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

Photos from the CN Tower last night.

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I am sitting here at Gare Central in Montreal, and it’s hard not to make comparisons. Union is on top with its Great Hall, but the GH is virtually lifeless, with GO, VIA boarding and the food courts a level or two away. Here the food is attached to the hall, you wander through the boutiques trying to sort out what you might like to sip and sup on, as you enter the station. There is plenty of seating and can I add that the food beats the heck out of the late Cinnabon….just saying. However, as VIA surely grows their capacity to carry passengers and adds further trains, and perhaps EXO gets its act together and pushes to rival GO, then the edge passes back to Union. Union with its developing ability to handle larger
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volumes of travellers, connections to the airport and intercity buses (if they can get in or out of the city) would welcome further passengers. The addition of the Ontario Line adds to the connection. Gare Central will still have the better food and drink, perhaps better people watching, But walking from your train to the UP to your plane is very, very nice.
 
On the other hand if Windsor Starion had stayed a train station? A mere block or two away from the current Gare Central and currently next door to the Bell Centre. Plenty of size and cachet, now offices, entertainment spaces, public spaces, and a Metro stop, this could have been serious competition for Union. But in 1968 not many people were tho king of integrated transit solutions that did not focus on the family car(s). Ans Montreal and Jean Drapeau were no different then the political forces behind the Gardiner Expressway and the plan to bisect Toronto with a spiders web of inner city expressways, much like Detroit, Chicago, New York to name a few. And that concludes today’s tour, time for a cold libation.
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just east of the creek said:
I am sitting here at Gare Central in Montreal, and it’s hard not to make comparisons. Union is on top with its Great Hall, but the GH is virtually lifeless, with GO, VIA boarding and the food courts a level or two away. Here the food is attached to the hall, you wander through the boutiques trying to sort out what you might like to sip and sup on, as you enter the station. There is plenty of seating and can I add that the food beats the heck out of the late Cinnabon….just saying. However, as VIA surely grows their capacity to carry passengers and adds further trains, and perhaps EXO gets its act together and pushes to rival GO, then the edge passes back to Union. Union with its developing ability to handle largerView attachment 568126View attachment 568128View attachment 568127 volumes of travellers, connections to the airport and intercity buses (if they can get in or out of the city) would welcome further passengers. The addition of the Ontario Line adds to the connection. Gare Central will still have the better food and drink, perhaps better people watching, But walking from your train to the UP to your plane is very, very nice.
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Yes, Gare Centrale is quite boring 'architecturally' but SO much better on the food available front - if I am not travelling VIA1, I always stock up on great grub pre-train. Also, VIA 1 lounge in Montreal is utilitarian, but better located. I guess you win some and lose some!
 
DSC said:
Yes, Gare Centrale is quite boring 'architecturally' but SO much better on the food available front ...
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It seems to me that it's hard to beat the restaurants under Toronto Union station for variety.

Central is always busy - and part of that is that it's on the direct walking connection from office towers to the Orange metro.

To compare to the great hall (which always has some life) seems unfair. Compare to the moat and entrance in the northeast corner where all the stores are. I feel I'm in a modern shopping centre down there.
 
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