Wednesday, December 13, 2000 Cold derails TTC, GO

By BRAD HONYWILL, CITY HALL BUREAU Both the TTC and GO Transit are expected to hold post-mortems on service breakdowns during yesterday morning's rush hour.

TTC chairman Brian Ashton will ask for a review of the service's snowstorm practices after commuters experienced delays of up to 45 minutes.

Questions will also be asked at next month's GO Transit meeting after delays of almost two hours on that system.

"We need better procedures and decision-making to make sure we don't get caught slipping on the ice," said Ashton, the Toronto councillor elected chairman of the TTC last week.

The TTC was the target of criticism for the delays on at least one morning radio show.

"Until the TTC learns how to handle a snowstorm, it's not the better way for me," CFRB morning man Bill Carroll told listeners. "Take your car, leave the TTC at home."

Ashton said switches, used to move trains from one track to another, froze at Wilson yard and caused long delays on the Yonge-University-Spadina lines. He said the electric heaters, installed on the switches after the storm of 1999, will be replaced with diesel heaters.

Frozen switches at the approach to Union Station were also the culprits for delays of up to one hour and 45 minutes on the GO Transit system, said Ed Shea, a GO spokesman.

Shea said Union Station needs about $100 million in improvements.

While a few switches are being replaced each year with new ones that cost up to $500,000 and include heaters, a complete overhaul of switches is several years away.

Responsibility for GO Transit was downloaded by the provincial government and now rests with municipalities on the Greater Toronto Services Board.

http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoNews/ts.ts-12-13-0008.html

-- Doris (nocents@bellsouth.net), December 13, 2000