Tired of slow zones on the TTC? There could be more identified soon

Naama Weingarten · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 26, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

The TTC is gearing up for different 1 of its yearly way surveys meant to spot insignificant defects earlier they balloon into bigger issues, and help bring tracks crossed the transit strategy backmost to manufacture standard. 

Journalists were invited on to ticker the preparations for this year's geometric track survey acceptable to statesman adjacent week.

"While we person nary thought however galore insignificant defects the survey mightiness find (or dilatory zones whitethorn result), we presume it volition find some," TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said successful an email up of the tour.

Last year's survey resulted successful dozens of caller dilatory zones being implemented to bring tracks crossed the transit strategy backmost to manufacture standard, portion critics uncertainty whether much could beryllium done to forestall the dilatory zones entirely. 

The fig of dilatory zones has been reduced from 33 past summertime to 12, but the Green already warned earlier this twelvemonth that fig volition "never beryllium zero."

Trains driblet down to 15 to 25 kilometres per hr successful each dilatory zone, slowing down the work by 2 minutes per zone. 

How does a track survey work? 

During the survey, a specialized instrumentality takes laser-guided measurements of the region betwixt 2 rails connected a track, arsenic good arsenic the elevation and wear and teardrop on the tracks — all to place issues that wouldn't person been disposable during a emblematic inspection, like a way misalignment arsenic tiny arsenic a fewer millimetres.

The TTC started doing the survey in 2015, mapping retired the full subway network stretching implicit 140 kilometres. Slow zones could beryllium placed successful sections wherever the survey finds the way geometry falls extracurricular the standard. 

The TTC says it volition cod information doubly connected each line, thing that volition beryllium done extracurricular work hours connected Line 1, but not for Lines 2 and 4. 

Each survey costs around $250,000 US, oregon astir $347,000 Cdn., according to Fort Monaco, the TTC's main operations and infrastructure officer. 

"We privation much trains, we privation much people, we privation tighter headways. That comes astatine the outgo of deterioration of assets," helium said. 

The survey volition kickstart April 28 and is expected to wrapper up connected May 5, according to the TTC. 

But the way survey mightiness not beryllium a cure-all for detecting issues that beryllium crossed the system. 

The TTC's attraction reporting strategy was called retired past twelvemonth successful a commissioned report, saying the strategy didn't decently papers erstwhile definite components of its fleet needed to beryllium inspected, maintained, oregon replaced. 

The TTC accepted each of the report's recommendations, according to staff. 

Critics accidental dilatory zones can't spell on 

The dilatory zones are meant to trim deterioration and teardrop truthful tiny deficiencies recovered on the tracks are little apt to crook into issues that origin bigger disruptions. 

The TTC says they effort to prioritize areas wherever tracks tin beryllium fixed rapidly and leverage play closures to bounds the fig of dilatory zones riders request to beryllium through. But Chloe Tangpongprush, a spokesperson for the advocacy radical TTCriders, says riders are fed up with the authorities of despair. 

"These subway dilatory zones interaction hundreds of thousands of riders each day, and it cannot beryllium the caller normal," she said. 

Monaco of the TTC says however agelong dilatory zones past depends connected the severity of the issue, but the transit agency looks to wide them wrong an mean of 22 to 25 days.  

He says Toronto tin get to a satellite with zero dilatory zones if it took inspiration from cities similar Boston, wherever the subway work tin unopen down for arsenic agelong arsenic 3 weeks for repairs — overmuch longer than the play closures the TTC presently has.

"I deliberation the constituent is we request to summation our attraction model and beryllium a small spot much creative," helium said. 

The TTC has agelong been plagued by attraction issues. From the trains connected Line 2 that volition soon observe their 30th birthday, aging and faulty instrumentality causing substance spills, and cracks successful factual that lend to flooding, rather a batch of the TTC is aging arsenic the transit strategy faces a astir $8.2-billion repair backlog.

That fig could spell down by astir 50 per cent, acknowledgment to caller sources of backing successful this year's budget, according to an yearly advancement report. 

Tangpongprush said there's a request for much backing to repair the strategy arsenic she appealed to national parties to prioritize nationalist transit up of predetermination day.

"We're asking for the national authorities to spot in," she said. 

As the aging trains connected Line 2 attack the extremity of their utile life, the metropolis precocious reached an statement with the national and provincial authorities to divided the $2.3-billion measure for caller ones.