Toronto Transit Commission Union Station

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Arrow-left.png Northbound to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Union Northbound to Finch Arrow-right.png
Next Station: St. Andrew Next Station: King
Union Accessible.gif Wifi.gif
Rapid Transit Line 1 Yonge-University
Surface Routes 19, 72, 97, 121, 172, 310, 320, 509, 510
Presto Yes
Opening Date March 30, 1954
Platform Side
Ridership (2018) 143,640

This page is for the TTC subway station. For the railway station offering GO and VIA services, see Toronto Union Station.

Union Station SmallAccessible.gif is a rapid transit station operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 55 Front Street West, just west of Bay Street. It is directly connected to Toronto Union Station, where GO Transit and VIA Rail Canada operate out of.

History

Union Station opened in 1954 as part of the original Yonge subway between Union and Eglinton stations. It was the southern terminus of the line with a double crossover. The University subway opened in 1963 between Union and St. George stations. The crossover at Union was removed and relocated to St. George since its approach was also on a curve. A single crossover replaced it. During the evenings and weekends, the University subway was underused and as a result, it was closed during those periods. During the closure, subway cars would turn back at Union Station using the single crossover. This arrangement ceased once the Spadina extension opened in 1978.

Union Station's usage increased with GO Transit's arrival at Union Station. The concourse was expanded to allow access to the PATH system. Commuters could cut through the concourse or enter the the subway through fare gates to the east and west.

The Downtown Relief Line, originally concieved in 1985 to relieve the stress at Bloor-Yonge station, was planned to end at Union. Passengers would have been able to transfer from the Bloor-Danforth Line at Pape Station or Donlands Station to this line that would bring them to their downtown destinations. The line faded from existence when capacity improvements at Bloor-Yonge Station were completed.

Expansion

When the $9 billion waterfront revitalization project began, TTC officials saw this as an opportunity to expand Union Station as it would be vital to the transportation network of the new waterfront. Most of the funds for the Union Station expansion came from this project. With GO Transit undergoing service expansions and the Waterfront becoming revitalized, Union Station will only become busier and busier in the near future.

The Union Station Second Platform and Concourse Improvements Project and was introduced to the public on June 24, 2003. At the December 2010 Commission meeting, EllisDon Corporation was awarded the $161,550,000 contract for the construction of a new subway platform and reconfiguration of the concourse. Construction was scheduled to begin in January 2011 and end in April 2014.

By early 2008, work began on the project to relocate utilities where the current platform exists. The old yellow and white slats that were covering the wall at platform level were also removed. The north wall was reinforced while the south wall was demolished. Excavation of Front Street, which included the removal of the centre median, began in January 2011. The second platform and reconfigured concourse opened to the public on August 18, 2014.

To meet the demand created from the Cherry, West and East Waterfront streetcar projects, there is a proposal to expand the streetcar loop. It will be expanded to two tracks (platform and passing) with two platforms capable of holding two streetcars each.

Station description

The TTC concourse is directly north of the GO Concourse and is accessed by crossing the 'moat' at the north end of the station. It may also be accessed from the two staircases leading up to Front Street and the PATH network from Royal Bank Plaza.

The two fare paid areas have been unified, with PATH traffic diverted via an east and west bypass. Stairs immediately after the south side fare line lead to the new platform serving Yonge trains only. Further north, the original stairways lead to the platform that now serves University-Spadina trains only. New stairways to the east end of each platform have been opened at the tunnel to Brookfield Place.

The original centre subway platform, which now only serves University-Spadina trains, is the thinnest in the entire system. Being just over 4 metres wide, it had become insufficient in serving both northbound and southbound trains. In comparison, the newest centre platforms on Line 4 are over 10 metres wide.

The new second platform, which serves Yonge trains only, was built to the south of the current platform. It features large pockets of space that can accommodate heavy passenger volumes. The platform intersects the tunnel to the streetcar platform, and has eliminated the original stairway from the concourse.

The streetcar platform wraps around the outer part of the loop between the tunnel entrances. It is divided into alighting and boarding areas separated by steel barriers. The barriers existed for use during the summer when a proof-of-payment system was used on the two streetcar routes and passengers had to pay their fare after they exit the streetcar. Today, both streetcar routes have a permanent proof-of-payment system due to the introduction of the new streetcars. The loop opened in 1990 and is one of the sharpest streetcar loops in the system.

To the west of the station is the Union storage track, which holds a spare train during peak periods to relieve crowds. To the east of the station, a single crossover exists for short turns, although most trains often use the storage track instead. The single crossover used to be a double crossover, but when the University line was built, the crossover was moved to St. George Station, whose approach is also on a curve.

The original finishes of Union Station included "Primrose" Vitrolite tiles with red trim and lettering. When the station was expanded with a connection to the new GO Transit concourse, a colour pallet matching it was adopted. Pillars were finished with small round brown tiles, and the walls across the tracks had yellow and white slats with a black strip. The lower half of the wall remained bare concrete.

There was an underground connecting passageway between the TTC subway station and the main Union Station building and it was built when the subway station was under construction. The passageway lead from a point inside the station to the TTC station mezzanine outside the fare paid areas and was lined with the original yellow Vitrolite tiling used in the original subway station design. It was closed off to the public when the GO concourse opened.

