7 hydraulic leaks occurred across TTC network this year, Leary calls for forensic review

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) says the hydraulic fluid leak that caused the 12-hour partial subway shutdown on Line 2 earlier this week has happened seven other times this year across the transit network.

TTC CEO Rick Leary is calling for a forensic review to take a look at what has been causing these leaks on work cars.

“I have some real concerns and worries,” Leary said at a board meeting on Thursday.

“When you have one or two you say it’s not common, then when it hit three to four that’s when we said something is up … that’s when I got involved.”

Over the past five years, the TTC has experienced 10 hydraulic leaks, which is in stark contrast to this year’s seven leaks over a five-month span — three this week alone.

“What troubles me is the frequency of these leaks and how they occurred. For instance, how did a hose that’s reinforced with steel braiding, leak. I find it very puzzling,” Leary said at the board meeting.

Leary has been facing some tough questions, including why it took so long for this information to come forward and why there wasn’t better communication from the TTC when the shutdown occurred.

“Why are we only having this presentation now, an announcement about a forensic investigation now, after some of the worst things that could have happened, have happened,” Coun. Josh Matlow said.

In speaking with reporters outside of the meeting, Leary said he decided to bring in a forensic expert to “dissect, really get into, what could cause these problems. … There’s some hoseware that I’m just not so familiar with after 40 years in this business. Let’s find out what’s going on.”

The TTC CEO said he realized there was an issue back in April, when he had a discussion with the union president.

“I intended to prepare a briefing note for the board, making them aware of it. And then everything let loose this week when we had three in a row, especially after Monday. I’ve never heard or seen that before.”

Leary said it is too early to say whether these incidents are linked, which is why he is bringing in an expert. When asked if these leaks have been intentional, he said that is not the case.

“No, not at all. … I think what it is is we have to find out and get to the root cause of what caused it. … That’s what we do in this industry, deep, deep dive, find out the cause. I don’t exclude anything, though, but I need to find out the cause.”

In Monday’s incident, a work car leaked oil on the track between Bloor-Yonge and Castle Frank stations, creating “slippery track conditions” and it required manual track cleaning. This led to the closure of Line 2 between St. George and Broadview stations for nearly 12 hours.

It was also revealed in Thursday’s board meeting that the leak occurred at Spadina Station and workers took the maintenance car to Lower Bay Station, where it was thought to be fixed but then it was dragged to Greenwood Station where it leaked the entire way.

“It shouldn’t have been moved. The staff in the field said they clamped it. … I’m not going to second-guess the staff in the field when they make that judgment. … Unfortunately something happened and those are the questions I’ve been continuing to ask,” Leary said.

“Two hundred litres leaked out of that vehicle – that’s unheard of.”

During his briefing with reporters on Thursday, when asked why he wasn’t front-and-centre on Monday speaking publicly and providing updates about the shutdown, Leary said he was staying on top of the situation.

“I always let people know I’m one of the ones that’s in the weeds assessing the situation trying to fix that occurrence so it never happens again,” he said.

“Accountability ultimately falls with me as the CEO, and I do understand that. … This is really negative impact on service. And for that, I greatly apologize.”

In terms of the forensic review, Leary said an expert is expected on Friday. It is not yet known when the investigation will be completed but he plans on providing monthly updates to the board.

Monday’s delay left many TTC riders frustrated, as commuters have also had to deal with several slow-speed zones this year due to various issues, as well as a cracked rail switch which forced a partial closure of Line 1 Yonge-University during the morning rush hour back in March.

“It definitely hurts (the brand). You know I can say that we’re a reliable transit system and 80 per cent of the time we are, but at 20 per cent we’re not that’s just too high,” TTC board chair and Coun. Jamaal Myers told CityNews on Tuesday.

“There is such a critical backlog of state of good repair in the TTC that we just don’t have the money to actually start making a significant dent in it, and the longer we wait the infrastructure becomes more and more expensive and harder to replace,” Myers said.

A City of Toronto report found that $26 billion is needed over the next 10 years to maintain the municipality’s existing infrastructure.

The board meeting comes as the union representing 12,000 TTC workers has requested a no-board report from the Ministry of Labour, putting them one step closer to a strike.

A legal strike could begin 17 days after a no-board report has been issued.

With files from Momin Qureshi, 680 NewsRadio Toronto; and Nick Westoll, CityNews