Riders using the TTC’s Yonge-University subway line should expect delays early Wednesday after service was temporarily shut down along the entirety of the line during the morning rush hour.
The transit agency said the service outage from Vaughan to Finch stations was due to a “signal issue.” It lasted about 25 minutes and has caused significant headaches for commuters.
There have been multiple instances of signal problems in recent weeks that have forced the TTC to halt service on its subway lines during busy times of day.
“This is the third time in less than one week that we are stuck in the morning during rush hour,” said Mojgan Haghi, who spoke to CBC Toronto outside St. Clair Station on her way to work.
Haghi said she spent almost two hours trying to get to the office and would be at least half-hour late. Her commute included stints in an Uber and a shuttle bus before returning to the subway once again after regular service had resumed.
“This is not acceptable in our city, especially during rush hour,” she said.
Riders bemoan challenging commute
Other TTC users said they were frustrated by the transit agency’s communication with customers during the shutdown.
“It was difficult, a lot of challenges,” Vince Romeo said about his commute to work at Yonge and St. Clair. His subway train from Downsview Station stopped at Glencairn, where riders were informed there was “some kind of issue” and that service had halted.
“After 15 or 20 minutes of waiting, they came on the intercom to say they had no idea when a repair was going to take place and that shuttle buses would be called,” Romeo said.
After arriving at the bus loop, customers were told it would be about 30 minutes before any shuttle buses arrived. Romeo said he and others got together to map out potential alternative routes.
“I took a completely different way to come down here,” he said. “It wasn’t the best day, but we’ve had worse.”
Multiple issues in recent days
Ryan Troung, who said he takes the TTC every day to get to work, echoed concerns about the TTC’s communication.
“It affects everybody, so there’s not much you can really do. It just sucks that it happens so often,” he said. “You hear one thing coming from an intercom, you hear another thing coming from a conductor. I understand there are a lot of things going on, but it would be kind of nice to have on unified voice if possible.”
On Monday morning, a shutdown from St. George Station downtown to Finch resulted in significant delays and severe overcrowding at a number of stations along Line 1. Police were deployed to some stations to help ensure crowds could safely disperse.
Then a week ago, the afternoon commute turned to chaos for riders after a signal issue similarly saw the whole of Line 1 shut down.