What is Union Station (toronto)?

GO Transit
Facility Services
140 Bay Street Toronto, Ontario
Fare zone	02
Station building	yes
Wheelchair access	yes
Parking spots	0

Coordinates:

Union Station is a major railway, subway, and streetcar hub at 65 Front Street West between Bay Street and York Street in downtown Toronto. Currently, the primary function of the railway station is to act as a terminus for commuters on GO Transit, thanks to which it is busier than any other transport facility in the country, including airports. It also serves as a hub for intercity trains, and many railway companies have their offices within the building.

Structure

Union Station is eight stories tall and features a massive lobby known as the Great Hall, numerous corridors at the top, and a shooting range used by Canadian National Recreation Association Gun Club. The ground floor is the arrival hall. The first floor is the departure hall and also leads to Front Street. It has a footbridge that connects to Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

While VIA Rail, the successor to the railways that originally built Union Station, continues to use it as a major hub for the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor (including the joint VIA-Amtrak Maple Leaf train to New York City) and the eastern terminus of The Canadian, the vast majority of passengers travelling through the station are from GO Transit's commuter trains. Toronto Transit Commission riders likewise outnumber VIA passengers. The station is also used by Ontario Northland trains to northern Ontario.

Union Station is one of the few large railway stations in North America to use through-train operation. That is, the train platforms are through lines rather than lines which terminate in the station, as in stub-end operation. The name 'Union Station' refers simply to the fact that it united two railways in one building; for more information, see the article union station.

The platforms in the train shed are very close together. Passengers wait downstairs in a concourse similar to that of an airport prior to their trains arriving at the platform. Once the train has arrived, passengers enter gates which lead via escalator or stairs to the platform where they board the train.

Previous station		VIA Rail		Next station
Terminus		Toronto-Ottawa		Guildwood ''toward Ottawa
		Toronto-Montreal		Guildwood ''toward Montreal
Oakville ''toward Windsor		Windsor-Toronto		Terminus
Brampton ''toward Sarnia		Sarnia-Toronto
Oakville ''toward		Niagara Falls-Toronto
Washago ''toward Vancouver		The Canadian		Terminus
Previous station		Amtrak		Next station
Oakville ''toward		Maple Leaf		Terminus
Previous station		Ontario Northland Railway		Next station
Washago ''toward Cochrane		Northlander		Terminus

History

Toronto's third Union Station (see more on Old Union Station) was the largest enclosed space in Canada at the time it was built. Construction was begun in 1915 and the building was officially opened on August 6, 1927, by Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, with a pair of gold scissors,^[1] in a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Prince George, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario William Donald Ross and Mrs. Ross, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, the British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and Mrs. Baldwin, Ontario Premier George Howard Ferguson, and numerous other members of the Ontario and Canadian governments.

Union Station was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Grand Trunk Railway. The architects were G.A. Ross, R.H. MacDonald, Hugh Jones, and John M. Lyle. Like many stations of its period, it is designed in the classical revival style developed by the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

In 1954, the Toronto Transit Commission opened a station immediately north of Union Station, which acted as the southern terminus of its new subway line, and as part of 1990's Harbourfront LRT project, they added an underground streetcar loop now used by the 509 Harbourfront and 510 Spadina lines.

In 1972, the station was threatened by the two railways' (by this point the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific) Metro Centre development proposal. It would have seen new office and retail developments and a communications and observation tower (which was later re-designed and built as the CN Tower) on the site of Union Station and adjacent rail yards. The entire station was to be demolished, and replaced with an underground terminal, similar to New York City's Penn Station. Local opposition to the proposal was successful in having the city council's decision to support the Metro Centre development overturned.

Hostage taking incident

On August 25, 2005, a hostage situation unfolded outside the station. A man with a domestic violence record held a woman hostage at gunpoint during the morning rush hour at the entrance of Union Station. A squad from the Emergency Task Force responded to this incident. The decision was made to end the standoff and a police sharpshooter killed the suspect. The hostage was traumatized but unharmed.^[2][3]

The future

Union Station was purchased by the City of Toronto from the Toronto Terminals Railway Company (TTR) in August 2000. On July 24, 2003 the City agreed to lease Union Station to the Union Pearson Group for a term of 100 years. A public-private partnership was to be created to redevelop the station. The Master Plan had four major components:

• An integrated public realm, redefining and joining the Union Plaza and Front Street spaces,
• A modern station, including redevelopment of the train shed with construction above it,
• Revitalization of underutilized spaces, notably redeveloped concourses, moats, and teamways, and
• Extended pedestrian connections, including improved passages, new entrances, and improved ease of movement.

On April 26, 2006, the city's deal with Union Pearson collapsed as the company was unable to meet a city imposed deadline.^[4] Plans to renovate the station are currently on hold.

