April 3, 2024 (Toronto, ON) – Membership-based transit advocacy organization TTCriders has launched a complaint to Toronto’s Auditor General about whether issues surrounding the Scarborough RT derailment constitute a breach of public trust.
TTCriders launches complaint to Toronto’s Auditor General about Scarborough RT derailment, maintenance issues
TTCriders launches complaint to Toronto’s Auditor General about Scarborough RT derailment, maintenance issues
April 3, 2024 (Toronto, ON) – Membership-based transit advocacy organization TTCriders has launched a complaint to Toronto’s Auditor General about whether issues surrounding the Scarborough RT derailment constitute a breach of public trust.
“The derailment of the Scarborough RT was shocking enough. The fact that the TTC was warned in early 2023 about some of the contributing factors to the derailment is distressing and unacceptable,” said TTCriders Board member and Scarborough resident Krissan Veerasingam. “Someone could have been seriously hurt. Scarborough residents need answers from the TTC.”
“The Scarborough RT should never have derailed. We are asking the Auditor General to investigate to make sure that a TTC derailment never happens again,” said TTCriders coordinator August Puranauth. “TTC management must answer for why the Scarborough RT’s closing date was pushed back, who decided to stop doing preventative maintenance, whether a defect at the site of the derailment was identified weeks before the accident, and whether the TTC listened to warnings it received in early 2023 about how it prioritizes track defects.”
“Riders are losing trust in the TTC and worried about the state of maintenance across the entire subway system, especially with the unprecedented number of reduced speed zones across the system this winter and the discovery of a cracked switch rail on the Line 1 subway on March 1, 2024,” they added.
After the Scarborough RT derailed on July 24, 2023, the TTC contracted four external consultants to prepare expert reports. The reports were available in Fall 2023 but have not yet been reported to a public TTC Board meeting. The TTC Board will meet on April 11, 2024 to discuss the reports.
TTCriders' complaint to the Auditor General, which is based primarily on information from the four reports, raises questions about whether the TTC was warned in advance about several contributing factors to the derailment, whether a defect at the site of the derailment was identified two weeks prior to the accident, why preventative maintenance was reduced, and other questions.
TTCriders' complaint asks the Auditor General to investigate the following eight questions:
- “What were the policies or decision-making processes that resulted in the TTC publishing four external consultant reports about the Scarborough RT derailment to its website, but not sharing the reports at public TTC Board meetings in a timely way?”
- “What were the decision-making processes that resulted in the TTC reducing preventive maintenance work on the Scarborough RT? Did the TTC cut or curtail necessary maintenance on the RT prior to the derailment, and did such action contribute to the derailment?”
- “What steps did the TTC take after receiving advice from an external consultant in early 2023 about problems with the way the TTC was prioritizing track defects on the Scarborough RT?”
- “Why are there discrepancies across several public reports about the planned closure date of the Scarborough RT, how did these discrepancies impact preventive maintenance, and on what basis was a decision made to extend the closing date?”
- “Were the track defects that caused the Scarborough RT derailment identified before July 24, 2023? What priority colour did the track patrollers assign to the defects?”
- “To what extent is information in the four consultant reports about the Scarborough RT derailment relevant to maintenance practices across the TTC subway system, and what steps has the TTC taken since receiving the reports?”
- “Did CEO Rick Leary provide information to the TTC Board during its February 22, 2024 meeting that was incorrect, false, or contradicted by information that TTC staff had available to them?”
- “What were the actions or technological errors that resulted in the loss of the video recording of the public TTC Board meeting on February 22, 2024?”
Link to the full complaint text and evidence: