Watch: Alan Carter reports on weekend closures by the TTC and why they will continue for the foreseeable future.
TORONTO – The TTC is closing a portion of the Yonge-University-Spadina line Saturday.
All trains on the University-Spadina line will turn back north at St Andrew Station.
All trains on the Yonge line will turn back north at Union Station.
The TTC says the closures are necessary but can’t the work be done at night?
“To carry out these essential improvements, which include complex installations, commissioning and testing, it is increasingly necessary to work outside the short, nightly three-hour maintenance window available (six hours on Saturday),” reads a report issued by the TTC.
The Yonge-University-Spadina will be closed between St. Andrew Station and Union Station Saturday. The work will allow the TTC to finish construction on Union Station’s second platform which his slated to open Monday.
Brad Ross, head of communications for the TTC, said while ridership remains high on weekends, it is still only a fraction of the 1.7 million customers that use the service during the week. He said the TTC avoids such closures during big events such as Pride but said it’s impossible to not inconvenience anyone.
“Ridership is growing in (off peak) hours but peak period, rush hour, is always going to be busy,” he said. “Every single time we do one of these closures we look at what else is happening in the city. Is there anything not happening on a weekend in Toronto that will allow us to close the subway and that no one will be inconvenienced by- and the answer, frankly, is no. ”
Repairs to the transit line are part of a ten year, nine billion dollar project, estimated to end in 2020.
There will be a total of ten closures over the remaining calendar year and a minimum of 27 more to take place in 2015.
The TTC estimates a complete one-day closure equates to about five weeks worth of nightly weekday work.
According to the document, weekend disruptions affect fewer people and allow staff to do significantly more work.
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