‘We can’t control weather:’ Chow says as blowing snow, ice lead to ongoing TTC issues

Subway trains are seen at the TTC's Wilson Yard on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.

Mayor Olivia Chow says improving reliability on the TTC will take “a bit of time” as commuters continue to face repeated service disruptions caused by poor weather conditions this past week.

Delays and service suspensions have been ongoing across the transit network since two major snowstorms blanketed the city in nearly 50 cm of snow last week.

On Wednesday morning, the TTC said blowing snow and ice led to a number of weather-related delays across the subway system as crews struggled to get all of the trains up and running this morning.

“Due to extreme wind and blowing snow at our Wilson Yard overnight, there are delays getting some trains out on Line 1. As a result, we have 37 of 55 scheduled trains running with more on the way,” the TTC said in a statement. “Crews continue to do hard work in brutal conditions to get more trains out.”

On Line 2, the TTC said, similar weather conditions in the open cut area between Warden and Victoria Park stations caused trains to run “slower than normal” along Line 2 on Wednesday morning.

“We apologize for these delays,” the TTC’s statement read.

Subway service was briefly shut down between Woodbine and Kennedy stations on Wednesday morning due to “icy rail conditions,” according to the transit agency.

On Tuesday, delays were reported after the TTC said a train got stuck at Davisville Station “due to ice and snow on rails.” Trains were only able to travel through the stations using one of the platforms as a result of the issue.

“We can’t control weather,” Chow told reporters at an unrelated news conference on Wednesday. “We can always try to improve our service. But when there is an extraordinary amount of snow coming in, it is difficult.”

She said the city is doing what it can to “improve reliability.”

“I understand the frustration every time there is a service disruption and we are doing what we can to really improve the reliability of our entire TTC system,” Chow said.

She added that the TTC has been “starved for funds” in recent years and pointed to “historic” investments in this year’s budget for TTC improvements.

“Can the TTC be more reliable? We are working towards it, which is why you see in this year’s budget that it has just received the largest funding for the capital projects ever in the history of Toronto because after a decade of neglect, signals, rails, tracks need to be improved,” she said.

“Yes service will improve. It will become more reliable but it needs a bit of time for us to upgrade the entire system.”

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green told CTV News Toronto on Wednesday that while the transit agency plans for “extreme weather,” the back-to-back snowstorms really took “a toll.”

“I think a lot of people, anyone who has been on the roads, can appreciate the volume of snow that has fallen in the last few days,” he said. “When it comes to our surface operations, so our buses and streetcars, they operate to road conditions… if the roads are snowy or if there are a lot of snowbanks, it can impact how we deliver our service.”

He said this morning, the TTC saw around a dozen reports of cars blocking streetcar tracks.

“The reason for that is how the snow is plowed, it pushes up against what would normally be the curb, forcing the cars to park a bit further into the roadway and subsequently blocking streetcar tracks,” Green said.

He urged drivers to be mindful of where they park, especially on narrow downtown streets where streetcars run.

“If you are too close to the track, you will block our streetcar, the city will tag you and you will get towed and there will be a fine associated with that,” he said.

“But more importantly, it is delaying significant numbers of people who are riding on those streetcars.”

As for the issues on the subway system, Green said when the city sees a significant accumulation of snow, open areas of the subway system can become inundated with snow and ice.

“At our Wilson Yard… the wind can really whip around up there. So it was whipping around the yard and causing a build up of snow that meant we couldn’t get extra trains out this morning for our morning rush,” Green said.

“We had pre-emptively, as part of our winter planning, parked about 40 trains on the main line, so in tunnels. So they were ready to go into service… but it was those extra trains that we couldn’t get out."

He said more trains will be up and running for the afternoon rush hour.