GO's new Union Station concourse makes for a more comfortable commute

Downtown commuters are finally being rewarded for years of wading through crowds and construction dust at Union Station.

The $796 million city-managed renovation won't be completed until 2017. But the first significant public space in the main station, the new York St. GO Transit concourse, is opening Monday, offering more elbow room, more direct access to trains and downtown, and improved accessibility.

"This will be a big surprise for people. But I think it will be a pleasant surprise," said Mike Wolczyk, vice-president of GO capital infrastructure. The improvements come with the promise of more amenities, including station-wide Wi-Fi and new retail offerings.

The new concourse is about 50 per cent larger than the old Bay St. GO space, and features a brighter, airier look and layout.

The Bay facility, which opened 36 years ago when GO still had only four train lines, will close after the Pan Am Games, to be made over into a replica of the York concourse. (The Bay St. staircases offering direct access to the train platforms will remain open during the two-year renovation.)

Instead of the labyrinth of stairs and elevators seen on the Bay side, the York concourse features two straight lines of glass-enclosed staircases and elevators leading directly to most train platforms. Platforms 24 to 27 are accessible to the southwest of the ticket counter.

Black stripes on the terrazzo floors in front of the customer service counter mimic the train tracks upstairs at platform level.

To the north of the customer counter, escalators and stairs lead down to a future retail space that will feature a food court and level access to the TTC (which recently opened a second platform at Union) and PATH.

Commuters can also cross under Front St. through a new link on the northwest corner of the concourse that leads to stairs and an elevator to 1 University Ave. By 2017, that PATH link will extend as far north as Wellington St. The existing tunnel provides for a potential entrance to the Fairmont Royal York, but the hotel is still deciding whether to create one.

Part of the PATH route that’s currently open to the air will eventually get a glass roof and flooring, where it connects with the new York St. teamway.

The Union Station project, which won't be complete until about two years after its original 2015 target, is "one of the most challenging jobs in the world," said Richard Coveduck, Toronto's director of design and construction. "We're not aware of any project in the world that is comparable.”

That's because the work, digging down to create two new concourses, has gone on for four years while 200,000 people a day continued to use Canada's busiest transportation hub. That number will almost certainly double within 20 years as GO ramps up to its pledge to offer 15-minute, all-day, two-way regional express rail.

GO commuter comforts

GO's new York concourse features some serious upgrades from the transit agency's original ticket and waiting area along Bay St.

WASHROOMS Smelly, poorly laid out washrooms on the Bay St. side have been replaced in the York concourse with modern gray and cream tiled facilities: 23 stalls in both men's and women's, with modern, clean sinks, soap dispensers and powerful hand dryers. They're wider and fully accessible for strollers and wheelchairs.

BENCHES Gone are the cold (or hot), punched-metal lime green GO benches. The York concourse has new wooden slat seating that looks modern, yet warm and inviting.

STAIR ENCLOSURES Glass enclosures bearing platform numbers in elegant gold type replace the Soviet-style stair bunkers GO riders use to get to their platforms. The stairs provide a simple, direct path to trains. Similar enclosures are used north of Front St., where stairs and elevators provide direct access into the station.

TEAMWAY Just west of the concourse a teamway along York St. allows riders to take stairs to their platforms without even entering the new concourse. But the teamway also provides access to the concourse for those who want to shop, dine, buy a ticket or load a Presto card.

Tess Kalinowski