Delays to be expected on Tuesday as crews work to remove derailed GO train: Metrolinx

The issue was first reported shortly after the start of service on Monday morning and resulted in a challenging morning commute for many GTA residents.

GO Transit service will continue to see delays across the network on Tuesday after a train derailed just outside of Union Station on Monday morning.

“The impacted train remains on site as track teams are working to safely remove it off the tracks,” Metrolinx spokesperson Lyndsay Miller wrote in an email to CP24 on Monday night.

“Safety remains a top priority for GO Transit and we appreciate the understanding of our passengers as we proceed very deliberately with recovery and resumption of service.”

The provincial transportation agency says the following service levels will be in place on Tuesday morning:

• Lakeshore East: 60-minute service, outside of 15–30-minute peak a.m. and p.m. service.
• Lakeshore West: 60-minute service, outside of 15–30-minute peak a.m. and p.m. service
• UP Express: operating on 30-minute service
• Kitchener: 60-minute service, outside of 30-minute peak a.m. and p.m. service.
• Milton: 30-minute a.m. and p.m. peak service
• Richmond Hill: 60-minute a.m. and p.m. peak service
• Stouffville: 30-minute a.m. and p.m. peak service
• Barrie: 30-minute a.m. and p.m. service

Customers are being encouraged to visit the GO Transit and UP Express websites or sign up for On the GO alerts to receive real-time service notifications.

“We will monitor the conditions and update customers when new information is available,” Metrolinx said.

Train derailed Monday morning

The issue was first reported on Monday at around 8:15 a.m. and “significantly impacted” multiple rail lines, resulting in numerous delays and cancellations throughout the day and into the night.

Chopper footage taken over near Union Station shortly before noon shows what appears to be a partially derailed train with part of the vehicle parked diagonally across two railway tracks.

At one point, Metrolinx warned of delays of upwards of two hours.

Service on the UP Express to Pearson Airport was also temporarily suspended during the Monday morning rush hour.

Some trains departed from Union Station on Monday but footage from inside the station showed hundreds of stranded commuters standing around the concourse waiting for information on their trains.

Based on the GO’s website, all seven train lines that service Union Station experienced delays on Monday.

“Service has been significantly impacted across the GO and UP Express network and customers can expect continuing delays this evening,” Metrolinx said in a statement provided to CP24 on Monday afternoon.

Metrolinx said with train movement through Union Station being “limited,” it is expected that delays will “continue through the afternoon and evening rush hour.”

“To help manage the flow of people and make your trip home easier, please try to travel earlier if you can and allow extra time. Afternoon service will be reduced because of the limited track availability,” the statement read.

“Staff at Union Station are here to help. Please follow their directions, listen for announcements, and watch the screens for the latest platform and service information. Platforms will be posted as soon as they are available.”

In an update issued just before 3 p.m., Metrolinx said crews are now working to remove the disabled train from the tracks, which “has caused signal problems and reduced the number of tracks” that are available for use.

TTC added more service

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said they are boosting service along the 509 Harbourfront by adding buses alongside the streetcar line to help stranded GO commuters.

“For those people that would normally go, say, from Union Station to Exhibition, if you live in Liberty Village, for example, we’ll have extra TTC service to get you there,” Green told CP24 on Monday afternoon.

Commuters who typically take the UP Express to Dundas West Station can hop aboard the 505 Dundas streetcar, as Green says there will also be added service along that thoroughfare in case the trains are too packed.

“We’re also adding some trains on Line 1 to get people up to Downsview Park Station as a GO connection,” he said.

“That’s how we’re supporting customers.”

Green could not say how long the TTC would provide these additional measures, saying only that they will continue to run for as long as Metrolinx needs the support.

“Union Station is certainly a priority for them (Metrolinx) as well as it is for us, so everybody’s all hands on deck, I’m sure,” he said.

‘Did we just get derailed?’

At this point the cause of the derailment remains unclear.

One commuter who was on board the train told CTV News Toronto that he had just rested his head against the window of a train headed for Bloor GO Station on the Kitchener line when he was “jostled” awake.

“It’s like those wooden roller coasters at (Canada’s) Wonderland, where it was really shaky after getting jostled and it elevated on one side,” Kyle Pike said. “People in the train were asking, ‘Did we just get derailed?’”

The train stopped and after a few minutes, Pike said a transit worker ushered passengers toward the accessibility coach. There were about five or six other people in his specific car, Pike said.

“‘Hey, you will need to get out of this train car, move further down. This isn’t safe,’” Pike said, recalling what the GO Transit employee told them.

According to Pike, passengers were told there was a “mechanical issue” and that they would have to evacuate the train and board another one, an hour-and-a-half later.

Instead of dropping them right off at Union, Pike said they were brought to Exhibition Station—something that struck him as odd given that they were steps away from the downtown terminal.

“Literally, if you’d open the doors at the emergency exit, you could have walked back onto the platforms,” Pike said. “Genuinely, it was pretty frustrating. We’re just going to drop you at Exhibition and find your own way, and also … we’re not going to communicate things properly.”

Nightmarish commutes

At least a dozen people wrote into CTV News Toronto’s newsroom sharing their nightmarish commutes.

Justin Kettles, 18, was on the way to college, leaving Port Credit GO Station at around 9 a.m., and said there were people lined up wall-to-wall at the station.

“It usually takes me like 25 minutes but now, it took me almost an hour and something to get to where I need to go,” Kettles said in an interview with CTV News Toronto, noting how there were other students who turned up to class late.

Another reader described how a 35-minute commute turned into a three-hour-long ordeal to work, after being stranded on an UP Express train stopped between Bloor West and Union, while one other commuter’s 50-minute ride tripled in time because they were stuck on a GO bus without updates on how long the delay would last.

Some readers said they were forced to take an Uber because of the travel delays, as they needed to make their way to a doctor’s appointment or work on time.

Service on the UP Express was temporarily suspended throughout the morning rush hour but in an update to CP24 shortly after 1 p.m., Metrolinx said the service is back on its 30-minute schedule.

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