Toronto Union Pearson Express | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | MMM Group Limited

hawc said:
1/3 of this video is out of focus.
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For some reason, the beam hitting light cause the out of focus from time to time. Even taking photos.
 
I checked the Fodors, Frommers, and Lonely Planet web sites today to see how they would advise travellers to get from the Toronto Airports into the city. I assumed that by now, UPX's marketers would have been all over these sources to promote their product.

Not one of these sources even mentions UP Express. That doesn't say much for UPE's success in marketing the service.

Tripadvisor has just over 130 reviews, with the vast majority being positive as to convenience and quality of service. The one area consistently mentioned as a negative is price.

Seems to me UPX has its work cut out - if people planning a trip to Toronto don't hear about UPE, what are the odds they will use it?

- Paul
 
So I finally took the UPX this past Tuesday for the first time. Just thought I would share a few thoughts:
  • They're trying hard to get people on the train. Just after international arrivals they had 3 people stationed at the bottom of the ramp giving out the half-off vouchers.
  • It's kind of weird that there's no Union Pearson Express signage anywhere in Pearson. Just kind of understated "Trains" or "Trains to City" in wayfinding.
  • The train itself is very nice and very comfortable. Great luggage storage. No gap at all with the platform.
  • The staff to rider ratio is pretty close to 1:1. My car had two people on it and one attendant. The car behind me had 5 people and another onboard attendant. At Pearson, I counted at least 6 employees. 3 at the arrivals exit. 1 at the automated ticket machine. 2 at a sales booth on the platform.
  • I got off at Bloor station. Yikes..wayfinding there is terrible. I started towards the Dundas exit, but encountered an elevator that was not in service yet. The Bloor side is completely deserted and a bit post-apocalyptic looking. There wasn't any signage I could find about connecting to the TTC. Also if you take the Bloor exit, there's absolutely nowhere convenient for a taxi to pick you up. Some of the station finishes were already falling apart. The door open button for handicapped/luggage almost fell off when pressed.
Overall, it's a nice train and a nice service. The only reason I took it was because I had unwieldy luggage and wanted to save a bit on a cab by taking it to Bloor and then Uber home. If they cut the price by 50% I'd take it regularly. If they cut it by 30-40% I'd take it occasionally. As is, I don't know when I'll next take it.
 
I had family visiting from Florida over Christmas. They stayed at a downtown hotel. I told them about the UP Express, but they thought our cabs were pretty reasonable. So they took a cab to and from the airport.
 
gabe said:
I had family visiting from Florida over Christmas. They stayed at a downtown hotel. I told them about the UP Express, but they thought our cabs were pretty reasonable. So they took a cab to and from the airport.
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With the weak canadian dollar it's becoming poverty tourism ;)
 
Napoleon said:
  • It's kind of weird that there's no Union Pearson Express signage anywhere in Pearson. Just kind of understated "Trains" or "Trains to City" in wayfinding.
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Really? The early complaint was that having signs that said "UP Express" were confusing because only the initiated would know what that was...they reacted fairly quickly and revamped the signage to say "trains" and "trains to the city" in response....and now that is a problem?
 
Saw a glossy, full-page UPX ad in the current EnRoute. Great promotion but...it doesn't list the Presto fare! Given the message from Mlx spokesfolk that we should think of the fare as $19, not $27, it seemed a bizarre omission.

Same deal the first time I used the train. There was ZERO signage to indicate the cheaper option even exists.

If they really want to boost ridership, it's about time to stop hiding the fare structure from patrons.
 
If they did highlight the Presto fare, then someone here'd be complaining that they we promoting something that can't yet be relied on the TTC.

In fact did someone already make that complaint further up?
 
nfitz said:
If they did highlight the Presto fare, then someone here'd be complaining that they we promoting something that can't yet be relied on the TTC.

In fact did someone already make that complaint further up?
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If a complaint can be made, whether justified or not, you can be sure a UTer can be relied on to make it.
 
crs1026 said:
I checked the Fodors, Frommers, and Lonely Planet web sites today to see how they would advise travellers to get from the Toronto Airports into the city. I assumed that by now, UPX's marketers would have been all over these sources to promote their product.

Not one of these sources even mentions UP Express. That doesn't say much for UPE's success in marketing the service.

Tripadvisor has just over 130 reviews, with the vast majority being positive as to convenience and quality of service. The one area consistently mentioned as a negative is price.

Seems to me UPX has its work cut out - if people planning a trip to Toronto don't hear about UPE, what are the odds they will use it?

- Paul
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I was going through Air Canada's onboard menu PDF and saw this gem.

CW13x47WUAE1W_j.jpg:large
 
To be fair, that PDF file is from the year before last, when the bus service was still running. I doubt the version currently being distributed on the planes have this, and this is just a historic document. Was it linked from anywhere current?
 
nfitz said:
To be fair, that PDF file is from the year before last, when the bus service was still running. I doubt the version currently being distributed on the planes have this, and this is just a historic document. Was it linked from anywhere current?
Click to expand...

I have an Air Canada booking at the moment, so I went in and found the current menu page (you have to go to the Buy Meal Vouchers option in the "Manage Your Bookings" section).

It has an ad indicating that one can purchase a UPE ticket from a flight attendant, and then an added full page ad featuring the UP One-UP offer. As for Presto, there is only a comment that reads

For complete fare information including return fares and details on PRESTO, please visit UPexpress.com.
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It's actually quite common for companies to keep old documents active on their web site, without a current link pointing to them. That is helpful to people who may have bookmarked the page in the past. Often google, or past press releases, will point to them even though they have been taken off the active web page. It's how I find a lot of documents that GO and Metrolinx don't want us to read any more, so it's not a bad thing over all :)

- Paul
 
gabe said:
I had family visiting from Florida over Christmas. They stayed at a downtown hotel. I told them about the UP Express, but they thought our cabs were pretty reasonable. So they took a cab to and from the airport.
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It always makes more sense for more than one passenger to take a cab. Most people don't go to Union or Bloor/Dundas.
 
ksun said:
It always makes more sense for more than one passenger to take a cab. Most people don't go to Union or Bloor/Dundas.
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I'd be careful with absolutes. For my family of four (two adults, two kids under 13) to get from Pearson to our place in Cabbagetown it does not always make sense to take a cab.

Looking at the the UPE, the kids travel free while my wife and I each pay $19 with our Presto Cards, for a family total of $38, plus $6 to take the TTC to our house (or $12 for an Uber), for a grand total of $44 - $50. If the weather is nasty or we're traveling during rush hour, we can save a lot of time and about $15 bucks or more to take UPE.
 
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