West-end subway closure on Line 2 could last 'a few days': TTC
There is no subway service on the western-most stretch of Line 2 Friday, and the TTC says the closure could last several days as crews work to repair communications cables badly damaged by a fire.
No trains are running between Kipling, Islington, Royal York, Old Mill and Jane stations, the transit agency says.
Between 40 and 60 shuttle buses will be operating along Bloor Street in their stead but significant delays are expected throughout the day. Commuters can alternatively use a TTC fare to take GO's Lakeshore West line to downtown.
Eastbound subway service from Jane Station is unaffected, the TTC says.
A fire broke out along a track-level fence at Islington Station around 3:30 p.m. Thursday, according to TTC spokesperson Stuart Green, and eventually spread to adjacent subway infrastructure.
The blaze severely damaged a signalling box and a number of cables that enable communication between trains and the control centre, Green said. TTC crews are still working alongside police and firefighters to determine how it started, he added.
Green was unable to say when regular service might resume on that length of Line 2.
"It's really going to depend on what we find when we start looking into that cable box. As I say, it was quite heavily damaged by the fire and a lot of things melted in there. We need to get in there and and take those things apart and really look at what's damaged, what needs replacing," he said.
"We don't have a timeline on that just yet. It could be a few days."
Green said there is a chance that the length of the closure could be reduced to include only Kipling and Islington, but it's not yet clear if that will be feasible.
