Toronto Subway and RT - Operations and Procedures

Operations and Procedures

Like most subways, the Toronto subway/RT trains collect their electric power from a third rail mounted alongside the tracks. 'Shoes' mounted on the trucks are located on both sides of each coach for the required contact. Power is supplied at 600 V DC. Scarborough RT trains cannot switch directions except at the ends of the line as there are no turnback switches between the two termini. In contrast, the subway system was built in multiple segments, thereby providing multiple x-pattern crossovers. Current service patterns do not provide regular short turn service aside from the procedure at St. Clair West in the AM rush hour; however, the flexible crossovers have come in handy during emergencies where service is suspended in certain areas. Subway trains maintain their normal schedule, serving every station on a particular line, except during the morning rush hour when some northbound trains short-turn at St. Clair West Station or, in rarer cases, Glencairn Station. Electric-mechanical signs, left over from the 1966 integrated subway lines experiment, were used to indicate if a train was going to short turn or not. This service was discontinued in 2004, though the signs were not even used at all in various stations.

Safety procedures have progressed over time, usually in response to a mishap. One such incident was in March 1963, when there was an electrical short in a subway car's motor. The driver decided to continue operating the train, despite visible smoke in the affected car, until the train reached Union Station. This decision resulted in the destruction of six subway cars and extensive damage to the tunnel and signal lines west of Union Station. Following this incident, safety procedures involving electrical malfunctions and/or fire in subway trains, were revised to improve safety and reduce the likelihood of a similar incident occurring.

GO Transit commuter trains stop at or near the Kipling (GO's Kipling station), Dundas West (GO's Bloor station), Main Street (GO's Danforth station), Leslie (GO's Oriole station), and Kennedy (GO's Kennedy station) subway stations. The TTC's Union subway station connects with Union Station, Toronto's main railway station, which serves not only GO trains, but also Via, Amtrak, and Ontario Northland. GO buses connect with the TTC at a number of stations, and some other GO stations, while not connected to the subway, are served by buses or streetcars.

A train guard is responsible for opening and closing the subway car doors, and making sure no one is trapped in a door as the train leaves a station. A light in the drivers cab lights up when the doors are closed and it is all clear. The car carrying the guard can be identified by the white or the orange light outside the subway car. For safety reasons, since 1954, a transit-worker notified patrons that the subway car doors were closing with two short blasts from a whistle. In 1991, due to lawsuits, electronic chimes, using a descending three-note arpeggio (either G-E-C, or between one or two semitones lower (F♯-D♯-B or F-D-B♭ )) and a flashing pair of orange lights above the doorway, added for the hearing impaired, were tested and gradually introduced system-wide during the 1990s. The new Toronto Rocket trains use the same door chimes and flashing orange lights as with the older trains but plays the additional "Please Stand Clear of Doors" voice-over at the end of the closing door chimes.

Platform markers

Circular Red Disk (All Trains) This marker is typically mounted on the station platform wall to assist the operator to position the train in the station. When the train is stopped with the marker located between the front of the train and the first set of doors, the train is properly spotted (that is, aligned) in the station.

Circular Green Disk (Bloor-Danforth line) This marker is typically mounted on the station platform wall and applies to H-type and T-1 trains. When the guard’s window is aligned with this marker, under normal operating conditions, the guard knows that the train is properly spotted on the platform and it is safe to open the doors.

Circular Orange Disk (Bloor-Danforth line) This marker is typically mounted on the station platform wall to assist the guard on H-type and T-1 trains to observe the platform (for passenger safety) for the required distance, under normal operating conditions, as the train is moving to exit the station.

Green Triangle (Yonge-University-Spadina and Sheppard lines: Guarding from the Trailing Car) This marker is typically mounted on the station platform wall to assist the guard, who is positioned in the trailing car. When the guard’s window is aligned with this marker, the train is properly spotted on the platform, and it is safe to open the doors.

Orange Triangle (Yonge-University-Spadina and Sheppard lines: Guarding from the Trailing Car) This marker is typically mounted on the station platform wall to assist the guard positioned in the trailing car to observe the platform for the required distance as the train is moving to exit the station.

Service Frequency

During rush hour, up to 50 trains will be on the Yonge-University-Spadina line simultaneously, and 40 trains on the Bloor-Danforth line. During non-rush hour periods, there are approximately 27 trains on the Yonge-University-Spadina line at any one time.

On weekdays and Saturday, subway service runs from approximately 6:00 am to 1:30 am, but Sunday service begins at 9:00 am. Start times on holidays may vary.