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

[Richard White]

The wall at the end should be removed.

I think it is there for crowd control. When there are large events at Scotiabank arena they lock the doors and people are directed to either the York Concourse or the subway.

Without the wall at the end it would be a complete s**tshow if an event lets out at the same time trains are arriving.

 

[rbt]

It was such an unpleasant and disappointing experience that I've now reconsidered my plan to travel more by rail instead of flying everywhere. No way. Maybe I'm spoiled but airports are far more pleasant than VIA's Union Station concourse.... and that's saying a lot given the poor reputation airports have.

I tend to agree but realized at one point I didn't actually need to spend any time in that area. I started waiting elsewhere in the station until I'm one of the last people to board. My time in that area is less than a minute per trip.

Occasionally I need to boot someone out of my seat on the train.

 

[nfitz]

It was such an unpleasant and disappointing experience that I've now reconsidered my plan to travel more by rail instead of flying everywhere.

It was fine when I was down there a couple of weeks ago for about 10 minutes, until my train boarded. Looks like it had all got a fresh coat of paint since last time I took VIA. I can't imagine what travesty befell it in the last fortnight.

My error a couple of weeks ago was arriving too early - boarding begins a long time before the train leaves. So there's no real need to even be in the train station before boarding begins, unless you are changing from another VIA train.

These seems like an extreme over-reaction to me. Seemed better than waiting for a train in Penn Station a few months ago, where there wasn't even anywhere near the gate to stand properly, just a hallway. Or Montreal Central station, where the train passengers are in a large area that's also a thoroughfare, rather than being on a separate level where there's little reason to walk through - not much seating in Central either.

Can't imagine how the airport is ever a better experience - though Billy Bishop at least isn't too bad.

 

[DSC]

As virtually all VIA trains have reserved seating there is absolutely no reason to line up; you CAN sit in the (new and improved) waiting areas and if you have been at an airport in last decade you may remember the general (if somewhat organised) chaos at departure gates. (I agree the new lighting in VIA concourse is a disappointment but let's not go overboard!

 

[Northern Light]

This is how they can fix it:

Aesthetics: Replace the harsh ceiling lights with recessed alcove lighting along the ceiling lines. Install wall light fixtures in the style of gas lanterns to maintain the existing look of the station. Install a false ceiling with a mirrored finish to give an impression of height and perforated to help eliminate echo. The wall at the end should be removed. Why is it even there? I'm hoping that that is yet to come as they open up the walls leading up to Maple Leaf Square. That might bring in some natural light.

Logistics: Install a PA system and an asynchronous check in and boarding procedure. As you arrive at the concourse down the ramp, you use a terminal to print your tickets and weigh your bag, getting a tag to attach to it. Roaming workers help with check ins and ensure nobody is cheating the system. You wait in the waiting areas rather than in a line. The screens at the gates show the gate number, destination, status and boarding time. When boarding starts, announcements come on the PA: Now boarding car 5 to Montreal at Gate 9. Announcements should also sound in the Great Hall so that it becomes another larger waiting area to keep crowding in the concourse down. After they go through all the cars, an announcement stating that general boarding is now open so that people can just walk up to the platform. No need to wait in lines.

If this sounds familiar, that's because it is. The airline industry has long figured this out and done boarding pretty well for decades.

I, among many others have sounded off on the terrible choice of light fixtures for this area.

They are beyond lacking in aesthetic appeal, the quality of the light itself is garish, overbearing and unflattering to the space.

I agree recessed lighting would be a superior choice and allow a negligible increase in ceiling height.

I'm inclined to disagree w/the false ceiling in that lowering the height of the ceiling here, even fractionally seems dubious to me, given how low it is already.

The rear wall should either be removed, or be built up with permanent fixtures worthy of our ideal version of Union Station. What feels like temporary walls and doors will not do.

The boarding issue is one addressed by other posters in terms of making it work better in the near term.

The longer term objective of self-boarding, particularly for those without luggage, on day trains is entirely reasonable and hopefully might occur with the various platform expansions in the offing, though it may
be a few years yet.

