The TTC’s CEO is apologizing after a portion of the Yonge-University subway line was shut down early Wednesday morning due to clearing work resulting in frustrated commuters.
Transit riders on Line 1 were left without subway service between Lawrence West and St. George stations for nearly two hours Wednesday morning.
According to TTC CEO Mandeep Lali, this was due to a late clearing work zone where crews had been making overnight switch repairs near Eglinton West Station.
Lali says because of this there was a delay in getting trains out for service.
“For this I apologize,” Lali said in a statement Wednesday morning. “I want to assure everyone that I am accountable and I have asked our team to take immediate steps to mitigate such events in the future.”
As of 8 a.m., service resumed between Lawrence West and St. George stations, but passengers will still experience longer than normal wait times of up to 10 minutes while service is restored, according to the TTC.
The unplanned delay left commuters taking to social media to voice their frustrations and shock.
“I’m 40 minutes late to work, thanks Toronto,” a Reddit user said.
“I’m okay with the early nightly closures, but the bare minimum expectation is that you finish on time for when service resumes,” another user said.
“I already leave an hour earlier than I probably need to expect TTC shenanigans but even that isn’t enough for a closure like this,” another user said.
According to Lali, 40 shuttle buses were deployed between Lawrence West and St. George Station, and another 47 buses were deployed to supplement the slower train service.
“Thank you for your understanding as we work to deliver the kind of reliable service you need, and that you deserve,” Lali said.