TTC descends into rush hour chaos after fires shut down two subway lines
Fires shut down two separate TTC subway lines on Tuesday morning, creating chaotic commuting conditions across the transit network.
The morning was off to a rough start for commuters after a fire shuttered a stretch of Line 1 just before 7:20 a.m., halting subway service between Eglinton and St. Clair stations.
Line 1 Yonge-University: No service between Eglinton and St Clair due to a fire. Shuttle buses are running between Eglinton and St Clair. https://t.co/uY9oxBtGTh
— TTC Service Alerts (@TTCnotices) August 1, 2023
The TTC's Stuart Green tells blogTO that the fire was electrical in nature, occurring on the southbound tracks at Davisville station.
Green says that 20 shuttle buses were deployed to cover the outage along Line 1 from Eglinton and St Clair, however, the replacement service did not stop complaints from rolling in.
The TTC ran shuttle buses from St. Clair to Eglinton, but subways weren't even going to Eglinton (turning back at Lawrence).
— Jamie (she/they) (@TransitThinker) August 1, 2023
Toronto's subway shouldn't have daily meltdowns with poor operations pic.twitter.com/W2XnZWBcYF
Line 1 service resumed roughly an hour after the outage began, though only minutes after trains began to roll along Yonge, service ground to a halt on Line 2 several kilometres away due to yet another fire.
Line 2 Bloor-Danforth: No service between Keele and St George due to a fire. Shuttle buses are on the way.
— TTC Service Alerts (@TTCnotices) August 1, 2023
The midtown subway outage drew some complaints, but the response to the Line 2 outage announced just after 8:30 a.m. triggered a flood of outrage from passengers left out on the streets waiting for shuttle buses to arrive.
Like it’s actually so dangerous at Bloor and Keele right now with so many people waiting for no busses.
— Chloe Vice (@littlevices) August 1, 2023
Passengers complained of waits exceeding 30 minutes with no shuttle buses to speak of.
It's been 30mins no any bus pic.twitter.com/zMdD64NADH
— AR OPTION IDEAS & ANALYSIS (@analysiswith_AR) August 1, 2023
The frequency of fires — two shutting down separate lines an hour apart — is certainly worth exploring.
Seem to be a lot of fires. Does TTC ever release stats on this. Like how often does this happen, and is it: someone pulling fire alarm, someone lighting something and purposely throwing on tracks, cigarette (similar), or sparks lighting dry things? I’m annoyed, just off at Keele
— those who know: Mykal Jae Freeze-Un (@m_j_friesen) August 1, 2023
Service resumed between Keele and St. George stations just after 9 a.m., however, the TTC notes that the route is still experiencing 'major delays' following the outage.
Tuesday's chaos comes days after a TTC Line 3 train derailed, resulting in what is now expected to be a closure lasting several weeks.
The line is scheduled to close for good in November to accommodate construction of the Scarborough Subway Extension.
