GO Transit: Union Station Shed Replacement & Track Upgrades (Zeidler)

[picard102]

Nov 15th:

Kind of looks like a light fixture that has dead bugs trapped inside.

 

[innsertnamehere]

TOareafan:

While it might be amazing from our perspective (besides the fact that the project is long overdue), it's really not that big deal at an international (or even North American, if you include NYC) level - the project (at a 1B or so) is downright miserly, especially considering the usage we're talking about.

AoD

What do you mean? We are getting a huge amount form $1 billion.. 2nd platform, new path connection, an entire new shopping level, 2 new concourses, etc, etc, etc. the amount of stuff we are getting is insane, and it will look about as great as you can reasonably expect a 90 year old station to be.

 

[someMidTowner]

What do you mean? We are getting a huge amount form $1 billion.. 2nd platform, new path connection, an entire new shopping level, 2 new concourses, etc, etc, etc. the amount of stuff we are getting is insane, and it will look about as great as you can reasonably expect a 90 year old station to be.

Though how would you stack this project up against the £500 million restoration of King's Cross in London?

 

[Uncle Teddy]

Turning out great.

 

[rbt]

Though how would you stack this project up against the £500 million restoration of King's Cross in London?

Union will still look like Union. King's Cross is an entirely different looking station from the outside.

From a preservation point of view, Union is a much better project.

 

[someMidTowner]

Union will still look like Union. King's Cross is an entirely different looking station from the outside.

From a preservation point of view, Union is a much better project.

I am not going to call one better than the other, but it is interesting to see what two different rail stations in two different alpha world cities do with a similar revitalization budget.

 

[TOareaFan]

I think it is dangerous to compare projects in different markets, with different goals and different "environments".

The amazing thing to me, as I said, is that we are reno'ing Union from all sides...the outsides, the above sides and the below sides and doing that while keeping it open and functioning pretty well just makes me shake my head and smile sometimes.

 

[Platform 27]

Is the glass roof not going to go right up to the building?

Not quite. Referencing this:

All of the old roof that's to be totally removed is now gone, and four walls of the glass box will go around the complete periphery of that hole. The remaining space between there and the south wall of the station building proper (where the top decking of the roof has been removed but there are still beams) will have its decking put back and restored to its historical condition.

However, the top frosted glass roof structure has significant overhang beyond the actual glass box, so that will actually stick out over the restored old roof and head much closer to the station building proper. I don't know if we've seen a rendering that properly illustrates how close it will get.

 

[someMidTowner]

It is dangerous to compare projects in different markets if you are approaching the conversation from a competitive angle. Putting aside the funding, economics and political hurdles, and looking at the mechanics of what each city needs out of a major transit hub can still make for an interesting conversation.

And I agree with you - the fact that we can have a new train shed, concourse, copper roof, subway platform and much more without massive service interruptions is pretty significant.

 

[nfitz]

Though how would you stack this project up against the £500 million restoration of King's Cross in London?

£550 million was just for the mainline trainshed and station at King's Cross. They also renovated the adjoining St. Pancras station at the same time, which was another £800 million. I don't know how much total has been spent on the King's Cross St. Pancras tube station, and I'm not sure if the two new underground platforms for the St. Pancras are included in that or not, as I think that was part of the Thameslink budget, not the St. Pancras £800 million. When all is said and done, and you convert to 2013$ it must be well over $2 billion - more double what is being spent at Union.

 

[TOareaFan]

£550 million was just for the mainline trainshed and station at King's Cross. They also renovated the adjoining St. Pancras station at the same time, which was another £800 million. I don't know how much total has been spent on the King's Cross St. Pancras tube station, and I'm not sure if the two new underground platforms for the St. Pancras are included in that or not, as I think that was part of the Thameslink budget, not the St. Pancras £800 million. When all is said and done, and you convert to 2013$ it must be well over $2 billion - more double what is being spent at Union.

Again, it is not a competition, but your comment made me think out loud about what the total cost of the multiple projects are at Union?

Shed....second subway platform...new concourse and retail renovation.....nw path extension? It's all amazing stuff...and coming from different budgets/pockets...but I would have thought the total was beyond $1B....no?

 

[rbt]

Again, it is not a competition, but your comment made me think out loud about what the total cost of the multiple projects are at Union?

Shed....second subway platform...new concourse and retail renovation.....nw path extension? It's all amazing stuff...and coming from different budgets/pockets...but I would have thought the total was beyond $1B....no?

There are "only" 3 funding components. Station, Train Shed, and 2nd Platform. Everything mentioned is contained in one of those 3.

Corridor improvements (switches, signals, track realignment) are not in those but they're also not really station related.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

TOareafan:

At this point, probably a bit beyond 1B - just off the cuff:

Station revitalization: ~800M
Union Station 2nd Platform: ~150M
Trainshed: ~250M
Western PATH: ~ 60M

So conservatively, we are looking at 1.25B.

AoD

 

[khris]

Not quite. Referencing this:



All of the old roof that's to be totally removed is now gone, and four walls of the glass box will go around the complete periphery of that hole. The remaining space between there and the south wall of the station building proper (where the top decking of the roof has been removed but there are still beams) will have its decking put back and restored to its historical condition.

However, the top frosted glass roof structure has significant overhang beyond the actual glass box, so that will actually stick out over the restored old roof and head much closer to the station building proper. I don't know if we've seen a rendering that properly illustrates how close it will get.

Ya, that's what I thought, but wasn't sure. Thanks for the answer.

 

[TOareaFan]

TOareafan:

At this point, probably a bit beyond 1B - just off the cuff:

Station revitalization: ~800M
Union Station 2nd Platform: ~150M
Trainshed: ~250M
Western PATH: ~ 60M

So conservatively, we are looking at 1.25B.

AoD

thx