As transit advocates began a day of action on Tuesday to address the TTC’s overcrowded subway lines, a cascade of problems threw Toronto’s subway system into chaos.

Passengers riding both Line 1 and Line 2 subways on Tuesday morning found themselves repeatedly delayed by everything from signal issues to emergency alarms to door problems.

“This morning’s service on Line 1 was abysmal and, for that, the TTC sincerely apologizes,” said Brad Ross, spokesperson for the TTC, in a tweet posted Tuesday afternoon.

The situation was decried by Shelagh Pizey-Allen, executive director of TTCriders, the transit advocacy group that started a “day of action” Tuesday to demand relief to TTC overcrowding and call for increases to the TTC’s budget by city council.

“It was a coincidence that these extreme delays happen today, but we know delays and overcrowding are not uncommon,” Pizey-Allen told the Star.

The problems started before bleary-eyed passengers began stumbling into TTC stations on Tuesday morning. Overnight track work near Finch Station didn’t clear until later than expected, according to a statement from Ross.

This meant several work vehicles had to be parked in pocket tracks — spaces that can be used to park empty commuter trains as platforms become overcrowded. It wasn’t possible to run these work vehicles back to Wilson Yard until after morning rush hour — and difficulties in the area were made worse by signal problems in the area, the statement said.

To make matters worse, a disabled train with brake issues parked north of Finch Station was moved to Davisville Yard at 7 a.m. Twenty minutes later, it began to emit smoke at Eglinton Station, shuttering service for 16 minutes.

A switch and signal problem northbound at Davisville Station then started causing problems for all northbound traffic approaching St Clair Station — which then caused problems for the rest of the line.

At Museum Station, a 10-minute delay thanks to a door problem then turned into a 21-minute delay after someone hit the emergency alarm just after the door problem was fixed.

“A 21-minute delay at that hour truly kicked off this morning’s problems,” Ross’s statement said.

Overcrowding at St George Station ensued. The TTC bypassed it, sending trains up to Bloor-Yonge Station — which then became “excessively crowded.”

Mayor John Tory described Tuesday’s problems as unexpected, but said that isn’t an excuse for the repeated delays.

“I think what happened this morning with a couple of switches freezing and so on, are unexpected things but nonetheless they shouldn’t happen,” Tory said.

He said improvements to the signalling system are a matter of time and not money. Tory said the transit agency needs to continue the work of former CEO Andy Byford and continuously improve customer service.

“The trend lines are generally positive, but there are days like today that are exceptions to that,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure that we exercise our due diligence in every way we can to ensure those things don’ happen, period.”

One of the two initiatives proposed for funding through this year’s budget process is to relieve overcrowding on buses during 25 rush hour service periods and on four most-crowded routes during off-peak times.

The agency could add service on the bus routes in the fall, costing $1 million this year. To maintain the same service levels after that would cost $4 million annually.

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Pizey-Allen said delays like the ones that happened on Tuesday are not unusual. She said Line 1 has been dangerously overcrowded and transit riders need relief.

“We can’t wait another year for a better service.”

Council will vote on the 2018 TTC budget next month.

With files from Ben Spurr