TTC subway shutdown

TTC just shut down all 4 subway lines due to radio communication problem underground.

Sorry , not radio communications but some sort of communication problem. Probably signalling or telemetry issues

Toronto Star -TTC Shut Down

May-08-2015
TTC subway service halted due to 'major communication issue'
Service on all four TTC subway lines has been suspended due to a "major communication issue."
The TTC says it will provide an update on the situation as soon as possible but there is no word on when the issue may be resolved.
Is this part of the new system that they just installed?

Yahoo News

There has been a complete failure of radio communications systems no estimates on time to get back on line.

Sorry here is the post from YAHOO NEWS
Service on all four TTC subway lines has been suspended due to a "major communication issue."

TTC CEO Andy Byford said the subway network lost radio communication at around 6:30 a.m. ET, and the backup system did not kick in. Trains are currently holding at all platforms. Buses and streetcars are running normally.
There will be no shuttle buses operating in place of the subway trains. Shuttle buses frequently provide the only alternative means for commuters during subway shutdowns.
TTC technicians do not know why communications failed, Byford said, and it's "impossible" to know when the issue may be resolved.
Byford said he didn't want to speculate, but a series of power surges overnight may be contributing to the problem.

Service was restored slowly by 8am. But that's pretty sad the whole system collapsed and the back-up failed to kick in.

This doesn't look good especially with the PanAm games starting in less than a month...

mrweather said:

Service was restored slowly by 8am. But that's pretty sad the whole system collapsed and the back-up failed to kick in.

This doesn't look good especially with the PanAm games starting in less than a month...

Click to expand...

I almost want to believe that this was some sort of "drill". What I mean is if the system was targeted with a threat, I imagine the response would be to shut it down until they were satisfied that there was no danger to the public. Nice work by those radio tech's to get things up and running in an hour. Pardon my cynicism.

We have to believe what we are officially told. Failing radios are a favourite target nowadays.

On CP24 a reporter asked Andy Byford during a interview if this could been some kind of "hack"
Could someone hack the system.His reply was they are still investigating the cause.

I really find it hard to believe that 2 UPS units both failed in a critical time. Think their is more to the story than what their saying. Maybe a drill or a hack of the system and of the UPS as their software controlled now a days. my 2 cents

Many have suggested a drill as a possible cause, I just can't see a drill on a Monday during rush hour, no logic there.
As far as a possible hack, makes you believe with, I think they had 2 UPS (uninterrupted power supply) systems fail and with the age of the technology in use, a hack is very plausible.

Thing is with UPS software it tells them the condition of the charge so if it starts to fail they can fix it or replace where need be. UPS have been around and normally comes with software to monitor its status. So for 2 to fail the same time the main system goes down leads me to believe it was a hack or possibly they were stupid and used a under power rated UPS unit? But their more smarter then that I would hope.

All of the 423 MHz surface frequencies were off the air this morning, both voice and data. It wasn't just the subway system.

The 412 MHz repeaters were up and running normally.

Well here's my theory.

Last night, there was a power outage in the area where Transit Control is, due to the storm. This would have caused the UPS/Generators to kick on.

This morning there was also a power bump in the area. If there was a failure with a UPS charger or transfer circuit, that'd make sense.

Sounds like the systems didn't go offline gracefully. Stuff like this doesn't like just being turned off. I would imagine the delay was because it took them that time to get everything back online and confirmed working.

The power itself was probably back on almost instantaneously.