Toronto Union Station: Who should own and control it?

Everyone: I fount this article on Toronto Union Station interesting-I did not know that the City of Toronto had full control since the year 2000 from CN & CP-does the operating Toronto Terminal Railway still exist as a City agency?
It would make sense to me if GO-or a partnership between VIA and GO-should take some sort of control over the station track area or maybe the entire station. If TUS is indeed showing signs of neglect as a City entity the prime tenants should take over and do needed renovation and upkeep work.

Toronto Union Station is a prime City transportation center and landmark and as a prime City gateway needs to be dealt with some TLC.

Matt-let me mention those stations that you mentioned-South Station Boston was renovated in the 80s using for the headhouse building the original facade with new construction internally-all the tracks and platforms were replaced then also with high-level platforms. I remember how run-down it was before and the renovated station was quite a change from what was there before.

Grand Central Terminal in NYC is one of North America's classic city rail terminals - When the Penn Central sometime around 1970 or so planned to construct a skyscraper above the Preservation movement-begun in reaction to losing the original Penn Station in the 60s-took action to preserve Grand Central. One well-known GCT activist was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis- former wife of former US President John F. Kennedy. The NY MTA took over ownership in the 80s and began a project to restore it as much as possible to its earlier appearance. That project has resulted the Terminal becoming the lively place it is today. The last intercity trains moved out in 1991 when Amtrak moved its Empire Service over to Penn Station.

Penn Station,NYC I am quite familiar with-my father spent 35 of his 38 year railroading career working there beginning as a gateman/usher then an Assistant Station Master from 1946-1984. After the PRR demolished the original station in the 60s and sold the air rights to construct Madison Square Garden, PSNY was cramped for space and had in part the appearance of a dungeon-beginning in the 80s the Amtrak;in the 90s the LIRR and most recently the New Jersey Transit area-have been thoroughly renovated and offer much better-but still crowded-facilities. The track areas down below have also been renovated over that time also. The Moynihan station would answer new station facilities but the same track space-more tracks would be needed to accomodate more trains-would be the problem to solve.

Union Station in Washington was an 80s answer to renovating the run down facility and correcting the National Visitors Center mistake-when the main concourse was partially excavated to build a multi-modal show with large screens. In the late 70s the station itself-which was growing along with the introduction of MARC Maryland commuter trains in the early 80s-was just becoming too small-it was situated between the tracks and the main concourse and the run-down condition of the Station itself-I recall both side porticos were closed at one time due to bricks falling from the underside of the roof line. In the reconstruction the main station areas were all reconstructed and then it became a full-fledged rail station again. I will agree the mall inside can be a little much but compared to the sorry state it was in in the late 70s-mid 80s period it was some change indeed!

I remember the GO concourse at TUS myself-I was there the day it opened on August 1,1979 I recall it was quite an improvement over the old GO area there. TUS - as the main rail station in Canada's largest city-should be preserved and improved as the strategic necessary infrastructure it is.

That's my insight and comment here- LI MIKE
 
I was just at Washington Union Station over the weekend. I'll post pics and thoughts over the next few days. Despite it largely becoming a shopping mall, the station works fine, and hearing about how dillapidated it had become (think slightly better state than what Buffalo's station is now), it is even more stunning.
 
More from the Post

Link to article

Not dead yet: Ten ideas to revive Union Station
Lots to learn from New York, Washington

Peter Kuitenbrouwer
National Post

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Washington's Union Station, right, houses 130 shops, including a chocolatier.

Next Wednesday, from 12:30 to 6:30 p.m., the City of Toronto hosts an open house in the Great Hall at Union Station, "to showcase the recommended approach to Union Station's revitalization."

Said the city press release: "The public is encouraged to visit Union Station to view the display panels that outline the changes, speak with staff and fill out a questionnaire with their ideas."

After 50 years of neglect, Union Station is in rough shape. The proposal on how to, in Mayor David Miller's words, "bring the station back to life" goes to city council on Nov. 26.

To gain inspiration for a restoration job, councillors and staff this year visited Union Station in Washington, D.C. (restored in 1988), and toured New York's Grand Central Station (restored in 1998). Here are some ideas New York and Washington can teach Toronto:

1. SPEND AS MUCH AS YOU NEED TO RESTORE THE ARCHITECTURE

The train stations in New York, Washington and Toronto were all built in the Beaux-Arts style. Washington's Union Station, built in 1908, was boarded up in 1981. Then the U.S. Congress approved an act to sell bonds, spending US$160-million to restore it.

Today the station is the most-visited spot in Washington. In New York, the government-owned Metropolitan Transportation Authority, using US$113-million of its own money and selling US$84-million in 30-year bonds, sunk close to $200-million into scrubbing decades of grime off Grand Central Terminal (1913), revealing the 2,500 stars on its painted ceiling. The station is now a destination in itself.

