Video captures chaos caused by 10 minute subway delay in Toronto
Public transit overcrowding is part and parcel of living in any big city, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating—or scary.
Here's what TTC staff and passengers had to deal with last night, just as rush hour was beginning (and by "night," I mean "afternoon" because rush hour starts at 3 p.m. these days, let's be real).
Is this the unknown reason? Not enough trains at Bloor Yonge. pic.twitter.com/Qu1VSCBMzT
— Richard Ford (@R_C_Ford) November 6, 2018
The transit commission announced on Twitter around 2:55 p.m. that service had been halted on Line 1 due to "an earlier operational problem."
"Is this the unknown reason?" joked one passenger in return.
That passenger, Richard Ford, shared a video clip with his tweet from Toronto's busiest commuter transfer point. In it, hundreds of riders are blocked from entering the platform area out of concern for their own safety.
Another rider named Charlotte Bedard explained on Instagram that TTC employees had closed off the East-West platforms at the station "due to an unsafe amount of people on the platform."
Fortunately, the delay didn't last long—just about 10 minutes—but it's indicative of a much larger and more pressing problem: Toronto has too many people for its current infrastructure to handle.
Overcrowding on TTC vehicles has become more and more of a hot-button issue lately, with the morning rush hour hitting historical maximums of up to 30,000 passengers southbound on Line 1 per hour last year.
The TTC and City of Toronto are taking steps to alleviate overcrowding, but many are concerned that people will get hurt before any real change takes effect.
I’m not “experiencing residual delays.” I was nearly trampled coming down the escalator until an employee shut off the escalator. You have to improve crowd control in situations like this or people will get seriously hurt. @bradTTC #ttc
— Neil Faba (@neilfaba) November 6, 2018
It's easy to blame the TTC for delays (a lot of people do), but the problem is bigger than our transit commission—which hates these situations just as much as customers do, if not more.
At least people are now being held back from entering some platforms when things get hairy.
Earlier this year, overcrowding caused by a system-wide snafu almost saw the TTC shut down Bloor-Yonge Station completely as a means of crowd control.
