ttc outage line 2

TTC descends into absolute chaos amid subway outage blamed on oil spill

Toronto's Thursday morning commute descended into total chaos when the TTC shuttered a portion of Line 2 Bloor-Danforth between St. George and Broadview stations.

The TTC announced around 6:30 a.m. on Thursday that there would be no service on the busiest stretch of Line 2, citing oil on the tracks. 

The transit agency later stated that the oil in question is a mechanical lubricant applied to track joints.

Meanwhile, shuttle buses are running to cover today's gap in service. However, these replacement buses are not equipped to move the same volume of passengers, especially in mixed traffic.

Frustrations are already boiling over as rush hour reaches its peak. Some commuters have reported that shuttle buses are not arriving on portions of the route. One X user wrote, "Shuttle buses are not running. Not one shuttle bus has come."

If the reason for your commuting nightmare sounds familiar, that's because an almost identical outage caused pandemonium back in May, when "slippery rail conditions" caused by an oil spill shuttered the exact same stretch of track.

Service would remain shuttered for 11 hours during that outage, spanning both the morning and evening rush hour.

However, the TTC appears to have learned from that experience, and this cleanup proved a much quicker process.

The transit agency issued an update just after 8 a.m. stating that the oil spill had been cleaned, and that there would be an investigation into the service hiccup.

Lead photo by

LouiesWorld1 / Shutterstock.com


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in City

Huge TTC parking lot in Toronto about to close forever ahead of redevelopment

Justin Trudeau pledges to save Toronto's Santa Claus Parade

Closure-plagued Toronto streetcar line is finally back in full force

Olivia Chow is going to war with Doug Ford over controversial new bill

Over 55,000 Canada Post workers now on strike and here's how it'll affect you

Here are some Canadian government jobs based in Ontario that pay very well

University of Toronto named among world's best in another category

Toronto plans to install signs blaming Doug Ford for traffic