TORONTO -- The TTC knew a part meant to prevent subway cars from derailing was missing near its Keele Yard for two and a half years before an incident in January that shut down Line 2 subway service for an entire morning rush hour, but inexplicably failed to replace it.
At 6:12 a.m. on January 22, a six-car train partially derailed as it left the Keele Yard near Keele subway station, snarling all service between Jane and Ossington stations for the next four hours.
Shuttle buses were sent to pick up passengers, but so many people gathered outside each station to be picked up that police were forced to close large sections of Bloor Street West in order to keep them from being hit by cars.
"Unfortunately, it would appear in this case, and that despite those protocols, work to replace the missing infrastructure was not carried out, contributing to this derailment and a massive inconvenience to our customers," TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said Monday.
Engineers found that the derailment was caused by "localized rail wear" and the absence of a part on that section of the rails known as a "kicker plate."
Green said the missing kicker plate was identified by TTC staff in June 2017, just before Keele Yard started housing subway cars instead of just maintenance vehicles as it had been used in the past.
"After the issue of the missing part was raised, we immediately checked available stock for a replacement and it was verified that redesign and machining of the available part was required in order for it to fit at this switch location," Green told CP24.
"Unfortunately, we have no additional information as to why that work was not completed prior to January 2020."
Green said some of the staff who would have been involved in replacing the part are no longer with the TTC.
The kicker plate was replaced on the rail sometime after the Jan. 22 derailment.
Since the derailment, the TTC has made a number of changes to its processes around safety to prevent the same incident from happening again, including " a review of all switches in all yards, changes to our inspections, training and quality assurance processes, hiring of additional staff, modernization of our asset management system and the retention of an external consultant to assist in the review," Green said.
