Union Station platform construction project to facilitate better GO Transit service progressing

Various construction projects at Union Station in Toronto have been going on for well more than a decade, but a project at the south end of the rail hub to boost GO Transit train capacity is now fully underway.

CityNews recently toured the $560-million Union Station Enhancement Project to get a behind-the-scenes look at the work being done.

Located roughly where the old platforms 24/25 and 26/27 were, there will be two new, wider platforms. The original platforms have been removed and there will also be a track realignment.

“There’s the potential for trains to come in faster to the station,” Michael O’Brecht, a program integration manager at Metrolinx, said when asked why the new platforms are needed.

“We’ll be able to have more passengers come onto the platform in order to get onto the trains, we’ll also be able to potentially add additional trains onto those platforms, and we should increase a lot of the safety issues that we may have throughout some of the past platforms at Union Station.”

The other major component of the project is a new east-west concourse slightly north of Scotiabank Arena. Officials said it will provide a straight-through corridor between Bay and York streets for passengers to access Union Station and the new platforms.

The current demolition and excavation stage began late in 2022 and ever since then, crews have been working to brace the existing train shed, dig down to carve out the new south concourse, remove old escalators and stairwells and build all the footings needed to support the new infrastructure.

Carrying out the project while keeping 10 sets of train tracks at Union Station operational along with maintaining access to the century-old rail hub’s loading docks (there’s only one tunnel from Lake Shore Boulevard West) has added extra complexity.

RELATED: Despite 2021 formal end of Union Station revitalization project, construction continues

During the excavation, O’Brecht said crews have found a variety of unexpected surprises.

“Old shoring, old roads that used to be in here. There used to be old horse paths that came to the station that we’ve had to take out in order to establish the new south concourse,” he said, adding horse barn doors were also found.

“It takes a lot of effort to get something like this done.”

All the work being done at Union Station isn’t alone in the ongoing provincial goal of improving and expanding GO train service.

If you look along the Lakeshore East corridor, for instance, there are various spots where crews can be seen building new retaining walls and bridges as well as creating new surfaces.

Meanwhile, demolition at Union Station is set to happen for the rest of this year with concrete pouring and forming scheduled for next year. O’Brecht said platform and track construction is set to happen in 2025 and 2026.

As construction continues, he made a familiar plea while looking to the future.

“I would say be patient it is a work in progress, but this is going to make everything better for the commuters in the future,” O’Brecht said.

“We can probably all recognize the fact that getting from one place to another is difficult. The increase in service will make things much more positive for the commuter going forward. We’ll be able to get to Union Station into our jobs and our events and everything much quicker and with more flexibility.