Union Station pickups, in one paragraph
Union Station — the city block between Front Street, Bay, York and the rail corridor, with the Great Hall (VIA Rail's hall on Front Street), the York and Bay concourses (GO Transit's, below), the UP Express terminal (at the station's west end by the SkyWalk), the Union subway station (below Front) and the PATH connections — has no stopping on Front Street outside the taxi stand and the transit lanes, and a black car uses the designated points: Front Street's lay-by east of the Great Hall (by Bay, when the construction allows), York Street's curb (the station's west side, south of Front — the VIA and UP Express passengers' door), the SkyWalk's Lower Simcoe end (for the UP Express terminal and the convention centre), and the Bay Street teamway (the covered passage under the tracks, for the Bay concourse's exit). A VIA arrival from Montreal, Ottawa or Windsor exits the Great Hall to Front or York; a GO arrival the concourses to Bay or York; a UP Express arrival the terminal to the SkyWalk or York; and a Scotiabank Arena game night beside the station closes Bremner and fills York. The two sentences: which exit ("York Street, VIA side") and what train ("VIA 65 from Montreal, 4:52") — and the chauffeur tracks it.
Union Station handles more passengers than Pearson — a quarter of a million a day through the GO concourses, VIA's corridor trains, the UP Express and the subway — and its front door has been a construction site since 2010, with the Front Street lanes, the taxi stand, the bus loop and the sidewalks rearranged repeatedly by the station's revitalization and the street's reconstruction. A passenger who tells a chauffeur "meet me at Union" is naming a city block; one who names the exit and the train is met at the curb. This guide covers the station's halls and their exits, the Front Street rules, the designated pickup points, the VIA, GO and UP Express arrivals and which door each uses, the construction, the PATH and the SkyWalk, the game-night crush, the luggage question, the Royal York across the street, and a worked afternoon of Union pickups.
The halls and their exits
The Great Hall — the 1927 Beaux-Arts hall on Front Street — is VIA Rail's: the ticket counters, the departures board, the Business lounge, and the doors onto Front Street (the main doors under the colonnade) and, at the hall's west end, onto York Street. The York Concourse and the Bay Concourse — the GO Transit halls below the tracks, rebuilt through the 2010s — exit to York Street (the York Concourse's west doors), to Bay Street (the Bay Concourse's east doors and the Bay teamway), to Front Street via the Great Hall's stairs, and to the PATH. The UP Express terminal — the airport train's own hall at the station's west end, above the SkyWalk — exits to the SkyWalk (west, toward the convention centre and Lower Simcoe) and to York Street via the concourse. The subway exits to Front Street's south side under the Royal York and to the concourses. A passenger who knows which hall they are in knows which door to walk to.
Front Street's rules
Front Street between Bay and York is the station's front — the colonnade, the taxi stand, the bus stops, the transit lanes — and stopping is prohibited along it for private cars except at the marked lay-by, with the taxi stand for taxis only and enforcement by the station's and the City's officers; a black car that stops at the colonnade to load a passenger is moved on or ticketed. The lay-by at Front's east end by Bay, when the construction leaves it open, is the one Front Street point a pre-arranged car can use; the Financial District hotels guide covers the Royal York's porte-cochère across the street, which is the hotel's and not the station's.
The designated pickup points
York Street's curb — the station's west side, south of Front and north of the rail corridor's bridge — is the pickup point for VIA and UP Express passengers and the one a chauffeur uses by default: the Great Hall's west doors and the York Concourse's doors open onto it, the curb holds several cars, and the York Street lay-by south of the SkyWalk's stairs is marked for pickups. The SkyWalk's Lower Simcoe end — the elevated walkway from the UP Express terminal west to the convention centre and down to Lower Simcoe Street — serves the UP Express passenger and the convention delegate, with the Lower Simcoe curb at its foot. The Bay Street teamway — the covered passage under the tracks on the station's east side — serves the Bay Concourse's GO passengers, with Bay's curb south of Front. Front Street's east lay-by by Bay serves the Great Hall's main doors when open. A chauffeur names one in the confirmation and the passenger walks to it.
