Since late Thursday afternoon, the Yonge subway line has been closed between Bloor and Lawrence stations, with riders being shuttled on buses. As of midnight, the line was only closed between Davisville and Lawrence. The TTC says, “this portion of the Yonge line will remain closed until 6 a.m. tomorrow as TTC crews repair a vital signalling cable that was damaged late this afternoon…. At approximately 4:30 p.m. today a cable bundle came loose from the wall just south of Eglinton Station, affecting subway train movement and the signal system at Eglinton Station.”
The closure caused numerous delays during the start of rush hour, reports the Star.
photo by Craig James White
23 comments
I went for a quick bike ride up to about York Mills then down Yonge back downtown between 830 and 930. Bus after bus of packed commuters. Bus gridlock at times. Was fun to ride though, both directions.
We’re too dependant on this single line. That means a single point of failure for the whole city. Metrolinx should be pressing for north-south alternatives to get priority, but instead the 7-year plan only makes Yonge even more critical.
I believe there was also a problem at Greenwood earlier in the day which resulted in shuttle buses.
I don’t get it. What’s the reason for the closure?
Greenwood shouldn’t have anything to do with what’s happening on the Yonge line.
Terrible day for public transit overall, when including the Viva strike.
It would have been worse if the Spadina leg of the Y-U-S subway was not there.
There is no parallel route for the B-D subway until the Eglinton LRT is completed away off in the future. I once took the Eglinton West bus because of big problem on the B-D to get to Royal York South, which took a long time and several transfers but at least there were seats available at the time.
Luke: The Spadina line can be used as an alternative to get as far as Sheppard. So you’re farther west, but you can still take a surface route to get back over to Yonge St.
the don mills bus (25) is actually not too bad either. It goes from Pape station up north, even past steeles (I think).
But I very much agree that the metrolinx plan will be placing more demand on the already capacity Yonge line without any increased parallel service to absorb some of the demand. Either the Don Mills LRT, or expanded GO operations north-south are essential, I think.
Greenwood was closed earlier due to police action.
There are usually 2 2 ways to get where you’re going. 1. N or S on the Y-U-S and across on a surface vehicle, and 2. Across B-D and N or S on a surface vehicle.
I was on B-D in the evening and it was as busy as normal, which gives me the indication that most people stuck with the shuttle buses. Its plain laziness and a lack of looking up your options.
The main problem with the TTC is not the possibility of failure but what happens next. Passengers do not get adequate and intelligible information when there are breakdowns.
Instead they get an RSS feed which doesn’t update, loudspeakers which are frequently at the wrong volume or simply broken and the bottom two inches of a screen located at the other end of the platform (assuming that station even has those TVs in the first place).
That’s if you’re on the subway – if you’re waiting for a surface route you’re even more mightily screwed and will be for a long time to come until the “next bus” system rolls out beyond the few locations good for advertising on in its first years of deployment.
National Post posted that people should use Spadina line – it didn’t get that from TTC, it got it from James Bow’s Transit Toronto site. If more people were aware of their alternates, the shuttles might not have been so packed. Not good enough!
What happens when the Yonge line goes to seven car Rockets after 2015 which will carry maybe 20% more people per train and thus the number of people to be accommodated on shuttles will be proportionately higher?
oops. Bit heavy handed with the tag there. Bold was supposed to end with “breakdowns.” 🙂
[Ed Note: Fixed]
I believe there is something in the Metrolinx plan to possibly extend the Sheppard subway west to Downsview. It’s an idea that should be seriously considered, as it would be the missing link for a true alternate for the Yonge line. Riders could ride over to Spadina via either Bloor or Sheppard, use the Spadina subway and then head back via one of the two E/W lines. Today, without that link, people tend to stick to shuttle buses, or cabs, or other alternate (and very slow) bus routes. It’s simply not good enough.
“There is no parallel route for the B-D subway until the Eglinton LRT is completed ”
The GO Lakeshore line does better than any north-south equivalent.
I believe there is something in the Metrolinx plan to possibly extend the Sheppard subway west to Downsview. It’s an idea that should be seriously considered, as it would be the missing link for a true alternate for the Yonge line.
Definitely. It would help alleviate Yonge line overcrowding tremendously.
I noticed that the TTC’s updates on 680 “News” mentioned the closures and that there were shuttle buses available, but they didn’t make any mention of alternate routes.
Driving down Don Mills, though, I saw that every northbound bus was absolutely packed and wasn’t even bothering to try picking passengers waiting at northbound stops… and a huge crowd waiting at Pape station. So from that limited experience it looks as though passengers are smart enough to come up with the alternate routes themselves.
Anyone else see any other northbound routes?
It’s nonsensical to pack people onto buses but then stall those buses in gridlock. I know it would require some significant coordination with police, but during times of emergency shuttle-bus operation, shouldn’t the city have a fast-action plan to close off lanes on Yonge St to regular vehicles? For example, deploy orange cones in the middle two lanes (or outer two lanes, whatever works better) and keep those lanes for buses only. Cars can gridlock all they want in the remaining lanes, but let those buses really fly between subway stops. The distances are not all that far and it’s a straight shot, so it is feasible to move a lot of people quickly on an interim busway if you can just clear the way.
uSkyscraper — I would like to see them do that on Woodbine South on fireworks nights.
@uSkyscraper … good idea but consider that we can’t even get people to pull over when a fire truck or ambulance need to get by.
Unfortunately everyone be it car, bike, or pedestrian, is after that last angry inch and courtesy is no where.
Sad.
Nobody’s mentioned walking as an alternative. It’s just 6 km from Bloor to Lawrence; an easy walk for anyone in even half-decent shape. And with the great weather we had yesterday…
I only mention it because this is exactly what they do in New York when they need to move people through traffic. During past planned events — conventions, UN meetings, etc., the city would cone off the center lanes on 57th St, a 4 lane + parking midtown street, and use those center lanes for VIP traffic. It can be done, just requires a lot of police to set up the cones and provide the required presence that keeps cabs and private cars out of them. For true emergencies like a shutdown of the subway it would be worth trying such a plan. Hell, you would probably still be serving the greater good to just close Yonge altogether. Cars are elastic and can find other routes north. Shuttle buses cannot.
@Alan: Definitely. I walk home a few times a week from work, and it’s just under 5.5 km. Takes about an hour.
If people think this breakdown was bad just wait until the Transfer City LRTs come on stream and something goes wrong. All of them deadhead at a subway rather than crossing to form a stronger network. So rather than being able to relieve other lines they will just back up, filled with passengers, when Yonge or Bloor/Danforth goes down.
Justin
that makes no sense. People will use the subways less since they can use the LRT lines. And when a line breaks down, like Yonge, there will be other options.
You’re not catching the drift, Sonia. The LRTs will feed more people onto the main subway lines. Not too many people only want to travel a few stops down Finch. The proposed Eglinton LRT is the only exception in that it is to run right across town, crossing the Yonge and Spadina lines.
The point is there AREN’T “other options” when the LRTs end at the subway. And the TTC knows this – they are upgrading their signalling and other technology in order to be able to run MORE trains more often to accommodate the upsurge, which means more people stranded when Y-U-S or B-D goes down.