The TTC acknowledged on Wednesday that it has kept stations staffed along an entire shuttered transit line for five months.

A late July derailment ultimately shut down the Line 3 Scarborough RT (SRT) for good, well ahead of its planned November closure in advance of the upcoming Scarborough subway extension.

And it turns out that the six disused stations along the line have remained staffed ever since the RT's demise.

The transit agency sent out a notice on Wednesday morning, advising Scarborough customers that "On Dec. 30, Lawrence East, Ellesmere, Midland and McCowan stations will be permanently closed and no longer staffed," adding that riders "will not have access to the stations or the fare fending and self-serve reload machines after this date."

The TTC has since revised this date to December 23.

I’m actually surprised these SRT stations were still staffed! https://t.co/LzRonqgu13

— Sean Marshall (@Sean_YYZ) December 13, 2023

The TTC's acknowledgement that it has kept the stations staffed since the summer derailment has surprised some users on social media.

TIL: The SRT stations are still being staffed, despite there not being an SRT.

— Not Vex as in 🏳️‍🌈, but Vex as in 🏳️‍🌈 (@The_Terroirist) December 13, 2023

However, what the TTC failed to mention in its announcement is just how minimal that staffing has been.

The TTC's Stuart Green explains to blogTO that the transit agency has employed "one staff member at the non-hub stations 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily even though the line is not running," adding that the lone staff member at each station has been necessary "for customer service and to allow for fare sales."

"It was especially important during the transition from Line 3 trains to bus shuttles in the summer, and as we moved to the interim bus replacement plan," says Green.

In the months since the sudden shutdown of the SRT, the TTC has worked towards the launch of a replacement bus service for the line, which entered operation on Nov. 19.

Green explains that after a few weeks of operation for this interim bus replacement, "we're comfortable pulling staff from the four stations at the end of the year as customer flow has significantly dropped off."