2. PUT TRANSPORTATION FIRST

Washington's Union Station failed when government visionaries transformed it into a "National Visitor Center," and was reborn when used for its original function: as a train (and now also subway) station. In New York, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority restored Grand Central as the hub for its Metro North and subway trains.

3. BRING IN NEW RETAIL

The Oyster Bar clung to life in the basement of Grand Central during that station's long years of decline; today more than 100 retailers thrive in Grand Central, including an optician. Commuters bustle through cheese and fish shops in the Grand Central Market.

Union Station in Washington has 130 shops, including a hat shop, a tie shop, perfumers and a chocolatier.

"You're leveraging the architecture to create a sense of place," explains Cubie Dawson, a senior vice-president with Jones Lang LaSalle, leasing manager in both the Washington and New York stations. "You put in goods and services that complement the needs of the users." The retail revenue paid off the money borrowed for the restoration.

4. FARM OUT LEASING MANAGEMENT

Jones Lang LaSalle was a partner in the Union Pearson deal for Toronto's Union Station (which fell through last year.) "It keeps everyone focused on their core business," says Mr. Dawson. "Our core business is to run real estate, not to run trains."

5. BRING THE RAILWAY IN-HOUSE

In Washington, Amtrak's head office is in Union Station. In New York, the MTA is on Madison Avenue next to Grand Central. But in Toronto, GO Transit today has its offices at 20 Bay St. on Queen's Quay, a fair stroll from Union Station.

GO now plans to build a new head office next to the GO bus terminal, east of Union Station. Why not move GO inside Union (where Scotiabank now has offices.)

When the railway executives walk through the terminal every day, they'll make sure the station glistens.

6. SEND PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC THROUGH THE GREAT HALL

At Grand Central, thousands of New Yorkers stream through the main concourse, heading from trains to subways or their offices. Ditto Washington.

In Toronto, a torrent of passengers walks through the station's dingy east wing, notable for three-metre pressboard ceilings, a yellowy-brown tile floor and hospital-blue steel benches, and down into the terrible, overcrowded cave of the subway platform.

The Great Hall, meanwhile, stands empty. Redirecting the flow through the Great Hall will make commuters' journeys easier and more pleasant.

7. DON'T LOWER

THE CEILINGS

One of history's great architectural tragedies was the 1964 demolition of Penn Station in New York. Today's Penn Station, the busiest station in the Amtrak network, is a grim place with a low ceiling. In Toronto, staff want to excavate under Union Station for a subterranean shopping mall, which would actually lower the ceiling of the train concourse above. I agree with Gary McNeil, chief executive at GO Transit, that this is a bad idea: "Look at Pearson's new Terminal One," he says. "Where the pedestrians are, you are king."

8. FIX THE CLOCK

The four-sided, iconic brass clock atop the Information Booth at Grand Central is a meeting place for New Yorkers. And it displays the time, too. At Union Station in Toronto, only one face of the clock in the Great Hall has hands.

On the same theme: staff at the Grand Central information booth dispense train time and platform information; the volunteers at Toronto's booth today sometimes show up to give tourism advice. Bring back the train information staff.

9. INNOVATE

Union Station in Washington boasts a cinema popular with locals who live nearby; upstairs, embassies rent the space for furniture, art or photography shows. Grand Central rents out Vanderbilt Hall, a grand former waiting room, for nightly events. The under-used west hall of Toronto's Union Station is an obvious spot for such events.

10. SELL NEWSPAPERS

Every self-respecting train station has a newsstand. Today you have to go into the bowels of Union Station to buy a paper. Isn't it time to return a newsstand to our Great Hall?

Railways built Canada. We should make Union Station a great train station; to celebrate, as Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby puts it, the "renaissance of rail travel." As Mr. Dawson points out, "enhancing the experience leads to increased ridership."
 
Suggestions to improve Toronto Union Station...

Wylie: The PK article could have not said it better-even with a little insight similar to what I had mentioned previously. TUS needs to improve!
LI MIKE
 
A good piece from the Post, I actually agree with every point! There's a first! "SPEND AS MUCH AS YOU NEED"... how did that get past the Post editors?
 
I definitely agree with most of those suggestions. If the City's plan is to lower the ceiling in the GO concourse to squeeze a mall in below, then I think the renovations should be left up to someone else. Whether it's the city administration's unimaginative cronies (Union Pearson) or the unimaginative city administration itself, we're not going to get a very good station.

I can't imagine the city spending more than $50-60 million on this renovation project, which absolutely pales in comparison with the mentioned American renovations, let alone some of the European projects which are well north of $1 billion. Look at what they've done at St. Pancras for an example.

