Talk about the worst news at the worst time. Hundreds of thousands of commuters heading home on the subway were forced back onto the surface Thursday afternoon, after signal problems shut down one of the busiest sections of the system. All trains between Bloor and Museum were halted by the trouble for about three quarters of an hour, starting around 5pm.

Shuttle buses were ferried out to try and carry people to their destinations, but that created a new and not unexpected problem for both passengers and drivers. The buses can only hold about a hundred people, while the subway capacity is far beyond that. That lead to huge crowds trying to catch the few vehicles that were running and traffic being jammed along an already overburdened Yonge St..

The problem was finally fixed by about 5:45pm, but the buses kept rolling and the madness above ground remained for most of the afternoon rush. For those trying to reach the Go Train, it was a bitter reminder of winters past. That system regularly experiences switching problems in the cold weather. But it rarely happens on this scale to the Red Rocket.