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Yonge And Bloor Closed To Traffic By Police After Subway Shutdown Creates Commuter Chaos

09/25/2008 | CityNews.ca Staff

The Yonge subway line between Bloor and Davisville finally reopened after 11pm Thursday, but remains closed between Davisville and Lawrence and won't be running until 6am, the TTC announced following a serious electrical problem.
The trouble began at Eglinton station just after 5pm, when some electrical cables fell from the roof and hit the track, knocking out signals for a long stretch of the Yonge-University subway line.
That created a chain reaction of events that shut down the subway in both directions from Bloor all the way to Lawrence and created chaos for those trying to get home during the afternoon - and what turned into the evening - rush. The disruption couldn't have come at a worse time for passengers. Thousands of them surfaced on Yonge St. waiting for buses that never came. There were huge crowds everywhere (that's Yonge and Bloor, top left) and if traffic wasn't already chaotic above ground during the rush, it only got worse once the throngs emerged from below. Subways can hold hundreds of people. Buses can't. It means there was extra traffic and very long waits for some. Some waited 30-40 minutes to board a shuttle. Others were waiting hours. And drivers weren't enjoying the roadblocks either. There were so many people crowding the sidewalks and spilling into the streets that some areas wound up in gridlock, meaning the buses that were sent to dispatch all those waiting commuters couldn't reach them. Police were finally forced to shut down Yonge and Bloor, Canada's busiest intersection, to everything but those 42 shuttle buses, to allow people to finally get on them. Some weary commuters began shoving each other, trying to squeeze onto the vehicles after waiting hours stalled on the street. There were reports of an hour long wait for a cab at one point - if the vehicles could even reach them.
Still, for the most part, it remained chaotic but peaceful.
Photo by CityNews viewer Richard Bloom

And for those heading towards York Region, it's a double whammy - they have to contend with a strike by Viva bus drivers, meaning if they can get to Steeles, they may not be able to travel much farther.

It was the end of very long day for many. But it wasn't the only nightmare for the TTC.

"The Better Way," had a rough run Thursday, with two other disturbing incidents.

The second subway trauma started with reports that a man had been stabbed on a train as it thundered through a tunnel between Greenwood and Donlands stations on the Bloor-Danforth line.
It happened around 4pm, just as the afternoon rush was heating up. It turns out there was no stabbing, but there very easily could have been. Apparently two men got into a physical confrontation with another man, who despite being outnumbered got the best of his dance partners. The two battered men left, but returned not long after with knives (pictured below), allegedly looking to exact revenge.
When they boarded a subway with the blades and bloody faces, some passengers became alarmed and called police.

Once the two knew cops were waiting for them, they tossed the knives out onto the tracks, where they were later recovered. Both were arrested. As a result of the ruckus, service was halted from Broadview to Victoria Park stations and shuttle buses were running instead. Things returned to normal about half an hour later.
Moments later there were reports of shots fired near a TTC bus stop in the area of Jane and Woolner . Shell casings were found on Woolner, and police are currently searching for an orange SUV, believed to be carrying four suspects. They haven't found them.
Passenger anger grows as delay stretches on for hours
Police probe three shootings within a few minutes of each other

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Yonge And Bloor Closed To Traffic By Police After Subway Shutdown Creates Commuter Chaos

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