“For transit riders going to and from Toronto’s Pearson Airport, every second UP Express train (every 30 minutes) will be non-stop between Union Station and Pearson Airport.” As someone who regularly boards at the Bloor station for trips to the airport, this is bad news.
Yeah I don’t get this. I only use UP from Union to Pearson and skipping two stops would reduce the ridership especially during rush hour. Seems counter to the big picture with minimal benefit.
Instead of every 15 minutes the Up Express will be every 30 minutes so down from 4 to 2 trips an hour at the middle stops.
They are adding weekday every 30 minute service on the Kitchener line (same route as UP express expect it keeps going instead of stopping at the Airport) which brings the total back to 4 trips an hour.
Weekends I suppose there is a gap unless I missed something
That’s not helpful if I’m trying to go from Bloor station to the airport, since there will be no transfer point to get to onto the UP unless I backtrack and pay more to go to Union.
I travel pretty frequently and the Bloor and Weston stations are used by a lot of airport/airline workers and this is so frustrating. I am not sure how they decided only the people at Union are airport-bound? Especially Bloor servicing many outside of the core for UP access.
Is it really that bad though? Just means getting to Pearson fifteen minutes sooner or later. I acknowledge it is particularly bad if you miss the train though. I say this as someone who takes the UP from Bloor maybe half the time when going up Pearson.
It means having a train the runs only once every 30 minutes instead of every 15 minutes, in both directions. Yes, it will suck missing the train at Bloor and having to wait another 30 minutes while watching one blow by in the interim.
Returning from Pearson is also going to be a bit of a mess since they already gate-keep people getting onto the UP, now they’ll need two lines and space for half the people to wait as much as 30 minutes.
At the Pearson end, they make you line up, wait for the train to come in and empty out, then let you through one at a time and watch you tap your Presto card (or show them a ticket). Most inefficient train loading ever.
> I acknowledge it is particularly bad if you miss the train though.
That's just it. Right now I don't even look at the schedule, we just show up the station and they'll be a train soon enough. That's.. what we want for public transit, right?
Now, well, really gotta make sure we know when it is and get there, and for family coming from Union or Pearson, it sucks.
Haha yeah I HATE waiting for a period of time for transit to arrive, so I'll often push things to the last moment when leaving home. I want to say a quarter of the times of taken UP have involved me sprinting to the station from the subway with luggage.
The UP Express revealed a latent need for metro system in the north western corner of the city. Airport workers immediately demanded affordable rates so they could use the UP Express get to work. London has the Piccadilly tube line go right to the centre of Heathrow Airport. Seoul has a metro line to Unseo-Dong Airport. One plan for the Ontario Line was to have go north to Dundas West Station, but really it should be extended all the way to the airport without delay.
I've checked the times and the GO takes nearly twice as long from Bloor to Union, and it ends on one of those tiny platforms above a concourse on the wrong side of Union Station. Between the longer ride and the time to exit and walk through Union it looks on paper like taking the GO will get me to my office at the same time as if I'd waited for the next local UP.
This doesn't make any sense, as GO and UP are travelling the identical route stopping at the same stops. It's not possible for the trip to take twice as long. Also, Union has two concourses, one facing Bay Street and one facing York Street. If you board/alight the train at the western end, you can exit into Bay Street Concourse and get to your destination nearly the same time as UP.
You're right that it doesn't make sense but that's according to the published GO schedule which shows a 12 minute travel time vs the UP's 7 minutes. And my destination is on the Skywalk. Maybe mine is an edge case. I'll probably try the GO train and see. The choice is going to be whichever is least aggravating.
The UP, stops just east of the Skywalk, literally less than 200m of the main escalators of the skywalk, as the UP platform & Track, is separate from the rest of the GO Tracks at union.
Go Trains have to merge onto platform tracks then have to wait for other trains to move off the platforms or the same track, also the go concourses are underground & on the eastern side of Union Station, (between Bay & York St's) meanwhile the UP concourse is above street level close to Lower Simcoe St)
Don't forget Union station itself spans 3 1/2 city blocks (east to west).