The closest thing to a decent plan for Union Station that I've seen in years was the losing plan in that RFP a few years ago. None of them have been particularly creative. The ROM and AGO have been getting international-calibre architecture. More people visit Union Station in a day than visit them in a year, so I don't see why the station can't get the same.
 
That was a good piece by the Post.

I could see a couple of decent retail uses that would not interfere with the passenger flows.

1. A upscale food court. I don't necessarily mean pricey, but I mean more than a McDonald's, Cinnabun, Second Cup and Pizza 2 Go. Les Halls de la Gare in Central Station has many choices, and would set apart from the PATH fare - one or two bars, a decent sushi bar, a good sandwich shop, a pastry shop, that kind of thing.

2. A better LCBO outlet. Lots of people live nearby now, or work longer hours. A larger and up-to-date LCBO would be great.

3. I love the idea of a newsstand. Perhaps a small bookstore (a real bookstore) would be warranted. Try to get someone other than Reisman in (see if McNally-Robinson is interested).

4. A real TTC store. A kiosk with a few historical exhibits of TTC and even get the city archives in (like they have mini-expos in City Hall) - could be more than TTC. I bet people would go to see TTC displays, perhaps an exposition on modernist architecture like what Dominon Modern does, that sort of thing. The sales of TTC and other historical merchandise should at least make it break even.

---

I am not sure that it makes sense to funnel all GO passengers into the Great Hall at all, but I think it should be one of several logical entries, like Washington (either go through the back mall entrance, or direct from Metro or through Hall) or Grand Central. Though WUS' MARC and VRE trains don't have the same peak loads as GO does, though Amtrak there has much more than VIA in TUS.

Union Pearson had a terrible plan compared to LP Heritage, and TUS has less room than WUS for putting in the stores. Something more restrained is needed here.
 
SeanTrans said:
That was a good piece by the Post.
I am not sure that it makes sense to funnel all GO passengers into the Great Hall at all, but I think it should be one of several logical entries, like Washington (either go through the back mall entrance, or direct from Metro or through Hall) or Grand Central. Though WUS' MARC and VRE trains don't have the same peak loads as GO does, though Amtrak there has much more than VIA in TUS.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. Why would anyone want to descend from the platform level to the concourse, ascend back into the great hall, then descend again to get to the PATH and to the TTC?

There are bottlenecks, but the current pedestrian flow patterns take people from the tracks to where they want to go.
 
Get on board!

Note sure this was posted anywhere.

Yet another public meeting, photo opportunity, fancy rendering and council report all rolled into one.

Louroz

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Revitalization of Toronto's Union Station starts now!
Get on board!

Set aside time on November 14, the City of Toronto wants to know what you think about its plans to revitalize Union Station.

Date: November 14, 2007
Time: 12:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Location: Great Hall, Union Station


Mayor David Miller and Councillors are hosting an open house to showcase the perferred approach for Union Station's revitalization. The public is encouraged to visit Union Station to view materials, speak with staff and fill out a questionnaire with their ideas.

Visit us often!

Keep your eye on this site, as the recommended approach will be posted here from November 14 to 19. You will have the opportunity to view the information and provide input until November 19.

The finalized report will be posted on this site before November 26.

Louroz
 
SeanTrans said:
That was a good piece by the Post.

I could see a couple of decent retail uses that would not interfere with the passenger flows.

1. A upscale food court. I don't necessarily mean pricey, but I mean more than a McDonald's, Cinnabun, Second Cup and Pizza 2 Go. Les Halls de la Gare in Central Station has many choices, and would set apart from the PATH fare - one or two bars, a decent sushi bar, a good sandwich shop, a pastry shop, that kind of thing.

2. A better LCBO outlet. Lots of people live nearby now, or work longer hours. A larger and up-to-date LCBO would be great.

3. I love the idea of a newsstand. Perhaps a small bookstore (a real bookstore) would be warranted. Try to get someone other than Reisman in (see if McNally-Robinson is interested).

4. A real TTC store. A kiosk with a few historical exhibits of TTC and even get the city archives in (like they have mini-expos in City Hall) - could be more than TTC. I bet people would go to see TTC displays, perhaps an exposition on modernist architecture like what Dominon Modern does, that sort of thing. The sales of TTC and other historical merchandise should at least make it break even.
Click to expand...

Great ideas - all of them. I would love to see a Pret a Manger or EAT sandwich shop in Union. The LCBO in a more prominent and MUCH larger location seems like a no-brainer to me. Why isnt there a proper book store at Union? People buy books/magazines before getting on transit. Why isnt there something to fill this need?

The "moats" should definitly be roofed over to create a better connection between GO, the TTC and PATH system. It's pretty crappy to have to go through 2 sets of doors to connect, and to be exposed to the elements in times of rain or snow.
 
