Subway service could soon start one hour earlier on Sundays if Mayor John Tory and TTC Chair Josh Colle get their way.

Tory and Colle held a press conference at city hall on Thursday to discuss a report that will go before the TTC board later this month recommending that the start of subway service be pushed up by an hour to 8 a.m. at a cost of about $1 million annually.

The move, Tory said, is almost “the minimum” that the city can do as society continues to shift away from a conventional Monday to Friday work week and residents demand expanded transit options.

Subway service on weekdays and Saturdays currently begins at 6 a.m. and runs until 1:30 a.m. but on Sundays it starts a full three hours later.

“Is this the end? No it is not; It is the beginning,” Tory said. “My ultimate goal would be to have the subway open the same number of hours every day and to even extend those hours.”

In the past the TTC has said that the later start to Sunday service is necessary to allow it to conduct maintenance, however the transit commission was able to provide earlier subway service on Sundays during the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games in July and August.

Transit agencies in other cities have also managed to provide consistent subway service throughout the week. In Montreal, for example, service starts at 6 a.m. 7 days a week and in Chicago, which has a similar population to Toronto, subway service is provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Speaking with reporters at city hall, Tory said that TTC CEO Andy Byford has found a way to shorten the window required on Sundays “without sacrificing maintenance” or necessitating the suspension of service at other times.

Tory also hinted that efforts are underway to further reduce the maintenance window, making further improvements to Sunday service possible in the future.

“I think where there is a will there is a way,” he said.

Tory and Colle pen open letter

Tory has pushed for expanded Sunday subway service in the past but until recently the TTC had maintained that it might take it until 2020 to act on the recommendation.

In an open letter penned by Tory and Colle that was released earlier on Thursday morning, the duo said the time to act is now.

“We are not the only global centre that is adapting to the evolving realities of peoples’ lives,” the letter states. “Other municipal transit systems have stretched their hours and changed their thinking to provide modern service to modern cities. It is important to both of us that Toronto continues to work toward these standards, and provide the comprehensive service our riders deserve.”

The TTC board is expected to discuss the proposal for expanded Sunday subway service during its next meeting on Nov. 23.

If approved, Tory said the change could come into effect as early as the new year.

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