The UP Express - Toronto's Awesome Airport Link!

hello and welcome to Toronto's Union Station today we're taking a look at the union Pearson Express a vital Rail Link Between Canada's busiest airport in the heart of Toronto opened in 1927 Toronto's Union Station is Canada's busiest and North America's second busiest railway station with over 72 million passengers each year the station serves VIA Rail go transit amtr Maple Leaf to New York and the service we'll be looking at the union Pearson Express heading inside the station we once again find ourselves in the amazing main hall station Halls like this one will never get old the 250 ft Long Hall is where passengers can find the Via Rail ticketing and information desks stairways down to the stations shops and restaurants connections to Toronto's local Transit Network and access points to the three train concourses although the station includes three separate concourses up Express trains operate out of the newly constructed platform just west of the main station located in the main atrium of the Skywalk the up station is only a short 4-minute walk from the main hall as soon as we enter the atreum we're met with tons of signage regarding up trains the up Express operates a train every 15 minutes 7 days a week so even though we just missed a departure it's only 15 minutes until the next train in that time we can pick up our tickets over to Toronto Pearson International Airport one-way tickets from Union Station to the airport cost $12.35 for adults and $6.20 for children the service can also be paid for using the local Presto card which offers a discounted rate and directly via bank card ticket in hand we can head over to the station itself although it technically is a part of the main Union Station the upx Express has a rather nice station of its own inside passengers will find a customer service desk flight check-in Kiosk for Air Canada and WestJet and a coffee shop for light Refreshments the station only has a single side platform which is plenty given the 15-minute headways the platform is also isolated from the weather outside with a glass wall and sliding glass doors lining the boarding area as we wait a GO train rolls out of the main Union Station complex Go Transit is the greater Toronto area's commuter rail network and operates Services between Union Station and the outer reaches of the Toronto Metroplex we've had a look at go transit in a past video so if you missed it check it out at the link in the top right or in the description below while we wait for our train to arrive and for boarding to begin I want to take a moment to tell you about today's video sponsor exter exter is creating the Next Generation of wallets using environmentally friendly materials and state-of-the-art Technology exter's Parliament wallets are the wallets of the 21st century it's half the size of a traditional wallet but it still holds 12 credit cards and cash accessing your cards is super easy with their signature trigger mechanism plus the built-in RFID 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maneuver luggage through the train and the split forward and backward seats means everyone has a choice in what direction they travel snagging a row towards the rear of the train we can take a look at the seating on board the up Express each row offers around 7 in between my knees and the next row which is more than enough space to stay comfortable on our shorter Journey beneath the next row we find a bit of space for smaller bags the seat back pocket is definitely on the smaller side with no safety information card found inside the tray table folds down from the seat back and although it's quite narrow has enough space for a drink and a snack clearly someone took that second part literally as there are crumbs all over the table behind the table is an ad for Porter Airlines a regional Airline connecting Canada with the United States we'll be taking a look at one of Porter's flights from Toronto to Newark in a future video so be sure to stick around if that's something you want to see above each row are reading lights with Outlets found on the wall below the windows passenger information and later upcoming flight information is displayed on the many screens found throughout the coach wrapping up our look at the seating our train pulls out of Union Station Beginning our quick ride over to Toronto Pearson International Airport as we head out of Union Station let's take a look at our route over to the airport Our Journey Begins heading west out of Union Station past the CN Tower and onto the Go Transit Kitchener line we make our first stop at bler the Line crossing over the ttc's line 2 Subway and 512 street car our second stop comes at Weston the goberry line splitting off soon thereafter to head north to Lake Simco as we reach Highway 427 our train leaves the go Mainline for the newly constructed spur towards the airport the elevated line winds its way between the parking lots and the airport terminals arriving at Toronto Pearson's Terminal 1 we'll cover a total of 14 1 12 mil on our ride today with a travel time of just 25 minutes as an airport oriented train luggage storage is crucial for success and these nipon shario trains have tons of it surrounding the rear boarding doors are four luggage racks with capacity for what looks like at least 20 suitcases what's interesting about these racks is that they're designed for the bags to remain upright on their wheels with bars across the opening to keep them in place while in transit pair these racks with the overhead luggage bins and there should always be space to store your bag even at Peak travel times with our