‘We’ll be ready for rush hour,’ TTC says, after ‘once-in-a-generation’ storm causes major subway issues

TTC Senior Communications Advisor Susan Nguyen provides an update on transit service across the city and issues affecting Eglinton and Bloor on Line 1.

A record-setting winter storm in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area on Sunday shut down subway service, delayed dozens of flights, and made driving around challenging on Monday after some areas were pummeled with nearly 60 centimetres of snow.

Here’s a look at how transit agencies, airports, and roads were affected by the weather conditions:

TTC

On Monday morning, subway service was suspended on most of the west side of Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth), but trains are now running again east from Islington Station.

Service remains suspended between Kipling and Islington stations, as well as between Woodbine and Kennedy stations on Line 2.

Line 1 (Yonge-University) was also impacted by the storm, but has now resumed.

The entirety of the Finch West LRT, however, remains closed due to the storm.

TTC CEO Mandeep Lali called Sunday’s storm a “once-in-a-generation” event, and thanked customers who were forced to board shuttle buses for their patience.

“I know that having to wait in those conditions is frustrating, but as shuttle buses need to be brought in from other parts of the City, delays were unavoidable,” he said in a written statement.

Lali said the TTC will learn from this latest snowstorm to analyze its performance and identify any gaps that were exposed by the snowfall.

• LIVE UPDATES: Schools closed, major subway disruptions as Toronto digs out from record-breaking snowfall
• IN PICTURES: Snowstorm blankets Toronto and surrounding areas

While it’s been a difficult day for the city’s public transit system, the TTC says it will be ready for the commute home.

During an early afternoon update, Josh Colle, the TTC’s chief strategy and customer experience officer, thanked TTC employees, hundreds of whom he said have been “working tirelessly overnight to make sure that service is available to our customers.”

Colle also thanked customers for their patience as the TTC navigates the snow-clearing aftermath with the city.

He said as of Monday morning almost 1,400 buses, some of which were brought in for “flex capacity in the event of a subway outage,” were running.

”We have that flexibility to put out shuttle busses, and we had quite a few of them out, but even with those hundreds of busses we put out to support the potential of a subway disruption, they’re still moving through streets that are a bit slower because they’re narrower,” he said, adding buses, along with streetcars, were moving “relatively well,” and would be available for the afternoon commute home.

Colle also noted that more than 80 subway cars are also running throughout the system at this time.

Since the city’s public transit system is open to the elements, Colle says the TTC has been forced to do some turn backs as employees remove the snowpack by hand to “get more regular subway service going.” Those efforts are being targeted around transit stops and near hospitals, he said.

Learning from previous storms, Colle said the TTC stored its vehicles in the tunnels overnight to ensure they don’t get stuck in open areas in storage yards.

“On top of that, just want to mention that we have, I think, over almost 600 or more heating devices that are focused on critical subway infrastructure to make sure that it doesn’t freeze and that stays warm so that subway operations can continue,” Colle said, noting this infrastructure also includes switches.

“So we’ve got hundreds of people out there now, thousands of employees, over the overnight and into today, into the rush hour to make sure that we’re serving people and we’ll be ready for rush hour.”

He said the goal today is for the TTC to provide a “reasonable level of service out across the city of Toronto.”

GO Transit

After some of its busiest routes saw “significant” delays of up to 15 minutes during the morning commute, regular service has returned to most of the GO Transit system.

Earlier today, Metrolinx says it was dealing with “minor” slowdowns on its Lakeshore West and Lakeshore East lines.

Some surface routes are being impacted by the storm and buses are bypassing some stops due to the conditions. Check here for updates.

The provincial transportation agency says it’s running a special schedule today due to the winter storm and customers are advised to visit this landing page to see how their route may be affected.

Snow removal on roads to take ‘a few days’

Getting around Toronto by vehicle may also prove to be challenging today as crews works to clear the snow.

• READ MORE: When will my street be plowed? Check your city’s snow plow tracker here

Speaking at a news conference on the city’s snow-clearing operations on Monday, City Manager Paul Johnson said the effort will likely take “a few days.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Olivia Chow said city staff and its contractors have been working around the clock to remove the snow and promised that Tuesday’s commute will be better than Monday’s.

• READ MORE: ‘It’s going to take days’: City of Toronto says clearing out from major snowstorm will stretch into the week

Pearson airport

Toronto Pearson saw a record 46 centimetres of snow following the storm, which duty manager Andre Nadeau says has effectively cut its departure rate in half.

Pearson’s departures portal shows that at handful of flights have been cancelled Monday morning and more than three dozen are delayed.

Nadeau says Pearson is planning for a “multi-day recovery” to clear the snow and get operations back up to speed.

“There’s still a lot of snow that that is accumulated on the airfield and on the apron. So, it’s really getting that out of the way, and it will be full swing operation. Hopefully by tomorrow,” he told CP24.

On a post on its website, Pearson said passengers should check their flight status with their airline before coming to the airport as the winter weather is impacting flight operations, and schedules may change throughout the day.

Sean Davidson, spokesperson for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said operations at Pearson have been significantly impacted by the snowstorm.

“It’s been all night, 24/7, crews working around the clock here at Pearson to keep this operation moving,” he told CP24 on Monday.

‘It was absolutely insane’: Passenger at Pearson describes record-breaking snowfall

A passenger at Pearson airport told CP24 that his Sunday evening flight was held on the tarmac for nearly four-and-a-half hours before it was eventually cancelled due to the record-breaking snowstorm.

“It was absolutely insane. It was extremely heavy snow,” Ali said from Pearson Monday afternoon.

He said that because he has an aviation background, he understood the reasoning behind cancelling the flight. But, Ali says other passengers weren’t so understanding.

“For a normal person who does not know these things, it’s complete chaos out there. You don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t know when you’re going to depart, you don’t know when you’re going to go home,” he said.

Ali said the airline provided all 550 passengers with transportation and hotel credits. He said he’s going to try and make the next flight out of Pearson at 1 a.m. Tuesday.