According to LM who was at Exhibition station just before the item was noticed by a police officer (around 3 pm) and was was witness to the whole "SHUT IT ALL DOWN" chaos, the item in question was shaped like a paper towel roll, with nails protruding from it - as told to her by someone who caught a glimpse of it.
CP24 reported it was cylinder in shape and that the The CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) unit was called in to investigate the item. Eventually, a robot was put on the track to grab it, but it couldn't, so a specialized officer had to be called in donning a special safety suit and he managed to pick up the item.
It was 7 pm before the situation was called off and closer to 9 pm before regular GO train service resumed for Lakeshore West/East, Barrie, Milton and Kitchener.
No one knows what it was. But it was a stupid move by a stupid person. Tens of thousands of customers were impacted by this stunt.
I took the 5:05 pm train that terminates in Pickering. There were thousands of people stranded at Union and thousands more at Pickering waiting for rides from spouses, buses, and for trains that were slowly arriving to continue east. It was an absolute shit show. But at least I got home to see my kid off to bed. There were people who did not get home until 11 pm last night.
I'm pissed off I'm out the fare, since I default to Oshawa, but it pales in comparison to Rebecca who paid $140 in cab fare to get home to Milton to rescue her kids from daycare, as well as an additional $20 in late fees.
Bomb robot in park as a #GOtrain rolls past Exhibition Station. Still not reopened to public though. @680NEWS #GO pic.twitter.com/s0Iav0ur7a
— Mark Douglas (@Douglas680NEWS) September 9, 2015That's one horde of angry people. #GOtrain #gotransit #lsw #360 @CTVNews @globalnews pic.twitter.com/uofBqIiB4c
— Chris (@COverholster) September 9, 2015
9 comments:
The 6:36am GO Transit Non-Apology was laughable:
The bomb scare didn't even make today's newspaper. It would have it'd been the TTC.
From: "GO Transit"
Date: September 10, 2015 at 6:36:49 AM EDT
Subject: Last Evenings Commute
As many of you know yesterday evening, we experienced significant delays because of a police investigation of a suspicious package at Exhibition GO. The location of the incident made it difficult for many of our trains to leave the train yard to operate their trips. We pride ourselves in making your commute a safe and enjoyable one, but we were unable to do that yesterday evening. We want to take this time to offer you our sincere apologies and to thank you for being patient as we worked with police to resolve the issue.
I lucked out last night, got on the LSE 5:10 that I think left around 5:30 ish and was not even packed, made it home 1/2 hour late. I feel horrible for all the people affected last night.
Thankfully, I had a TON (well 2) appointments yesterday which meant watching all the "fun" from home.
The CSR this morning pretty much read that apology word for word this morning close to Union.
I was one of the lucky ones. Took the 4:10 Milton train and was delayed only because of signal problems around Dixie. 3:40, 4:10 and 4:35 were not affected by the investigation, but later Milton trains were. At least some Lakeshore West riders were able to take the Milton line to Cooksville and get to Port Credit Station to continue west along Lakeshore. I guess this is when the Milton line can be a blessing.
Jesus H Christ. Did Rebecca have NO ONE should could call to pick her kids???
I asked her that. Unfortunately, she just moved to the area from Mississauga and her parents live in Calgary. No friends nearby. I really feel for her. Not all of us have ironclad contingency plans.
I'm surprised they didn't close down the Gardiner as well... Given the close proximity of the elevated portion of the highway to the "bomb", it is kind of shocking they let thousands of people drive/sit in traffic above it. The highway is literally right beside the tracks there... I'm no explosives expert, but you would think a blast could compromise the already crumbling highway bridge!
At least there are cameras at the station, hopefully GO has some video of this moron placing it.
Crap. I should have waited for the 5:10. I was on the 5:20 which was PACKED.TO.THE.GILLS! And we didn't leave until close to 5:30 either.
I walked in the door at 6:45 pm.
Two more days until vacay!!!
My train is the 4:10 LSW to Oakvilke. I got to Union @ 3:50.pm saw the delays and got the 4:10 Milton train. I was able to connect from Milton to Go Bus with service to Oakville GO. I learned my lesson from the 2003 Mimico derailment to always have a back up plan and don't rely on GO.
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