it started.
“It severely damaged a box that contained a number of cables that are safety-critical things, like signaling and communications,” Green said. “We don’t know yet what started that fire. It’s right along the fence line. So it may have been outside the TTC property.”
Shuttle buses are running to replace regular service at Kipling, Islington, Royal York and Jane stations. Riders are also being encouraged to hop on the GO train at Kipling GO station on the Lakeshore West Line as an alternative, or to use the UP Express if they are heading downtown or to the airport.
“We do have about 75 shuttle buses out there running. Unfortunately, they’re running in mixed traffic along Bloor, which can get quite busy,” Green said. “So the best advice we can give to people is to plan ahead.”
While it’s too soon to say exactly how the fire started or whether it’s suspicious, Green said the TTC will be looking at all possibilities.
“They (police) aren’t investigating arson at this time as far as I’m aware. But that doesn’t mean we can rule it completely out,” Green said. “Our priority is to get the service back up, and at the same time we’ll be doing a deeper dive into the causes because if it were something external, we would need to gather some evidence on that. But again, it’s just it’s too soon to really know what started this.”
Repair efforts are underway and Green said the TTC is working to shrink the affected area on the line. In the meantime, he advised people to stay tuned to updates.
“It could be into next week. I mean, we could be talking Monday, Tuesday before full service is back, but again, that could change over the weekend,” Green said. “So the best advice is to check our website, check TTC notices on X.”