train now out of Union Station the passenger information board comes to life on it are many of the upcoming departures that passengers may be connecting to it'd be interesting to see if on the return Journey the display changed to upcoming departures from Union Station but seeing as Union Station is usually the final Des a for travelers it's also understandable if it doesn't work that way if you're enjoying our look at the union Pearson Express so far why not hit that subscribe button it's totally free and it really helps support the channel as always I want to give a huge shout out and thank you to my patrons and channel members y'all are incredible and I cannot thank you enough for your amazing support if you to want your name in the video or just want to support the channel in more ways than one then head on over to the links in the description below blor is our first of two station stops on route to Pearson Airport the station serves the up Express and go transits Kitchener line with connections to the ttc's line 2 Subway even though the up route takes only 25 minutes passengers will still find a bathroom on board stepping inside we find ourselves in a very large and very clean accessible facility the in works though it refuses to stay on with plenty of soap and an electric hand dryer instead of paper towels there are no Outlets to be found but there is a changing table on the opposite wall and an emergency intercom for a quick Rail Link it's a great bathroom even compared with regular commuter and inner city bathrooms it's a great facility so Props to up Express for adding one when it wasn't strictly necessary up trains offer offer complimentary Wi-Fi to all passengers or at least they say they do no matter how hard I tried the final step would never complete maybe it was a fluke with our coach or my phone but regardless it was still annoying despite our route's short nature we still reached line speed in between stations our train cruising at 79 mph so why is the up Express so important before the opening of the rail line there was no direct link between downtown Toronto and Toronto Pearson International Airport for passengers not wishing to pay the heavy price for a cabin to downtown the only other option was to take multiple Transit lines into the city with a travel time of over an hour when it opened in 2015 the union Pearson Express was expected to carry 2.35 million passengers by its third year of operation and remove 1.2 million car trips in its first year alone according to a news released by the Ontario government in 2015 unfortunately the first few years of service were less than ideal ridership started low at just 3,250 passengers daily or 12% capacity and decreased steadily in the following months this was mainly due to the rather ridiculous ticket prices when service first started oneway tickets cost $27.50 for adults or $19 with a Presto card that's almost $30 per person for a 25-minute journey in response to the low ridership and public outcry regarding the prices Metro linkx the operator of the up Express slashed prices from $27.50 to $12 in cash and $9 with a Presto card as soon as this happened ridership skyrocketed in the past 4 years passenger numbers have quadrupled the 4.5 million passengers per year in 2019 according to Metro linkx and if that wasn't enough Metro linkx now has major plans in the work to improve up service with an upgrade to electric trains more frequent services and better integration with goer rail as we reach the outskirts of the airport our train slows dipping under Highway 427 and transitioning onto the elevated rail line to the [Music] airport the 2.2 M segment elevates trains to a maximum of 92 ft and offers a great view of the Toronto skyline and the airport complex speaking of the airport complex from up here we spot a super rare aircraft out on the tarmac an Antonov a124 this particular aircraft is at the center of a heated dispute between the Canadian government and its operator vulga dener Airlines after the aircraft was seized in February of 20122 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine turning our attention back to to the tracks our train rounds the final Bend into the up Express Station at Terminal 1 grabbing our bags we can disembark into the airport where we'll bring today's video to a close next week we'll be back in the UK to take a ride on one of chil's Mark 3 train sets while taking a look at the business Zone The Lost class of children services if you're new around here I would really appreciate it if you hit that subscribe button down below it's totally free and it really helps support the channel if you want to go the extra mile with your support then check out the Channel's patreon or become a channel member if you to want your name in the video access to exclusive weekly posts and even the opportunity to vote on future videos then click the links in the top right or in the description below to learn more but anyways that's all I have for today thanks for riding with me and I'll see you in the next [Music] [Music] one

Channel: Lonestar Trip Reports

Views: 14,189

Keywords: GO Transit, GO Trains, GO Toronto, Toronto Union Station, urban planning, commuter rail, go transit, go trains, go train stations, go transit stations, park and ride, go train, toronto, metrolinx, toronto union station, UP express, Union Pearson Express, VIA Rail, Lonestar Trip Reports, VIA Rail LRC, GO TRANSIT, The Canadian, VIA Rail Canada, Commuter Train, UP Express, Toronto Airport Link, Airport Rail Link, Toronto Airport Train, UP Train

Id: D9Oq5CTxKS4

Length: 13min 29sec (809 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 16 2023