Metrolinx's construction team has been at work for six months now on the Toronto Pearson International Airport Station for the Union Pearson Express at Terminal 1. The station, sitting between the tracks of the temporarily shut LINK train, is now 75% complete, and the tracks for the LINK train will be turned back over to the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. The LINK has been replaced by buses since it closed in March to allow for the new UP Express station to be built. The LINK train will be operating again mid-October, normalizing travel around the Pearson site for airport workers and users again.

The UP Express station in context out front of Terminal 1, image courtesy of Metrolinx

The new train meanwhile, now branded UP Express, will connect travellers to and from the airport with Union Station in Downtown Toronto, stopping twice along the way at Weston GO station at Lawrence Avenue, and at Dundas West subway station at Bloor Street. The spur line leading to the airport from GO Transit's Georgetown South corridor and the new station itself are being constructed by AirLINX Transit Partner Inc., which is a consortium of Aecon Construction and Materials Limited and Dufferin Construction Company. The work is being delivered using the Province of Ontario’s alternative financing and procurement (AFP) delivery model. The contract is for a fixed price and a fixed completion date, and is overseen by Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario.

Close-up on the UP Express station at Terminal 1, image courtesy of Metrolinx

The Union Pearson Express station will open adjacent to the LINK station at Terminal 1, better facilitating passenger transit throughout Pearson Airport. Travellers will be able to head straight into Terminal 1, or hop the LINK train for the short ride over to Terminal 3.

Location of the UP Express station at Terminal 1, Pearson Airport, image courtesy of Metrolinx

The UP Express is on schedule for service to begin in 2015, prior to the summertime Pan and Parapan Am Games. UP Express is one component of Metrolinx's transportation plan called The Big Move, set to improve travel throughout the GTHA.

Want to know more about the Union Pearson Express? Check out UrbanToronto's dataBase file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Choose the associated Forum thread link, or leave your comment in the space provided on this page.