TORONTO — A fight on a Toronto subway train that took it out of commission not long after the new year was rung in contributed to crowds at the city’s largest transit hub as revelers were travelling home, Toronto's transit operator said Tuesday as it planned to review what happened.
The Toronto Transit Commission said the large crowds at Union Station, as well as what led to them, will be reviewed when it meets with the city and regional transit operator Metrolinx later this week.
Videos posted on social media showed people crammed shoulder to shoulder in parts of Union Station following New Year’s Eve festivities in the city.
TTC's spokesman Stuart Green said a fight took place on a subway train that had to be taken out of service shortly before 12:30 a.m., when people started leaving downtown Toronto. Green said that caused a 10-minute delay and entry to that platform was restricted.
"As customers on the incident train were being offloaded onto an already busy platform, entry to the platform from the GO side of the Union Station concourse was stopped," he wrote in a statement. "This is standard procedure when crowds of this size are present to ensure everyone at platform level is safe."
Green said that likely accounts for some of the crowding seen at Union Station.
He said staff were also helping to redirect those who wanted to go to the next northbound station at street level at that time.
"We estimate that between 12:30 and 2:30 a.m., tens of thousands of people moved through our subway hub without incident," Green wrote.
"However, even the smallest delay with this many people will have trickle-down effects, and that's what we saw on NYE with crowds backing up into the GO concourse after midnight."
Metrolinx, which operates GO Transit, said TTC service changes have a direct effect on the number of customers in its concourses.
"Significant planning and preparation is done for major events like New Year's Eve to accommodate the expected increased customer volumes at these times," the company said.
"Volumes in our concourses are also directly impacted by TTC service changes as additional people waiting for the subway creates a backlog in the Bay concourse."
Both Metrolinx and the TTC were offering free rides after midnight on New Year's Day and said they were able to get their customers home safely.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2024.
Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press
