AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
That was a "minor" issue compared to their sheer narrowness and unsuitability to handling large flows.
AoD
reinventingthewheel
Active Member
Yes, the new stairwells are significantly wider. See post #11523
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
That's the 2 track/single platform USEP south concourse new build - I am referring to the retrofitting of the existing platforms after they had been merged/reorganized. The draft "plans" (such as they were) I have come across doesn't seem to tackle that.
AoD
Northern Light
Superstar
I agree the stairs, as stairs are an issue. The 'simple' issue of having a switchback/landing in the middle severely constrains flow (for clarity, I'm aware of why that choice was made, simply pointing out why it's problematic)
That said, escalators are important, in that they are higher-throughput stairs, and so address capacity, and also they are an alternative for some passengers who can't handle stairs, but don't require an elevator, and as such can relieve elevator congestion/waits.
WB62
Senior Member
Appreciate that!
I absolutely agree this is the perfect chance to direct people away from the main station, and these bridges help with that, but (at least from what we’ve been able to gather so far) don’t take perfect advantage of that opportunity.
The diagrams of the bridges in the USEP documents show where each platform entrance is going to be. The Yonge Street bridge appears to be missing one of the shorter eastern platforms (second from the top):
And the York Street Bridge appears to be missing multiple western platforms, including the southernmost (bottom) platform. Not extending the bridge a little bit further to cover the southernmost platform is a huge missed opportunity to me:
I strongly believe a Simcoe Teamway or full concourse between York and Simcoe would be justified with a platform layout like this.
Using the most extreme example possible, each red arrow is a crush loaded coach carrying 300 people. Under the potential arrangement with just the York Bridge, this is going to result in extremely overcrowded bridge and Teamway entrances:
With a Simcoe Teamway and just one additional entrance on the far ends of the west platforms, these numbers can get cut in half. This Teamway would also be within only a few hundred metres of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre & Roger’s Centre, allowing convention and event crowds to directly avoid entering the station:
(The entrance directly in the middle of the image should say 750, not 900)
I didn’t make an example with a fully built out Simcoe Concourse, but you can imagine how these crowds could be further divided with 1-2 more entrances per platform.
The old (assumed cancelled or rolled into GO Expansion) USEP package 3 had plans for concourses between Simcoe & York, as well as one between Bay and Yonge. I’m assuming these plans were cancelled and superseded by the bridges:
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bearcat
Active Member
Perhaps this has been discussed before, but does anyone know what the plan is for the UPX platform in the future? In the context of the planned platform changes. It looks to just remain untouched in these diagrams.
WB62
Senior Member
I couldn’t say, I assume the existing ones will be maintained.
Keep in mind with crowds being able to disperse into 2-3x the amount of entrances as now, there won’t be as much crowding in the existing staircases.
Additionally, we already know some staircases will be getting wider, to the same width as the new Bremner Concourse staircases. The platform 20-21 escalator in the VIA Concourse is being completely changed. Either into a wide staircase, escalator staircase combo, or up and down escalators:
You can see another entrance building in the background, that one will lead into the west side of the Bay Concourse.
This one pictured below is a new wide staircase located in the Bay Concourse, which will lead up to a new combined platform made up of the former platforms 14-21:
This staircases location will be somewhere in the east side of the Bay Concourse, near the service desk:
mburrrrr
Senior Member
I’m assuming the GO Yonge access could be parallel or accessed from the new bridge.
WB62
Senior Member
I have no clue how it’s gonna be accessed but I think you’re right. When I made my detailed diagram on it I just set it in between the bridge like that:
Allandale25
Senior Member
Impressive!
WB62
Senior Member
Oh I forgot to ask this earlier, are you able to share what plans were discarded?
crs1026
Superstar
It's a very long time back - what I recall is basically from discussion with people who were part of the consultations.
The recommendations of the Union Station Revitalization Public Advisory Group seem to have fallen out of the files.
But if you feel like searching old documents....These reports give some of the background and points to the key studies that were heritage related
A new life built on steel for Union Station train shed - Daily Commercial News
Like the station it serves, the open air steel train shed at Toronto’s historic Union Station was built to last.
canada.constructconnect.com
- Paul
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crs1026
Superstar
PS - If you want to see how the consultations of the day fed into the project plan, and how some of these collided, see this report
- Paul
- Paul
NiceForWhat
New Member
Nord Lyon added to the list of retailers
https://6ixretail.com/2025/03/uniqlo-nord-lyon-union-station-retail-expansion-spring-2025/
https://6ixretail.com/2025/03/uniqlo-nord-lyon-union-station-retail-expansion-spring-2025/