TTC CEO apologizes, takes work car fleet out of service after second hydraulic fluid spill in one week

Melissa Duggan speaks with TTC CEO Mandeep Lali about the second hydraulic spill this week that caused service to suspend.

Another hydraulic fluid spill shut down subway service on a large swath of Line 2 on Friday morning just days after a similar incident caused a major service disruption on the line.

The TTC says the incident happened at around 3 a.m., halting service between Ossington and Woodbine stations for the first hour-and-a-half of the morning rush hour.

This is the second time this week that a hydraulic oil spill has halted service on a section of the Bloor-Danforth Line.

TTC CEO Mandeep Lali previously apologized to riders after a spill at Old Mill Station shut down subway service for several hours between Kipling and Jane stations on Tuesday. At that time, the TTC vowed to investigate the incident to prevent future, similar service disruptions.

On Friday, Lali once again apologized for the most recent situation.

“For the second time this week, a work car operating during overnight maintenance on Line 2 experienced a hydraulic fluid leak, disrupting the start of subway service. This is unacceptable,” he said in a statement released on social media.

“The TTC must provide safe, reliable service from the beginning of every day, and this week we did not meet that standard. I apologize to our customers and take full accountability.”

He said “effective immediately,” he has suspended the work car fleet, except in “exceptional circumstance,” and will conduct a full review.

“That review will examine both incidents in detail, determine root causes, and include inspections across the entire fleet. Any affected vehicles will remain out of service until we are confident, they are safe and reliable to operate,” he wrote.

“Our focus is clear: prevent a recurrence. Multiple response teams were mobilized this morning to inspect and clean the affected area, and full Line 2 service resumed safely at approximately 7:20 a.m.”

Lali told CP24 that on Tuesday, about 200 litres of hydraulic fuel leaked while up to 10 litres spilled earlier.

He noted that the quick response this morning “reflected the enhanced safety measures introduced” after the earlier incident.

“Those measures were necessary, but prevention must remain the standard. I want to thank our employees for their swift and professional response, and our customers for their patience,” Lali added.

“We will move with urgency, we will be transparent about the outcome of this review, and we will take the necessary actions to restore confidence. Toronto should be able to count on the TTC to deliver safe, reliable service from the start of every day.”

Lali said all findings of their investigation into the incidents will be released publicly.

“Again, once we get the root cause, opening the doors to show this is what we found, this is what we’re doing and this is how we are on that journey so that everyone is very clear and it’s transparent in how we’re progressing for the critical service to we provide this city and our customers,” Lali said..