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

QUOTE: 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.

VIA has certainly added assigned seating to more trains in the last year or so but even with the daily 5pm train to Montreal, which has had assigned seats for a decade, there are HUGE queues every day. Though I certainly like assigned seating, I am not sure that just adding it to all trains will stop people queuing.
 
The interesting part here is that GO and VIA *will* be sharing a concourse during the construction phase after the new York concourse opens in a couple of years, while the Bay and VIA concourses are under construction.
 
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Hoarding is going up on the south end of the shed (Tracks 11 & 12)... hopefully we start to see some actual shed work soon.
 
I wonder how they will redo the roof without too much disturbance...
Anyway, I have been musing about the roof and I wondered, why not put a patio or lounge on the green roof? Via's Panorama Lounge is located at the Concourse level and it could benefit from a new location/expansion. How about a restaurant up there? It would be as famous as the Oyster place at Grand Central (well, maybe it will) and afford incredible views of Downtown.

P.S.- I am going to be taking the train this Sunday so I will try to send some pictures if anything exciting is going on.
 
DSC said:
VIA has certainly added assigned seating to more trains in the last year or so but even with the daily 5pm train to Montreal, which has had assigned seats for a decade, there are HUGE queues every day. Though I certainly like assigned seating, I am not sure that just adding it to all trains will stop people queuing.
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I, too, am doubtful that more assigned seating would get rid of the lines. All it takes is one person lining up, and the rest of the passengers start worrying that they should line up, too. It's not a Toronto-specific problem, either. I witnessed a line wrapping around the entire Gare Central one afternoon, despite the fact that seats were assigned.
 
I can't remember if it was asked before, but why do the platforms jump from 12 to 26/27? Even today the conductor on the Milton train called it Platform 14 instead of Platform 27.
 
DHLawrence85 said:
I can't remember if it was asked before, but why do the platforms jump from 12 to 26/27? Even today the conductor on the Milton train called it Platform 14 instead of Platform 27.
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You and him might be thinking track numbers instead of platforms. Before the renumbering, they went by track number and side "A" or "B" for platform names. When they were renumbered, platform 1 became 3, 2 became 4, 3A became 5, 3B became 6, etc.
 
ShonTron said:
I see the commuter runs, especially the Kitchener and Niagara Falls trains as a bit more relaxed.
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The line for the 5:40 to Kitchener starts at least 45 minutes beforehand. It's routinely sold out, especially on a Friday.

The line-up approach is pretty crazy. Assigned seating is clearly the best approach. VIA forces people in specific cars by destination anyway and assigned seats would mean less need for staff to herd people into their cars and obviously would prevent fights over the four seaters. Last time I took a trip to Windsor with three friends and the conductor asked these two people to vacate the four seater for us. Without exaggeration, the one woman scowled at us for the entire trip.

On the other hand, I just took a trip to Ottawa and it was assigned seating on the way there. I got stuck in a four-seater with three other people. On the way back, there were no assigned seats and I was able to seek out a seat with a vacant one next to it.

I, too, am doubtful that more assigned seating would get rid of the lines. All it takes is one person lining up, and the rest of the passengers start worrying that they should line up, too. It's not a Toronto-specific problem, either. I witnessed a line wrapping around the entire Gare Central one afternoon, despite the fact that seats were assigned.
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You're probably right. I've always been a bit baffled by people who frantically line up for planes, too. The seats are assigned anyway and you clearly aren't going to get to your destination any earlier. They should fill the concourse at Union with benches both to make it a more comfortable place to wait and to discourage lines.
 
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March 27:

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MetroMan said:
What a mess... when do they start cleaning up the old shed?
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They already have. You can see the in bottom a pickup truck, removed tracks, construction pylons, etc. The work on the shed they are doing now are on tracks 11 and 12 which are under the shorter shed almost fully blocked by the ACC office tower.
 
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