TTC delays ‘cannot become the new normal,’ Matlow says in urgent motion

CP24’s Beatrice Vaisman speaks with TTCRiders executive director Andrew Pulsifer, who says ‘actual solutions’ are needed to fix transit infrastructure.

Toronto city councillor Josh Matlow is calling for “urgent” action after multiple subway shutdowns impacted thousands of customers during rush hour earlier this month.

Matlow has tabled a motion that will be discussed during a TTC board meeting on Thursday morning. The motion warns that repeated “hydraulic fluid leaks and signal issues” are becoming a routine “expectation” for daily transit riders and asks staff to report back with recommendations on how to fix the problem.

Last week, there were two separate incidents in which “hydraulic fluid leaks” resulted in subway service along a portion of Line 2 being suspended, prompting the TTC to take its work car fleet out of service. There were also other delays caused by signal issues.

Matlow’s motion notes that “infrastructure failures are the second largest cause of service disruptions” at the TTC and need to be addressed.

“These delays are unacceptable and cannot become the new normal,” the motion from Matlow Reads. “Right now, transit riders use the TTC with the expectation that their daily commute will be impacted by a delay. Torontonians deserves better.”

Matlow, who is also a TTC board member, is asking that officials identify “unfunded” infrastructure upgrades that would reduce the number of delays customers encounter on their daily commute.

The report estimates that the total cost of “unfunded needs” is about $37 billion.

An ‘urgent’ action plan

Matlow says that subway issues on April 8, April 9 and April 10 all saw significant disruptions caused by similar problems — either hydraulic leaks or signal failures.

His proposal, which was seconded by TTC Chair Jamaal Myers, asks the TTC CEO to report back as part of the 2027 budget process with a strategy to reduce the frequency of disruptions and a concrete plan to prevent future breakdowns.

“If there are key priorities required through future budget processes, these need to be clearly and transparently communicated so that the board and council can prioritize these investments and advocate to higher levels of government for long-term, sustainable funding.” he said.

A rocky start to kick off the month

Last week, at Old Mill station, a leak shut down service between Kipling and Jane for several hours.

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

It was the latest in what has been a string of apologies from TTC CEO Mandeep Lali following another early-morning incident that halted service between Ossington and Woodbine.

At the time, he said, “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.”

This is a developing story, more details to come....