Yes, the new stairwells are significantly wider. See post #11523

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
 
Nevermind that - will the staircases be as awful as they are now?

AoD

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.
 
Love this. Seems like there is an opportunity to flow passengers away from the center depot altogether....
I'm especially thinking of the flow to and from Skydome during events, but also the Hummingbird Center and other attractions.
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):

IMG_7432.jpeg


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:

IMG_7431.jpeg


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:

You_Doodle+_2025-03-18T20_26_17Z.jpeg


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:

You_Doodle+_2025-03-18T20_48_37Z.jpeg

(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:

IMG_4583.jpeg
 
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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):

View attachment 637694

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:

View attachment 637693

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:

View attachment 637717

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:

View attachment 637718
(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:

View attachment 637719

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.
 
But will there be escalators?
I couldn’t say, I assume the existing ones will be maintained.

Nevermind that - will the staircases be as awful as they are now?
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.

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:

IMG_7440.jpeg

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:

IMG_7442.jpeg


This staircases location will be somewhere in the east side of the Bay Concourse, near the service desk:

IMG_7444.jpeg
 
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):

View attachment 637694
I’m assuming the GO Yonge access could be parallel or accessed from the new bridge.

IMG_8615.jpeg


IMG_8616.jpeg


IMG_8614.jpeg


IMG_8290.jpeg
 
I’ve been combing some project documents and going frame by frame through a video Metrolinx published last year showing a 3d model of Union

I noticed both of these sources indicate or show that most platforms will be extended 1-200 metres out of the shed.
Not simple asphalt platforms either, it seems like the outer platforms will closely resemble the south platforms currently under construction, including canopies and connections to the proposed pedestrian bridges.

I’ve put this together to show how large the footprint of the station might be from above in the future:

View attachment 637307
Impressive!
 
I don't think that was a bad thing, in that there was potential for a lot of really tasteless modernisation that fortunately was discarded
Oh I forgot to ask this earlier, are you able to share what plans were discarded?
 
Oh I forgot to ask this earlier, are you able to share what plans were discarded?

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




- Paul
 
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