Delays plague morning commute after another shutdown on Yonge-University subway line

Significant delays plagued TTC customers again Wednesday after another problem with the subway network's signalling system temporarily shut down the entirety of Line 1 during the morning rush hour.

The service outage from Vaughan to Finch stations lasted about 30 minutes and caused major 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.

In a statement, TTC CEO Greg Percy acknowledged it was "another difficult day" for TTC customers.

"We know thousands of customers were inconvenienced, and we sincerely apologize," Percy said. "The [TTC] is committed to running a system that is, above all, safe. But also one that is reliable."

The subway shut down happened when a server responsible for routing trains "went offline for unknown reasons," the statement said. A similar issue occurred Tuesday evening, according to Percy.

The system is designed to stop service when problems are detected, he said.

Monday and last Wednesday also saw subway service outages that resulted in delays of 20 minutes and 60 minutes, respectively, and created chaos for rush hour commuters. Police were deployed to overcrowded stations to ensure riders were able to disperse safely.

Percy said both of those disruptions were similarly caused by issues with the signalling system.

"While nobody wants service disruptions, the fact that the system shut down when errors were detected should give assurance that our system is safe," Percy said, adding that the frequency of the outages is "unacceptable."

The TTC will be working with the equipment manufacturer to investigate how the incidents happened and whether they are related, he said.

Riders bemoan challenging commute

Some TTC users said they were frustrated by the transit agency's communication with customers during Wednesday's 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."

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."