Man pushed onto tracks at Bloor-Yonge marks 3rd such incident at station this year
The suspect in an attempted push at Toronto’s Bloor-Yonge subway station Sunday afternoon is still at large, according to police.
The incident marks the third attempted push at Toronto’s busiest subway station this year.
The Toronto Police Service (TPS) says a report filed Sunday claimed the incident occurred just before 4:30 p.m. on the station’s westbound platform.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
The victim, a man, was reportedly pushed onto track level by a male suspect but managed to get himself back onto the platform uninjured.
The suspect has been described by police as a Black male wearing a black do-rag, dark jacket, and dark track pants.
Police have not released any other information about the circumstances leading up to the incident.
So far in 2023, Toronto police have responded to two other attempted pushings on the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) – both at Bloor-Yonge station.
On Jan. 3, a man was pushed onto the Bloor-Yonge tracks following an argument with another man. The accused was arrested at the scene, and charged with assault.
About two weeks later, on Jan. 20, a man in his 50s was arrested just before 10:30 p.m. at Bloor-Yonge station after allegedly attempting to push another rider onto the tracks.
In recent months, Toronto’s transit system has been at the centre of a string of violent – and, at times, seemingly random – crimes, prompting increased enforcement and police presence. In the last 30 days, TPS has notified the public of at least 20 different violent crimes – including the recent pushings – against riders or employees of the transit system. In the weeks before that, a string of muggings, assaults, and a fatal stabbing at a west end station, prompted calls for national action.
- READ MORE: 'What is safety?': Transit users call for action at town hall following rash of TTC violence
"These random incidents are, by their very nature, unpredictable," TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said last month to CP24. "How we are addressing this is we're going to have more bodies in the station."
As to what else can be done to prevent further violence, Green said there needs to be cooperation between the TTC and other government agencies to address the root causes.
"We're a transit agency. We're not a social service agency. Our core business is public transit. We have an obligation to our customers to keep them safe. And we will do that as best we can," Green said.
Bloor-Yonge Station is the country’s busiest subway station and its platforms are often jam-packed during high-traffic periods. The station is set to receive a $1.5-billion facelift in the coming years, which will provide more platform space.
The improvements planned include a second platform to enhance capacity for eastbound passengers, wider platforms for both northbound and southbound commuters, as well as a new exit to Bloor Street, and new escalators, elevators, and stairs. The city has previously said it hopes to start construction on the project in 2024.
In 2022, after a woman was pushed onto Bloor-Yonge tracks and avoided an incoming train by rolling under the lip of the platform, advocates argued for platform edge doors to keep passengers from falling onto the tracks or coming into the path of an oncoming train.
Just a few months prior to that, in November 2021, a man survived being pushed onto the tracks at Bloor-Yonge Station and dragged a short distance by a train. In 2018, a 73-year-old man was fatally pushed in front of an incoming train at the station.
As recently as 2018, the cost to install platform barriers throughout Toronto’s subway network was pegged at more than $1-billion.
With files from CP24’s Jordan Fleugal, Josh Freeman, and Bryann Aguilar
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.