TTC planned major outage during VELD but the internet forced them to change it
A planned early TTC subway closure that would have left VELD attendees stranded has been revised after public complaints.
The TTC had planned to end subway service at 11 p.m. on Friday night from St. Clair West to Sheppard West stations for planned track work — a stretch that includes VELD's venue of Downsview Park on the festival's opening night.
But people immediately pushed back against the planned early closure.
Please push this back to 12 or 12:30! It will be absolute mayhem once VELD lets out at 11pm. 70,000 attendees and majority of them will be heading downtown, relying on TTC. The roads will be SO congested for atleast an hour following, shuttle busses will be stuck in that traffic.
— tayls (@truetayls) August 1, 2024
VELD alerted Instagram followers to the planned outage on Thursday, writing, "We acknowledge a few stations will not be in service on Line 1. Shuttle busses will be in effect between stations. Please plan accordingly."
Social media users quickly flagged this issue to the TTC, noting the terrible timing for the closure of Sheppard West subway station, where there will just happen to be about 70,000 people on Friday night.
I like how here in Toronto, the TTC, instead of doing event planning, does anti-event planning.
— Ramsey Kilani 🌐🔰 (@Ramsey_Kilani) August 1, 2024
"Oh there's 70 THOUSAND people who might need to use the subway? That sounds like the perfect time for maintenance!" pic.twitter.com/UbE89KZh6c
One user described the lack of planning from the TTC as "atrocious."
This is literally the largest EDM festival in Canada, this is atrocious. should really change defer this maintenance after VELD if they can do so safely @TTChelps
— Rodney | Steeles Ave Stan (@_ChanFace) August 1, 2024
While the TTC defended the early closure as "essential work that needs [to be] carried out" and noted the challenge of finding days "when there isn't something big happening in the city," the transit agency did indeed revise its planned closure, bumping it ahead by an hour and giving the masses more time to commute home post-event.
Did we just save @VELDFest through twitter?https://t.co/GFWZZYIxOg
— Ramsey Kilani 🌐🔰 (@Ramsey_Kilani) August 2, 2024
The early closure from Sheppard West and St. Clair West stations is now planned to begin at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, August 2, with regular service to resume the following morning at approximately 6 a.m.
VELD runs at Downsview Park from August 2-4.
Fareen Karim
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