Toronto Union Station Revitalization | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | NORR

[Platform 27]

Very Interesting what they're going to do.

Question, is there a thread on whats going to happen with the TTC's Union Station? I can't seem to find one...

Nope. This thread has been covering something like five distinct projects that will all be going on more-or-less simultaneously in the Union station precinct plus the small-scale stuff that's been ongoing.

The TTC will also start work this summer on a second subway platform at Union and on improvements to the mezzanine level. Those projects are expected to take about three years and cost about $137.5 million, said spokesman Brad Ross.

Later in the year, the south side of Front St. will be dug up in order to build the new subway platform, which will be wider to ease the surge of traffic currently handled by just one.

Excellent news. This is, I think, the first hard date we've heard for the TTC project, and it's quite close at hand indeed.

 

[Swarley]

Any sign of activity on 24 and 25 today?

 

[41stfloor]

Any sign of activity on 24 and 25 today?

The only activity I've noticed is red "Danger - Do Not Enter" tape plastered over various openings and orange pylons on the platform at the east end. There may be more activity at the west end.

 

[Platform 27]

The only activity I've noticed is red "Danger - Do Not Enter" tape plastered over various openings and orange pylons on the platform at the east end. There may be more activity at the west end.

I didn't get around to posting this earlier, but I briefly skulked around the south edge of Union station on both Tuesday and Wednesday on my way in and out of town.

As 41st floor noted, the only real initial sign of construction were single strips of "Danger - Do Not Enter" tape strung systematically across all access points to Platforms 24 & 25, along with polite little signs saying "Closed for Construction" (in maybe 14 pt font on single sheets of AECON-letterheaded 8.5 x 11, very much like it ought to be advising employees not to leave dishes in the office sink). By Wednesday evening, though, the contractors had started to seal up entire doorways at the bottom of staircases, closing them off with particleboard walls.

I imagine the next step will be installing hoarding along the platform edges, which will allow contractors to horse about with a bit more impunity and reduce the risk of workers or building materials winding up on active tracks. As of Wednesday evening, there was no sign of anything having really changed at track level. That might be different now.

In related news, there's been a rollout of a fair number of pretty well-done oblique interior maps of Union Station all over the various public areas, showing platform numbers, access stairs, and so on. They're just printed on ordinary cardstock and look to be relatively temporary, but in light of the next three years of construction, permanent signage would be more than a little bit stupid. In any event, they meet an ongoing need for better wayfinding information quite handsomely.

As of Tuesday the south-end entrance ramp to Union Plaza by way of the east wing of the Telus Tower looked almost ready to go. It's shown as open on the aforementioned maps, FWIW.

Finally, the last of the hoarding has been cleared away from those much-delayed new staircases connecting with the Bay West Teamway. The changes mean that a fairly significant chunk of airy space now becomes part of the current GO concourse.

 

[yyzhyd]

Pulling out on the GO Train tonight I can confirm that Tracks 11 & 12 have been ripped out under the shed.

 

[EnviroTO]

What on earth is going on with the city portion of this project? No Public Advisory Group meetings since last August (was monthly at one point), no news since Vanbots got the construction contract in early December, and no contract for the TTC portion of the project yet. Shouldn't something be happening??

 

[Hipster Duck]

They desperately need to start spreading the load away from Union if they're going to introduce real rapid transit service on all the lines. A station around Cherry and Spadina/Bathurst would help.

In all the plans the VIA section is still quite separate from GO. If anything, the HSR would just add people to the currently underused VIA section of the station. If they got rid of the ridiculous lineups at the platforms an hour in advance, either by letting people up to track level or introducing assigned seating, they could squeeze a lot more people and trains through.

Next to Transit City, Union Station is one of the most poorly-planned long-term transportation projects that we are embarking on. It doesn't receive the same amount of negative attention as TC, and that's too bad, because the reconfiguration of the main transportation hub in the region is - though less expensive - arguably more important for the city's future than TC.

I honestly don't see why they don't just allow VIA and GO to use the same space, whether that's the ticketing concourse or the actual tracks that the trains travel on. If we can think beyond jurisdictional boundaries and envision a day when we might want to have an integrated regional and intercity rail network, we might want to consider a physical space where connections between the two are seamless. Right now (and based on future plans) we treat the two as wholly separate entities within the same building, sort of like the domestic and international wing of an airport.

 

[unimaginative2]

I used the south entrance to Union recently. It's a nice new feature, but it's still pretty unfinished inside. It just leads to this meandering corridor that eventually takes you to the VIA arrival concourse. Not too impressive yet, though I suppose it will probably improve as part of the big project. The biggest problem with it is that it was supposed to be the sort of taxi stand entrance area to get all the cabs and drop-offs away from Front Street. Unfortunately I don't think Bremner is really wide enough or long enough through there to handle it. We shall see when Maple Leaf Square is finished.

