Missing track screws may have caused GO train derailment in Toronto: Metrolinx

Missing screws investigated

Photo: The Canadian Press

A view of Toronto's Union Station is seen on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. 

Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay says missing screws on a railway track just outside Toronto's Union Station may have been the cause of a GO train derailment last week that caused commuter disruptions for days.

Lindsay told a Metrolinx board meeting today that early findings in the investigation indicate screws at nine separate locations on the track "sheared under fatigue and gave way."

The head of the provincial transit agency says this caused the rail to move by just over one inch, which was enough to cause a GO Transit train to derail as it left Union Station.

The screws that gave way should have been fastened in place by four additional screws, but the preliminary Metrolinx investigation found they were fastened by only two.

Lindsay says Metrolinx is in talks with Toronto Terminals Railway, the company responsible for track and signal maintenance of Union Station's rails, to understand how this "non-compliance" with Metrolinx's standards was allowed.

He says Metrolinx has conducted a thorough inspection of Union Station's railways alongside TTR and found "one or two" additional locations where tracks weren't up to standard, adding that fixes were implemented immediately.

"I can offer, again, a very confident assurance both to the board as well as to our riding public that the (Union Station Rail Corridor) and the track within it has been inspected and is safe," Lindsay said.

Lindsay noted no injuries were reported as a result of the derailment because the train was following slow speed orders put in place because of the age and condition of the track infrastructure.

Metrolinx is issuing automatic fare refunds to some GO train riders after the derailment caused major delays for commuters travelling through Canada's busiest transit hub.

All customers who rode a GO train on Feb. 2 and 3 will receive refunds, and riders on select trips on Feb. 4 will also get their money back.