[WB62]

In fact as far as I know the new platforms currently being constructed at South side of Union will not level boarding right away? Or am I wrong? They will have to be closed and raised at some point?

No platform at Union will have level boarding for the time being, however the new south platforms (and all new & renovated GO stations in general) are built with the intention of raising the platforms at a later date.

An entire line needs to be upgraded at once to facilitate level boarding, if one station has it and another doesn’t trains cant stop at both.

Is the planned future platform consolidation and widening going to have level boarding platforms as soon as it opens?

Just like the south platforms, the existing platforms will also likely have level boarding future-proofing including in their redesigns, but also probably won’t have level boarding from day 1.
I’m not sure how much of a priority level boarding is at Metrolinx/OnXpress, but I remember a few years ago it wasn’t being factored in at all… outside of the future proofing

 

[bearcat]

No platform at Union will have level boarding for the time being, however the new south platforms (and all new & renovated GO stations) are built with the intention of raising the platforms at a later date.

An entire line needs to be upgraded at once to facilitate level boarding, if one station has it and another doesn’t trains cant stop at both.


Just like the south platforms, the existing platforms will also likely have level boarding future-proofing including in their redesigns, but also probably won’t have level boarding from day 1.
I’m not sure how much of a priority level boarding is at Metrolinx/OnXpress, but I remember a few years ago it wasn’t being factored in at all.

Okay, thanks!

My point was that even when the new south platforms and the platform widening is complete, Union will still not be "done". As at some points all these new platforms will have to closed to be converted to level boarding. Maybe long into the future.

 

[WB62]

As I've talked about in the Alto thread the level boarding height is also different between current VIA standard and planned GO standard. Not sure what Alto will use. I guess they can design compatible with both. I am not 100% sure if GO and Alto will even be able to share a platform.

I think it’s pretty safe to say ALTO will use high level platforms, just like the UP Express currently (emphasis on currently) does, but I’m sure the vestibules could be designed for low level platforms, just like the current VIA equipment, if need be.

I haven’t spoken in the ALTO thread yet because bringing it up there would be a whole other can of worms, but I’m a strong believer that ALTO is going underground at Union and will have an entire new concourse & boarding level dedicated to it.
I can’t see the VIA Concourse ever being able to handle 13x the ridership it sees today, that space is small and is now surrounded on all 6 sides, theres no room for expansion anymore.

Where would the underground station go? How would it be done? How costly would it be? I dunno… but the whole project can be summed up by those 3 questions.

 

[bearcat]

I think it’s pretty safe to say ALTO will use high level platforms, just like the UP Express currently (emphasis on currently) does.

I haven’t spoken in the ALTO thread yet because bringing it up there would be a whole other can of worms, but I’m a strong believer that ALTO is going underground at Union and will have an entirely new concourse & boarding level dedicated to it.

Where would it go? How would it be done? How costly would it be? I dunno… but the whole project can be summed up by those 3 questions.

Thanks for your thoughts on this!

P.S. there are definitely some threads where I chose to lurk as opposed to post, in part because I may have little knowledge on the topic, but also as they are not always open to dissenting opinion lol

 

[WB62]

Thanks for your thoughts on this!

P.S. there are definitely some threads where I chose to lurk as opposed to post, in part because I may have little knowledge on the topic, but also as they are not always open to dissenting opinion lol

No problem! Just my thoughts though I wouldn’t be surprised if anything i said doesn’t happen haha

Yeah I was reading the ALTO thread yesterday and theres just too much going on there for me to say anything, people are arguing about Summerhill or Thorncliffe Park as a terminal for the line in Toronto Someone else mentioned demolishing all the terminals at Pearson… it’s a bit messy there

 

[nightstreak]

I think it’s pretty safe to say ALTO will use high level platforms, just like the UP Express currently (emphasis on currently) does.

I haven’t spoken in the ALTO thread yet because bringing it up there would be a whole other can of worms, but I’m a strong believer that ALTO is going underground at Union and will have an entirely new concourse & boarding level dedicated to it.

Where would it go? How would it be done? How costly would it be? I dunno… but the whole project can be summed up by those 3 questions.

Whoa. The situation under Union Station is already insanely complex. They can hardly fit a bollard on the north end of the station because of the subway and streetcar loop and ceilings dip into the station and towards the south with so much packed beneath the platforms.

Crazy idea: what if the Dominion Public Building were converted into a Union Station east extension? It's designed in the same style and could be connected by a bridge.

It's currently underused and being built 100 years ago, its foundations are likely shallow. It's just off the rail corridor where a burrowed tunnel could branch off in between towers on the Esplanade:

Perhaps it's over kill for Alto by itself but it seems like we're running out of space to expand Union as it is. A second building would open up new possibilities.

 

[DSCToronto]

Okay, thanks!

My point was that even when the new south platforms and the platform widening is complete, Union will still not be "done". As at some points all these new platforms will have to closed to be converted to level boarding. Maybe long into the future.

I think the real point is that "union Station will never be done" because travel patterns and routes change and a central hub such a Union should change with them. Why we have had so much change in the last 20 years is because we had very little for the previous 30.

 

[rdaner]

I wonder if a new terminal to the east or west will make sense as is done in many cities such as Mumbai which has 4-5 different terminals lined up in a row.

 

[ward10]

A new concourse dug under the rail corridor between Bay and Yonge? Tracks on the north east end of the station reconfigured for wider high-level platforms? One advantage Alto has if it doesn't continue to Pearson is that Union traffic is busier on the western side

 

[nightstreak]

A new concourse dug under the rail corridor between Bay and Yonge? Tracks on the north east end of the station reconfigured for wider high-level platforms? One advantage Alto has if it doesn't continue to Pearson is that Union traffic is busier on the western side

No need to dig if they just deck over that portion of the corridor. Voila, it’s now “underground”.

 

[drum118]

April 11
More up on my site

 

[WB62]

Found something all too familiar to us outside the Rogers Centre yesterday:

 

[evandyk]

Did they just move them down the street from Union?

 

[DSCToronto]

Did they just move them down the street from Union?

Migration season?

 

[nightstreak]

Migration season?

No, mating season perhaps. They're replicating.

The Union jersey barriers are still there despite not being used to prevent car ingression into the plaza. The gaps on Front Street easily fit cars through and the ones on the corner are redundant given the blocks already installed. This was always security theatre.