There were numerous concession buildings in the west mezzanine of the subway station at one time. In the most recent years leading up to station renovations, tenants were J.P Camera (later converted to a Chantelle), Time Plus, and Cafe On The GO. The latter became the location of the short-lived TTC Transit Stuff store, which opened in 2006 selling TTC-branded Legacy Sportswear merchandise. The store was closed after a few years with a food operation replacing it.

After the 2011-2014 renovation, the station received glossy and matted white wall tiles. The station name is engraved into the wall and painted a pale grey. An art installation is installed on the glass wall separating the two platforms. The vibrant piece will contrast the mostly white and grey environment.

Routes

Rapid Transit

Surface Transit

Schedule

Union Station
Toronto Transit Commission Line 1 bullet-a.png Yonge Monday to Friday Saturday Sunday
First Train northbound 5:54am 5:56am 8:06am
Last Train northbound 1:45am 1:45am 1:45am



Union Station
Toronto Transit Commission Line 1 bullet-a.png University-Spadina Monday to Friday Saturday Sunday
First Train northbound 6:03am 6:09am 8:14am
Last Train northbound 1:51am 1:48am 1:48am


External links

v·d·e
Toronto Transit Commission Logo.png
Miscellaneous
Vehicles Buses - Community Buses - Wheel-Trans - Streetcars - Subway - Rail Workcars - Support Vehicles
Current Divisions Arrow Rd - Birchmount - Davisville - Eglinton - Greenwood - Hillcrest - Lakeshore - Leslie Barns - Malvern - McNicoll - Mount Dennis - Queensway - Roncesvalles - Russell - Wilson
Former Divisions McCowan - Danforth - (Old) Eglinton - Lansdowne - St. Clair (Wychwood) - Vincent (Keele)
Current Projects RapidTO - Easier Access
Former Projects Network 2011 - OneCity - Transit City (Bus Plan - Light Rail Plan)
Bus Stops 1-999, 1000-1999, 2000-2999, 3000-3999, 4000-4999, 5000-5999, 6000-6999, 7000-7999, 8000-8999, 9000-9999, 10000-10999, 11000-11999, 12000-12999, 13000-13999, 14000-14999, 15000-15999, 16000-16999
Current Routes
Rapid Transit 1 (Yonge-University) - 2 (Bloor-Danforth) - 3 (Ontario Line) - 4 (Sheppard) - 5 (Eglinton Crosstown) - 6 (Finch West)
Bus 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 115 116 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 160 161 162 165 167 168 169 171 176 184 189
Downtown Express 141 142 143 144 145
Seasonal 200 201 202
Blue Night 300 301 302 304 306 307 310 312 315 320 322 324 325 329 332 334 335 336 337 339 341 343 352 353 354 363 365 384 385 395 396
Community Bus 400 402 403 404 405
Streetcar 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512
Express Network 900 902 903 905 924 925 927 929 935 937 938 939 941 943 944 945 952 953 954 960 968 984 985 986 989 995 996
Former Routes
Rapid Transit 3 (Scarborough)
Bus 1 2 3 4 5 6 13 13 13 14 19 24 27 28 30 38 40 42 58 59 93 102 106 107 107 108 117 117 118 121 121 121 123 124 134 136 137 139 139 140 144 163 163 164 166 171 172 172 175 197 224 268 406 408
Rocket 185 186 188 190 191 192 193 194 194 195 196 198 199
Seasonal 174 203
Blue Night 302 303 305 307 308 309 310 311 313 315 316 317 319 321 383
Community 401 406 407 409 425
Streetcar 513 514 521 522
Express 913
Current Stations
Yonge-University Vaughan Metropolitan Centre - Highway 407 - Pioneer Village - York University - Finch West - Downsview Park - Sheppard West - Wilson - Yorkdale - Lawrence West - Glencairn - Eglinton West - St. Clair West - Dupont - Spadina - St. George - Museum - Queen's Park - St. Patrick - Osgoode - St. Andrew - Union - King - Queen - Dundas - College - Wellesley - Bloor-Yonge - Rosedale - Summerhill - St. Clair - Davisville - Eglinton - Lawrence - York Mills - Sheppard-Yonge - North York Centre - Finch
Bloor-Danforth Kipling - Islington - Royal York - Old Mill - Jane - Runnymede - High Park - Keele - Dundas West - Lansdowne - Dufferin - Ossington - Christie - Bathurst - Spadina - St. George - Bay - Bloor-Yonge - Sherbourne - Castle Frank - Broadview - Chester - Pape - Donlands - Greenwood - Coxwell - Woodbine - Main Street - Victoria Park - Warden - Kennedy
Sheppard Sheppard-Yonge - Bayview - Bessarion - Leslie - Don Mills
Bus Scarborough Centre
Former Stations
Rapid Transit Lower Bay - Lawrence East - Ellesmere - Midland - McCowan
Greater Golden Horseshoe Agencies
Barrie
Bradford West Gwillumbury
Brampton
Brantford
Burlington
Caledon
Durham Region
GO Transit
Grand River
Guelph
Hamilton
Metrolinx
Milton
Mississauga
Niagara Region
Oakville
Orangeville
Peterborough
Port Hope
Simcoe County
Toronto
York Region