Full subway service has resumed to Kennedy station in Scarborough after a train derailment early Monday turned away commuters for more than a day.

The Toronto Transit Commission reinstated subway service from Kennedy at around 1 p.m. Tuesday.

By the time the evening rush began, service was back to normal though there were some shuttle buses on hand just in case they were needed.

During the service shutdown, shuttle buses were operating between Warden and Kennedy stations, but the TTC advised people to try to find alternate routes as thousands of commuters had to be accommodated.

The derailment occurred about 1:30 a.m. Monday as the last train was heading westbound out of Kennedy. It was in the tunnel but not far from the station. Only one of six cars derailed.

More than 70 people had been working on repairing the damage. On Monday, TTC officials said crews would work overnight and would try to fix the damage in time for Tuesday's morning rush. However, the damage was too extensive and service couldn't be restored until Tuesday afternoon.

"Because it was dislodged from the track it then dragged the big metal wheels along the ground, ripping up part of the track structure, damaging the power rail as well as damaging the chords and some of the signal boxes," TTC Chair Adam Giambrone explained.

Giambrone said derailments do occasionally occur.

He couldn't estimate how many subway derailments occurred in 2007 other than to say the number is relatively low and that the subways are safe. He said the 126-subway car fleet has been inspected.

"One area the TTC has never compromised on is keeping the tracks in working order," Giambrone said.

Commuters travelling in the city's downtown core were also faced with headaches Tuesday morning as streetcars on King Street were diverted for the better part of the morning.

Streetcars are diverting on the busy King Street route following an early morning accident in which a garbage truck struck a hydro pole near Brant Street just west of Spadina Avenue. That knocked out power to the streetcar line and took down about 100 metres of wire.

The Spadina and King Street lines were operating normally after a few hours.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Janice Golding and Galit Solomon.