An announcement on May 24, 2006, will address issues of commuters — the GO platforms will get a new direct connection to the PATH system, the subway will get a new eastbound platform, streetcars will have better access, and other areas will have improved capacity. This is a $100 million initiative from the city and the transit authorities, along with the provincial and federal governments.^[5]

Presently there is no rail service to Toronto Pearson International Airport, but on November 13, 2003, Transport Canada announced the selection of SNC-Lavalin subsidiary Union Pearson AirLink Group to finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain a railway link between Union Station and Pearson. The service is to be named Blue22 because of its planned 22-minute trip time. At present, it is planned that the line will use four refurbished Rail Diesel Cars, with trains running every fifteen minutes, seven days a week. Due to opposition and a new environmental assessment for the project, the expected opening date for Blue22 will be later than 2008, as originally projected.

Union Station in popular culture

Union Station has appeared in various films and television series, often representing settings in other cities. These include:^[6]

• Shining Time Station
• Baby on Board
• The Freshman
• Johnny Mnemonic
• The Last Detail
• The Legacy
• Loser
• The Return of Eliot Ness (TV movie)
• Silver Streak
• The Time Shifters
• To Catch a Yeti
• The Kids in the Hall
• Cinderella Man
• Death to Smoochy
• Nikita (TV series)
• Witchblade TV Series
• Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
• Who is Cletis Tout?
• The Man Who Saved Christmas (TV movie)
• Fool Proof
• Picture Claire
• 16 Blocks
• Talk To Me
• Runaway (TV series)
• The State Within
• Due South
• Chicago (2002 film)

See also

A list of other railway stations (terminals or depots) in Toronto:

• Toronto, Grey, Bruce Railway Terminal - south of Fort York
• Grand Trunk Freight House - Front and Simcoe
• Northern Railway Office - Spadina and Wellington
• Grand Trunk Passenger Terminal - Front and Yonge (now GO Union Station / Bus Terminal)
• Toronto Nippissing Passenger Terminal - Front and Parliament
• Northern Railway Depot - south of St Lawrence Market
• Toronto Transit Commission
• TTC Union Station
• Yonge-University-Spadina line
• 509 Harbourfront
• 510 Spadina
• GO Union Station / Bus Terminal
• CityPlace - A master planned development that originally proposed that Union Station be torn down in the 1960s.

References

• Toronto Union Station Master Plan
• CBC: Train station leased for 100 years
• Union Pearson Group
• Transport Canada Rail Link News Release
• Toronto's Union-Pearson Air-Rail Link
• Toronto Terminals Railway Company

•  • [ e] Landmarks in Toronto

Art Gallery of Ontario Canada's Walk of Fame Canadian Broadcasting Centre Casa Loma CHUM-City Building CN Tower Dundas Square Exhibition Place Fairmont Royal York Fort York Gibson House Harbourfront Centre Hockey Hall of Fame Toronto International Centre Kensington Market Montgomery's Inn Nathan Phillips Square Old City Hall Ontario Place Ontario Science Centre Osgoode Hall PATH Underground Queen's Park R.C. Harris Filtration Plant Robarts Library Royal Ontario Museum Sam the Record Man St. James' Cathedral St. Lawrence Hall St. Lawrence Market St. Michael's Cathedral Todmorden Mills Toronto City Hall Toronto Eaton Centre Toronto Islands Toronto Pearson International Airport Toronto Zoo Union Station Waterfront Trail WindShare Wind Turbine Sports: Air Canada Centre BMO Field Maple Leaf Gardens Ricoh Coliseum Rogers Centre Varsity Centre Performing arts: Bathurst Street Theatre Canon Theatre Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres Four Seasons Centre Hummingbird Centre Massey Hall Molson Amphitheatre Princess of Wales Theatre Royal Alexandra Theatre Roy Thomson Hall By type: Parks Old buildings

•  • [ e] Toronto skyscrapers and famous buildings
(partial listing)
Current Toronto towers and buildings CN Tower | First Canadian Place | Scotia Plaza | Brookfield Place | Commerce Court | Toronto-Dominion Centre | Royal Bank Plaza | One King West | Manulife Centre | Exchange Tower | World Trade Centre | Hudson Bay Centre | One Yonge Street | Simcoe Place | Four Seasons Hotel | Royal York | Metro Hall | Canada Permanent Trust Building | Canadian Broadcasting Centre | CHUM-City Building | Osgoode Hall | Canada Life Building | Sun Life Building | Continental Bank of Canada Building | Eaton Tower | Old City Hall | Robarts Library | Toronto City Hall | Queen's Park | Union Station | Rogers Centre | Royal Ontario Museum
Proposed or Under construction Toronto towers Trump Hotel & Tower | Sapphire Tower | Bay-Adelaide Centre
Civic space around Toronto towers Nathan Phillips Square | Dundas Square
List of tallest buildings in Toronto