Line 3 highlights aging issues: TTC advocacy group

For years there have been discussions about RT’s Scarborough coming to the end of his life and the need to do something about it, whether this would continue to maintain it or replace it. When a decision was made on how to ensure transit to the eastern edge of the city, it was too late.

Monday night, the rear car of the Lrt train of Line 3 Split from the rest of the train and went off the tracks. It’s unclear what caused the incident.

There were 44 passengers who had to be evacuated, and five people suffered minor injuries, according to TTC officials.

“People are saying that you know that RT has passed its projected lifespan. There have been reliability problems for years. Invested a little. But this is still completely unacceptable. It’s a shock that an accident like this could happen,” said Shelagh Pizey-Allen, director of ttcriders, a transit protection group.

Ten years ago, Scarborough RT began to expand beyond its borders. The 6.4-kilometer above-ground transit line has been constantly in repair since then.

Four months before he was removed from office, the slide has brought into focus other aging issues at the TTC.

“This raises so many red flags about the state of maintenance in investing in TTC and keeping the system safe and reliable, and it’s like if you want to have a puppy, you need to be able to take care of it,” Pizey-Allen explained.

Previous battles between the province and the city led to numerous delays in building something else. Plans for another LRT made way for an extension of the subway without an agreement on the number of stops, dating back to when Premier Doug Ford was a councilman and his brother Rob was the mayor of Toronto.

“[A subway] it could have been done many years ago if the province had grown and supported us. We had the funds. We had Council approval and we had federal approval,” Ford said on Tuesday.

Related: TTC Line 3 closed after train skid; multiple passengers injured

The province is building the extension of the Scarborough Metro connecting Line 2 from Kennedy Station to Sheppard Avenue and Mccosipan Road. It is expected to be completed in 2030.

Meanwhile, buses will carry passengers through Scarborough after the LRT is officially removed from service. This can happen earlier than expected. After slipping off the road, TTC spokesman Stuart Green told Cityneambs that the possibility of RT remaining out of Service forever is “not off the table.”

“It would be an extreme measure because part of the November de-commissioning involves a lot of work with the city to get priority in traffic. Q-ing bus lanes, priority traffic signal, that kind of thing, ” Green said.

“We may not re-open it. But if we don’t, we would make sure that other things are in place, including our service.”

The city recently decided to move forward with the design of a dedicated fast bus on the same corridor, but wants the province to reimburse the TTC for the $ 2.9 million needed for this phase of work.

“We have started putting money into designing the bus route, and the millions more dollars needed to build the bus route that we have in the province will come to the table,” said Mayor Olivia Chor.

“I want to focus on the here and now. Let’s take the buses as soon as possible, give them the right of way on the road so that all those transit riders who need a Scarborough RT have a way to get to work quickly and have a way to get home quickly.”

The TTC also recently canceled a request for proposals to replace Metro Trains on Line 2 because other levels of government have not provided funding.

Green said the trains currently running have five years left.

“We have started to consider and negotiate with our partners with the province, the federal government and the city as well, about how we replace trains on Line 2,” Green said. “They will be replaced if we can get the funds — if and when we get them.”