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rfmcdonaldMy afternoon commute was made rather more exciting and deadline-packed than I preferred by the discovery of debris on the tracks at Dundas West station. Torontoist's Sarah Sweet had an early report.
blogTO's Chris Bateman had more. (Plenty of pictures from Twitter, too.)
Happily, the Toronto Star reports that things are back to normal. I'd comment that it's fitting that an event like this happened at the end of the term of Rob Ford, a mayor who talked about boosting the TTC and building subways but actually ended up doing very little that was not destructive to urban mass transit.
Subway service between Keele and St. George stations was halted at 8 a.m. this morning due to track issues at Dundas West Station. “The tracks are being blocked,” tweeted TTC Customer Service, “and for safety reasons we have to wait until area cleared.” A later message indicates the subway shutdown is now affecting service between Keele and Ossington stations.
Originally, the TTC announced service would resume by noon, but it is no longer offering a predicted time: “Please disregard the expected completion time for the delay at Dundas West Station. There is currently no expected clearing time.”
The situation is creating both subway and surface route delays: the shuttle buses pressed into service to run between the stations affected have had to be pulled off regular routes.
blogTO's Chris Bateman had more. (Plenty of pictures from Twitter, too.)
The TTC was forced to shut down a large portion of the Bloor-Danforth line at the height of this morning's rush hour after debris was found on the tracks near Dundas West station.
The closure forced packed trains to empty at Keele and St. George, leaving hundreds of people to crowd into station corridors and stairways. There were reports on Twitter of people fainting amid the crush.
A small portion of the line beyond St. George re-opened in an effort to reduce crowding. Right now, the subway is out between Keele and Ossington.
At a press conference this afternoon, TTC Deputy Chief Operating Officer Mike Palmer said a Metrolinx contractor punctured the concrete roof of the tunnel with a metal I-beam earlier in the week, but a subsequent inspection determined the structure was safe.
Palmer said changing ground water conditions allowed sand and silt to come through the roof. Repair crews are patching the leak in anticipation of removing the beam, which is protruding about three inches into the tunnel, at a later date.
Happily, the Toronto Star reports that things are back to normal. I'd comment that it's fitting that an event like this happened at the end of the term of Rob Ford, a mayor who talked about boosting the TTC and building subways but actually ended up doing very little that was not destructive to urban mass transit.