 

[muller877]

This is one of my issues with the accessibility of Union Station. The lack of connectivity between the UPX and York Concourse is bad. There really should be a set of stairs next to Tim Hortons Kiosk or Union Chicken makes it difficult to transfer/move through the station. If only Platform 3 had stairs where Starbucks is located. The Skywalk really should also have access to both York Teamways.

When the Moat is finished will i would love to see the PATH connection to Citigroup Place be upgraded. Would be great to have a barrier free entrance from Station St/York St (west side) into Citigroup Place. Connected to their PATH to get to Union Station.

Then once Station St/ is redeveloped (alongside 151 Front & the Skywalk) there would be another access point to UPX and areas to the west.

 

[MetroMan]

I think it is there for crowd control. When there are large events at Scotiabank arena they lock the doors and people are directed to either the York Concourse or the subway.

Without the wall at the end it would be a complete s**tshow if an event lets out at the same time trains are arriving.

I'm not sure how that helps since they're still going through the GO concourse rather than the VIA. People going to Front tend to take the teamway on either side while those going to GO, follow the signs to GO trains. Signage should direct people seeking the subway to go to the teamways.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

When the Moat is finished will i would love to see the PATH connection to Citigroup Place be upgraded. Would be great to have a barrier free entrance from Station St/York St (west side) into Citigroup Place. Connected to their PATH to get to Union Station.

Then once Station St/ is redeveloped (alongside 151 Front & the Skywalk) there would be another access point to UPX and areas to the west.

I would like to see a skywalk connection to the PWC tower. However I doubt that's even possible

 

[Megaton327]

I would like to see a skywalk connection to the PWC tower. However I doubt that's even possible

There is a connection if you go west and south, then before the MTCC doors there are doors to Delta, PWC is two buildings east - but it's *much* faster to just go south down the York West Teamway...

 

[nfitz]

I'm not sure how that helps since they're still going through the GO concourse rather than the VIA. People going to Front tend to take the teamway on either side while those going to GO, follow the signs to GO trains. Signage should direct people seeking the subway to go to the teamways.

You can walk around the wall on both sides. It only blocks off the centre of the VIA concourse,not the two walkways that go along the edge, all the way to the GO platforms furthest south and the south entrance off Bremner near the NW corner of the ACC or BankNovaScotia or whatever it's called these days.

 

[unicornsample]

As virtually all VIA trains have reserved seating there is absolutely no reason to line up; you CAN sit in the (new and improved) waiting areas and if you have been at an airport in last decade you may remember the general (if somewhat organised) chaos at departure gates. (I agree the new lighting in VIA concourse is a disappointment but let's not go overboard!

Airports are nice because they recommend you arrive several hours before your departure time. Union overall is pleasant enough and will improve in the future. And much like an airport, there's a lounge upstairs.

It's marked as a retail space from what I can gather. Not a lot of space to work with tho...

With the "pop up" spaces looking huge in comparison, really makes you wonder what would fit. Reminds me in scale of the coffee stands outside every London tube station.

 

[Le Gique]

That absolute impulse to line up for assigned seating - it’s as if everyone is a newbie to VIA, or afraid they’ll fall asleep in the waiting area or something. I still find it odd.

 

[DSC]

That absolute impulse to line up for assigned seating - it’s as if everyone is a newbie to VIA, or afraid they’ll fall asleep in the waiting area or something. I still find it odd.

Me too, but then I find myself doing it!

 

[timio]

For me, it's anxiety about missing the train. Ridiculous, I know, but I do the same for flights, bus, boats, etc. If I'm in line, it's much harder to miss than if I were sitting off to the side somewhere.

 

[Canadian Chocho]

The benefits of being first to board is that you get earlier access to the luggage racks and the overheard storage, or to grab a seat if it's one of the few trains that don't have assigned seating.

Also there's isn't really a need to board car by car, all the cars that are expecting passengers should have their doors open unlike an airplane where there's only one access door so they segment their boarding by zones.

The lighting however is indeed atrocious.