 

[Dan416]

Next to Transit City, Union Station is one of the most poorly-planned long-term transportation projects that we are embarking on. It doesn't receive the same amount of negative attention as TC, and that's too bad, because the reconfiguration of the main transportation hub in the region is - though less expensive - arguably more important for the city's future than TC.

I honestly don't see why they don't just allow VIA and GO to use the same space, whether that's the ticketing concourse or the actual tracks that the trains travel on. If we can think beyond jurisdictional boundaries and envision a day when we might want to have an integrated regional and intercity rail network, we might want to consider a physical space where connections between the two are seamless. Right now (and based on future plans) we treat the two as wholly separate entities within the same building, sort of like the domestic and international wing of an airport.

I never really thought about it that way. But I think you're right. It does seem pretty ridiculous and short-sighted to not have GO and VIA share space. People don't care about jurisdiction, they just want to take a train to wherever they're going. At North Station in Boston the MBTA commuter trains and Amtrak trains depart from the same waiting area. IIRC correctly Metra trains and Amtrak trains in Chicago are the same although I didn't use it so I can't say that 100%.

 

[EnviroTO]

VIA boards a whole train through a single door requiring a large crowd around a single door so that when they get to the top of the escalator (GO doesn't welcome escalators) VIA staff can direct people to a specific train car. While GO's crowding issues disallow escalators to be used. I agree with sharing the boarding area but not with sharing tracks because VIA's platforms need either escalators or more elevators than normal due to luggage and ideally would be made high platforms like Montreal and Quebec City. If the boarding areas were shared then VIA could create more platform access points and board different cars through different escalators instead of sending everyone up the same one.

 

[Dan416]

Yeah it would be nice if the VIA platforms were high floor.

 

[ShonTron]

I honestly don't see why they don't just allow VIA and GO to use the same space, whether that's the ticketing concourse or the actual tracks that the trains travel on. If we can think beyond jurisdictional boundaries and envision a day when we might want to have an integrated regional and intercity rail network, we might want to consider a physical space where connections between the two are seamless. Right now (and based on future plans) we treat the two as wholly separate entities within the same building, sort of like the domestic and international wing of an airport.

Yes, that is unfortunate in the set up. Montreal's Central Station of course has all the AMT and VIA trains using the same concourse, but there's some logistical reasons for that as well. Penn Station (a mess far worse than Union) has all three agencies (NJ Transit, LIRR and Amtrak) separated from each other, hopefully Moyanhan Station will fix that. I remember Washington Union to separate all the functions as well - it seems to be popular in North America (and don't get me started on Chicago's railway station mess).

VIA has made some steps towards all-assigned seating with a few trains, though every train should have them, with line-ups only required for those on commuter passes or perhaps non-assigned "standby" tickets. In essence, only the trains to Ottawa and Montreal get the crowds and line ups, though the occasional Windsor train does as well. I see the commuter runs, especially the Kitchener and Niagara Falls trains as a bit more relaxed.

When I do take VIA to Ottawa or Montreal, I usually take VIA 1 anyway - it's the only time I splurge for better accomodations, partly to avoid the line up, get guaranteed seating in a seat I want (ie unblocked window) and get fed and boozed. It's worth it when they have the fare deals.

 

[Jay11]

Isn't Union station reno going on for like umm 10 years?
I used to live on lakeshore and left for few years in Europe and when I came back, voila! construction still going on!

 

[Dan416]

Isn't Union station reno going on for like umm 10 years?
I used to live on lakeshore and left for few years in Europe and when I came back, voila! construction still going on!

There've been some improvements to the station, but no renovation per se.

 

[Hipster Duck]

Yes, that is unfortunate in the set up. Montreal's Central Station of course has all the AMT and VIA trains using the same concourse, but there's some logistical reasons for that as well. Penn Station (a mess far worse than Union) has all three agencies (NJ Transit, LIRR and Amtrak) separated from each other, hopefully Moyanhan Station will fix that. I remember Washington Union to separate all the functions as well - it seems to be popular in North America (and don't get me started on Chicago's railway station mess).

Having used all three, I would say that Chicago is the worst. It's actually a crime because a beautiful Beaux Arts building is basically used as a glorified waiting room, while all the transactions and ticketing (and the official entrance) takes place in a grimy, early 1970s dungeon that makes the Toronto Coach Terminal feel like the newest addition to Beijing's Capital Airport. I read somewhere that the reason they don't use the Great Hall in Chicago is because there's no air conditioning...Central station in Montreal and Penn station are equally bad, and certainly well below Toronto, but it doesn't do us any good to compare ourselves to these armpits. We would just be the tallest midget in the circus.