Rail commuters in Canada's biggest city Toronto hit by long delays

Ontario regional transit operator Metrolinx temporarily halted its Toronto-area commuter trains, and warned travelers to expect further disruptions through the evening. "There is an ongoing CN networkwide system failure that is affecting all of our rail corridors.

Rush-hour commuters in Canada's biggest city Toronto were hit by long delays and cancellations on Tuesday after a system failure at Canadian National Railway Co led to signal issues along rail corridors. Ontario regional transit operator Metrolinx temporarily halted its Toronto-area commuter trains, and warned travelers to expect further disruptions through the evening.

"There is an ongoing CN networkwide system failure that is affecting all of our rail corridors. We are beginning to slowly resume service," Go Transit parent Metrolinx said in a statement. Some 190,000 passengers use GO trains and buses every day, which connect Toronto's downtown core to suburbs and small towns in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area, according to GO Transit's website.

Hundreds of frustrated home-bound commuters were stuck at Union Station in downtown Toronto. "This is just crazy, whatever it is, they (GO) need to do better," said David Miller, a coffee shop worker who saw three trains he planned to take being canceled.

GO Transit urged travelers to seek alternative arrangements but the sudden demand for taxis tripled fares on ride-share service Uber, according to several people who tried to book rides. An Uber spokesperson said prices temporarily increase when there are more ride requests than drivers.

"In response to this afternoon's GO transit situation, Uber capped surge pricing," spokesperson Keerthana Rang said in an email. GO Transit said it would prioritize trying to get people home from Union Station, which was "very busy".

In a statement, CN said it was experiencing an internet connectivity issue and apologized for the disruption. "While there is no indication of a cyber security issue, the cause of the outage is currently under investigation," CN said. (Created by Murali Anantharaman)

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