Sean - your TTC shop idea? Let's go nuts and propose that the TTC, GO, and VIA would together agree to have an independent develop (in conjunction with the agency involved) and sell merchandise related to transit and trains. Not enough sales to employ a cashier from 8 am til 10 pm? Make it a highly visible boutique with its own identity as part of the proposed bookstore and/or newsstand.

42
 
re: Bookstore

I'd really love to see a large Chapter's-sized bookstore in the downtown core south of the Eaton Centre. As a bookloving commuter, I like to see more big bookstores located along subway lines so that I could get to and from them as easily as possible.

A public library branch might also work at Union Station. Aside from the City Hall branch and the Urban Affairs Library at Metro Hall (which is a reference library) there are no branches to serve the condos going up in the area. The library would also serve commuters who want to borrow a book to read on the ride to and from home.

re: TTC/GO store

I would also like to see a hobby train component to the store. Perhaps get a big name model train store in Toronto (like George's Trains) to move to Union Station.
 
SeanTrans said:
4. A real TTC store. A kiosk with a few historical exhibits of TTC and even get the city archives in (like they have mini-expos in City Hall) - could be more than TTC. I bet people would go to see TTC displays, perhaps an exposition on modernist architecture like what Dominon Modern does, that sort of thing. The sales of TTC and other historical merchandise should at least make it break even.
Click to expand...

By a "real" store, I'm assuming you mean a store that sells things people actually want, unlike the Legacy store. Torontoist had some t-shirt suggestions that were great. Another thing that could be sold is replica subway maps (like the ones actually found on trains), since people already take them.
 
They do sell those subway maps.
I think that a TTC/GO/VIA store would have to be branded and marketed as a City Tourism thing. Just having a store wont really do it. The TTC and/or even GO would have to be branded in the public and tourist conciousness as being synonomous with the city.

Bookstore yes. Library no. There is supposed to be one in CityPlace which will serve the waterfront community.

Now... about turning Union Station into something along the lines of Grand Central Station in NYC. The benefit that Grand Central has is that it is in the centre of a street block, with access to the building on all sides. Shops can have both inside and outside access. Union Station would not have the same luck. There is only 1 accessible side to Union Station, but even that cannot have ouside access shops due to it's design. If the moats were filled in, there could be some kind of access, but not the same as a store-front.

That said, there is a lot of opportunity for better retail at Union. The Grand Hall is fine (just fix the floors and remove the tacky yellow lights). The VIA train concourse works. It just needs a cosmetic facelift. The GO oncourse and entrance to the TTC needs a complete overhaul. I would go as far as to say that the centre of the Grand Hall should have it's floor removed between the 2 staircases, with a dramatic central staircase put in it's place, opening up the lower level. Glassing over the moats could greatly expand the floor space (and pedestrian flows of traffic) between GO and TTC. Move the GO ticket counter to the back where the entrance to the train shed is freeing up a lot of space for retail.
 
GO Transit announces Union Station signalling contract


TORONTO, Nov. 9 /CNW Telbec/ - GO Transit today announced the approval to
award the Union Station electrical and communications contract to Siemens
Canada Limited.
This contract governs the design, supply, installation and commissioning
of a new state-of-the-art train control signals system for Union Station. The
current signaling system has been in operation since the 1920s. Benefits for
commuters include the potential for more trains in and out of Union Station,
more reliable operation of trains at Union Station, improved communications
and greater flexibility in train scheduling.
"Public transit is a priority for the Government of Canada," said the
Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and
Communities. "This project is just another example of the types of investments
the federal government is making to improve the safety and efficiency of
transit systems within the GTA."
"GO Transit is an integral part of the transit system in the GTA, moving
people efficiently and in an environmentally friendly way," said the
Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance. "The investment we are making
today will help modernize the system and improve reliability for all
passengers."
"This new signal system is long overdue," said Ontario Transportation
Minister Jim Bradley. "As the new signalling is installed, GO commuters can
expect fewer winter delays, speedier entries into stations, and more reliable
service."
This initiative is part of the GO Transit Rail Improvement Program (GO
TRIP), a billion-dollar expansion initiative funded by the governments of
Canada and Ontario, and Greater Toronto Area municipalities, through the
Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund (CSIF). The CSIF provides federal funding
to large-scale transportation infrastructure projects of major national and
regional significance.
"This is a major long-term project that will bring big benefits," said GO
Transit Chairman Peter Smith. "The new signal system will go a long way toward
allowing us to improve service reliability and add trains."
The contract, worth $280 million, is the largest contract in GO Transit's
history. The Government of Canada will be contributing approximately
$90 million towards the project, with the Province of Ontario contributing the
remainder. Work on the design of this project is scheduled to begin in
December 2007, and is expected to be complete in 2014.
For more information and updates on this project, call 647-258-2073, or
visit GO Transit's website at www.gotransit.com/unionstationrenewal.
 
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