Signal issues plague Line 1, causing delays for TTC riders

The TTC says it will investigate the recent string of signal issues on Line 1 that led to delays for subway riders on the transit system this week.

The latest issue occurred on Wednesday morning. Just before 7:15 a.m., the TTC posted on X that service was suspended on all of Line 1 between Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and Finch stations while crews fixed a signal issue and that shuttle buses were running.

Around half an hour later, the TTC said service had resumed, but delays would continue.

“Delays between Vaughan and Finch while we recover from a signal issue. Shuttle buses continue to operate Finch to Bloor, Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and St. George,” the TTC said in an update.

Regular service resumed on Line 1 just before 10:30 a.m.

In a statement, TTC interim CEO Greg Percy apologized to riders for the latest subway delays, acknowledging it was “another difficult day for TTC customers.”

“This morning’s issue is similar to one we experienced last night at around 7 p.m. – a server that operates the routing of trains on our ATC [Automatic Train Control] signalling system went offline for unknown reasons,” he explained.

“This system is designed with a failsafe mechanism that stops service when an operating anomaly is detected. In these cases, the system worked as designed.”

In Tuesday evening’s issue, subway service was briefly held on Line 1 due to what the TTC referred to as an “operational issue.”

On Monday, TTC riders had to endure delays in their commute with numerous service disruptions and delays on Line 1 due to ATC signal issues. It also prompted Toronto Police to issue a warning about crowd control.

Percy said another ATU signal issue on Line 1 happened last Wednesday, which also led to delays for riders.

“The system shut down when errors were detected should give assurance that our system is safe. However, this number of ATC signalling issues so close together is unacceptable to me, and we need to understand them better in order to resolve them safely and quickly,” he said.

“To that end, we are working with the equipment manufacturer to conduct a thorough deep dive to determine how these incidents happened and whether there’s any correlation between them.”

These latest issues come as a recent study of transit commuters worldwide found that Toronto has the second-worst commute time in Canada and the U.S.