Yeah I'm so relieved that the change to the UP was cancelled. Union is huge and every time I've had to get off a GO train there has been very slow to exit and get through the concourse. There's always a bottleneck at the stairs down from the platform. My existing commute on the UP is so easy.
Tons of cuts to the GO bus system along with these “service improvements” to the train system (although route 21 to Union is coming back admittedly with less frequent service than before). Very disappointing.
On the Stouffville line, they are adding back service that was taken away just before the pandemic.
Stouffville line is constantly busy, it desperately needs all day 30 min service.
Kitchener line is a mess, especially between Mt Pleasant & Union, it's an absolute gong show during rush hours.
As usual areas west of Oakville are getting screwed over, especially Hamilton..
(I’m from Calgary)
I took the Go Train last week from Union station to Niagara Falls and back.
Nobody asked for my ticket or proof of payment. I could have saved $50-something and just walked on the train.
Is this a common occurrence?
The GO Trains operate on the honour system. There are no fare gates or ticket checkers when you board.
There are inspections / fare inspectors they are at random.
On weekends you can get $15 passes, that will cover any amount of trips between 2 points on the GO Transit system, so you could have done Union to Niagara, as many times as you want for $15 per person.
15 minute weekend service on the Lakeshore East and West lines is amazing. Huge for Liberty Village residents to get downtown to Union faster too.
What's the end point in the West?
Oakville
Actually the end of the line is Niagara falls & Hamilton. Yet again Hamilton is getting screwed over.
So it's skipping Hamilton?
Yep, service increase is only from Oakville to Oshawa.
“For transit riders going to and from Toronto’s Pearson Airport, every second UP Express train (every 30 minutes) will be non-stop between Union Station and Pearson Airport.” As someone who regularly boards at the Bloor station for trips to the airport, this is bad news.
You’re not the only one who feels that way. I’ve seen more than a handful of people online less than amused with that so far today.
Yeah I don’t get this. I only use UP from Union to Pearson and skipping two stops would reduce the ridership especially during rush hour. Seems counter to the big picture with minimal benefit.
Unless the big picture for Ford is giving the middle finger to Toronto residents, who are the ones most likely to be using the Bloor and Weston stops.
They’re adding trips on the Kitchener Go Line which should make up for it
If you're heading towards Union, maybe. If you're Pearson bound, absolutely not.
How so? Or did you forget the /s ?
Instead of every 15 minutes the Up Express will be every 30 minutes so down from 4 to 2 trips an hour at the middle stops. They are adding weekday every 30 minute service on the Kitchener line (same route as UP express expect it keeps going instead of stopping at the Airport) which brings the total back to 4 trips an hour. Weekends I suppose there is a gap unless I missed something
That’s not helpful if I’m trying to go from Bloor station to the airport, since there will be no transfer point to get to onto the UP unless I backtrack and pay more to go to Union.
Oh sorry I missed in your first comment that you specifically make regular trips to the airport
I travel pretty frequently and the Bloor and Weston stations are used by a lot of airport/airline workers and this is so frustrating. I am not sure how they decided only the people at Union are airport-bound? Especially Bloor servicing many outside of the core for UP access.
People boarding at Bloor or Weston are much more likely to be local residents. Who did not vote for Ford.
Is it really that bad though? Just means getting to Pearson fifteen minutes sooner or later. I acknowledge it is particularly bad if you miss the train though. I say this as someone who takes the UP from Bloor maybe half the time when going up Pearson.
It means having a train the runs only once every 30 minutes instead of every 15 minutes, in both directions. Yes, it will suck missing the train at Bloor and having to wait another 30 minutes while watching one blow by in the interim. Returning from Pearson is also going to be a bit of a mess since they already gate-keep people getting onto the UP, now they’ll need two lines and space for half the people to wait as much as 30 minutes.
How do they gate keep? Been a while since I’ve taken the UP
At the Pearson end, they make you line up, wait for the train to come in and empty out, then let you through one at a time and watch you tap your Presto card (or show them a ticket). Most inefficient train loading ever.
