Your wait for TTC subway trains is about to get much shorter

Years after Toronto ground to a halt amid pandemic closures, the TTC is finally restoring one of its busiest lines to the same service frequency as the before times.

On Thursday, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow announced the restoration of pre-pandemic service on the TTC's Line 2 Bloor-Danforth. 

"Torontonians deserve better, more frequent transit, and we continue to work towards providing just that," said Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow. "Today's announced service increase will benefit thousands of customers who use Line 2 daily, and we look forward to continuing to deliver even better public transit for the residents of this city."

Trains will officially resume serving Line 2 at intervals as fast as two minutes and twenty seconds during rush hour, starting Oct. 12. Service changes will also increase train frequency during off-peak periods.

For comparison, Line 2 trains ran every four minutes in 2021.

Six additional trains will be introduced to increase the line's capacity by about 6,000 riders.

The move comes over five years after the TTC introduced unprecedented service cuts in conjunction with widespread shutdowns during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite incremental service increases in the years since, capacity has remained below pre-pandemic levels since 2020.

Increases to Line 2 service come amid return-to-office mandates that took effect this fall. Citing this, TTC CEO Mandeep S. Lali says the transit agency "is ensuring that we can meet the demand by adding capacity in the right places at the right times."

"This is the first of several service increases that we plan to implement this fall, ensuring that we can continue to get our customers to their destinations safely and efficiently," said Lali

TTC Chair Jamaal Myers celebrates the service boost, saying the changes "are about ensuring that TTC customers can benefit from faster, more frequent service, in both peak and off-peak periods." 

"These service increases and improvements are about getting the basics right for our customers, getting them where they need to go safely and reliably," said Myers. 

In addition to the Line 2 service increase, the TTC will introduce updated bus frequency on a handful of connecting surface routes. As of Sunday, the  72 Pape, 73 Royal York and 94 Wellesley bus routes will all see increased frequency to better move the flow of passengers. 

You can check out the TTC's website for a complete list of service upgrades taking effect Oct. 12.