Info Screen In Way Of Subway Station Renos, So Construction Crew Just Builds Around (Most Of) It

October 8, 2024 by Dave Haynes

There will hopefully be some logic to this, but here’s a screwball workaround to dealing with passenger information displays while a subway station is undergoing renovations. Instead of taking a ceiling-mounted display down, the framing crew just built around the screen, so that just a portion of it is now visible to riders.

This is at a station in the Toronto mass transport system (known as the TTC), as captured by Neil Bron Chatwood, who runs the busy transport file for the long-running Toronto-area CMS software firm Omnivex.

“TTC never disappoints,” he notes simply on Linkedin.

Whether they were instructed or took it on themselves to deal with a screen partially in the way, the construction crew built a hoarding wall on either the platform or main level of the station. Based on the screen and sign on the temporary wall it must be the Vaughan station, which is at the far end of one TTC subway line. That would make some sense, since the Omnivex office is across a parking lot from that station.

UPDATE: As Ian Gadsby notes in comment below, the interesting approach was done by a crew working at St. Patrick’s Station, which is downtown Toronto. And his company didn’t get a head’s up.

I don’t think I would call this a fail, as the screen is working fine and content is showing. It’s just very curious.

Neil noted that given TTC construction projects tend to take roughly forever, the TTC could at least have some fun with that screen (or screens) and create some content that fits the visible window.

  1. Ian Gadsby says:

    St, Patrick Station… nope, no one told us, they usually do. I Do like the idea of funny content… I might do that. 🙂

    On the plus side, in more than half od the stations there are nice bright NEW screens being installed… we’re refreshing the whole network… not this one yet… 20 years later, nothing surprises me.

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