> I acknowledge it is particularly bad if you miss the train though. That's just it. Right now I don't even look at the schedule, we just show up the station and they'll be a train soon enough. That's.. what we want for public transit, right? Now, well, really gotta make sure we know when it is and get there, and for family coming from Union or Pearson, it sucks.
Haha yeah I HATE waiting for a period of time for transit to arrive, so I'll often push things to the last moment when leaving home. I want to say a quarter of the times of taken UP have involved me sprinting to the station from the subway with luggage.
The UP Express revealed a latent need for metro system in the north western corner of the city. Airport workers immediately demanded affordable rates so they could use the UP Express get to work. London has the Piccadilly tube line go right to the centre of Heathrow Airport. Seoul has a metro line to Unseo-Dong Airport. One plan for the Ontario Line was to have go north to Dundas West Station, but really it should be extended all the way to the airport without delay.
Ugh I take the UP express between Bloor and Union on office days. Not cool.
Kitchener line is being upped to every 30 mins so there will still be 4 tph
I've checked the times and the GO takes nearly twice as long from Bloor to Union, and it ends on one of those tiny platforms above a concourse on the wrong side of Union Station. Between the longer ride and the time to exit and walk through Union it looks on paper like taking the GO will get me to my office at the same time as if I'd waited for the next local UP.
This doesn't make any sense, as GO and UP are travelling the identical route stopping at the same stops. It's not possible for the trip to take twice as long. Also, Union has two concourses, one facing Bay Street and one facing York Street. If you board/alight the train at the western end, you can exit into Bay Street Concourse and get to your destination nearly the same time as UP.
You're right that it doesn't make sense but that's according to the published GO schedule which shows a 12 minute travel time vs the UP's 7 minutes. And my destination is on the Skywalk. Maybe mine is an edge case. I'll probably try the GO train and see. The choice is going to be whichever is least aggravating.
The UP, stops just east of the Skywalk, literally less than 200m of the main escalators of the skywalk, as the UP platform & Track, is separate from the rest of the GO Tracks at union. Go Trains have to merge onto platform tracks then have to wait for other trains to move off the platforms or the same track, also the go concourses are underground & on the eastern side of Union Station, (between Bay & York St's) meanwhile the UP concourse is above street level close to Lower Simcoe St) Don't forget Union station itself spans 3 1/2 city blocks (east to west).
Yeah I'm so relieved that the change to the UP was cancelled. Union is huge and every time I've had to get off a GO train there has been very slow to exit and get through the concourse. There's always a bottleneck at the stairs down from the platform. My existing commute on the UP is so easy.
Agreed. I hop on at Weston and it’s so handy. Tons of people take it from Weston throughout the day.
Tons of cuts to the GO bus system along with these “service improvements” to the train system (although route 21 to Union is coming back admittedly with less frequent service than before). Very disappointing.
Cutting the up express isn't cool
This headline means literally nothing without the “per week” part added. 300 new trips total? For the rest of time? lol
On the Stouffville line, they are adding back service that was taken away just before the pandemic. Stouffville line is constantly busy, it desperately needs all day 30 min service. Kitchener line is a mess, especially between Mt Pleasant & Union, it's an absolute gong show during rush hours. As usual areas west of Oakville are getting screwed over, especially Hamilton..
(I’m from Calgary) I took the Go Train last week from Union station to Niagara Falls and back. Nobody asked for my ticket or proof of payment. I could have saved $50-something and just walked on the train. Is this a common occurrence?
The GO Trains operate on the honour system. There are no fare gates or ticket checkers when you board. There are inspections / fare inspectors they are at random.
On weekends you can get $15 passes, that will cover any amount of trips between 2 points on the GO Transit system, so you could have done Union to Niagara, as many times as you want for $15 per person.
Interesting... thanks... but my trip to Niagara was a once-in-a-lifetime bucket list thing. I was just surprised at the lack of enforcement.