VIA arrivals: Montreal, Ottawa, Windsor
VIA's corridor trains — from Montreal (four to five hours), Ottawa (four and a half), Kingston, Windsor and London, and the Canadian from Vancouver — arrive on the station's platforms and their passengers come down into the Great Hall (or, for some platforms, the York Concourse) and out to Front or York; a chauffeur tracks the train on VIA's status page (the trains run late more often than the airlines' flights) and meets the passenger at York Street's curb with the train number on the confirmation. A VIA Business-class passenger with the lounge's exit uses the Great Hall's west doors to York; a passenger with heavy luggage uses the same door and the chauffeur is at the trunk. The long-distance vs flying article compares the train, the car and the flight for the corridor, and the Toronto visitor guide covers the arriving visitor's first evening.
GO arrivals: the concourses
GO's Lakeshore, Kitchener, Barrie, Milton, Richmond Hill and Stouffville trains arrive on the platforms and their passengers descend to the York or Bay Concourse and out to York, Bay or the PATH; a GO passenger from Oakville or Whitby who wants a car — a client's visit, a late night, luggage — names the concourse and the chauffeur names the curb (York for the York Concourse, the Bay teamway for the Bay). A chauffeur says honestly that a GO passenger going on to a Financial District tower walks the PATH.
UP Express arrivals
The UP Express from Pearson arrives at its own terminal at the station's west end, 25 minutes after leaving Terminal 1; its passengers exit to the SkyWalk (west) or down to York Street, and a passenger who took the train from the airport and wants a car for the last leg — a Yorkville hotel, a Leslieville home, the luggage — is met at York's curb or at the SkyWalk's Lower Simcoe end. The UP Express comparison works the whole arithmetic and the Pearson page books the direct run for the cases where the train plus the car is not the answer.
The construction and the PATH
Union's revitalization (2010–2025) rebuilt the concourses, the platforms' roof, the Bay and York teamways and the retail below, and Front Street's reconstruction continues to move the lanes and the taxi stand; a chauffeur checks the week's configuration and the summer construction routing article covers the season's closures. The PATH connects the station to every Financial District tower, the Royal York, the convention centre (via the SkyWalk), Scotiabank Arena and the Rogers Centre, and a passenger going to any of them needs no car — the chauffeur says so — while the car is for the airport, the evening, the luggage, the family and the destinations the PATH does not reach.
The game-night crush
Scotiabank Arena sits at the station's south-west corner, and on a Leafs or Raptors night — or a concert's — Bremner Boulevard closes, York Street south of Front fills with the arena's crowd for an hour after the final buzzer, and a Union pickup at 10 p.m. moves to Front's east lay-by or to Bay's curb; the Scotiabank Arena guide covers the arena's own pickups and the Rogers Centre guide the stadium's beyond the SkyWalk. A VIA passenger arriving at 9:50 on a game night is told by the chauffeur which door and which curb before the train arrives.
The luggage question
A Union pickup with luggage — the Canadian's passengers with a week's bags, a family from Montreal, a student's move — is the York Street curb with the chauffeur at the trunk and, for a large party, a Sprinter at the York lay-by; the luggage capacity article decides the vehicle and the station's porters (VIA's, for Business class) bring the bags to the York doors.
The Royal York across the street
The Fairmont Royal York's porte-cochère on Front Street's north side is the hotel's, not the station's, and a VIA passenger staying at the Royal York walks across Front (or under it, via the PATH) and needs no car; a passenger staying elsewhere is met at York. The Royal York article covers the hotel's door and the Financial District hotels guide the district's others.
A worked afternoon of Union pickups
2:30 p.m.: a Montreal couple on VIA 65 (arriving 2:52, tracked at 3:04) — met at York Street's curb with two bags, to the Four Seasons via Bay. 4:00: a Whitby executive off the Lakeshore East GO — the Bay teamway's curb, to a King West client. 5:15: a family off the UP Express from Terminal 1 with four bags — the SkyWalk's Lower Simcoe end, to a Beaches rental. 7:40: a Leafs night — a VIA passenger from Ottawa (7:32, on time) met at Front's east lay-by because York is closed to the crowd, to a Yorkville dinner. Four pickups, four doors, four trains tracked, no one told "meet me at Union."
Union Station quick reference
| Arrival | Exit | Pickup point | Tell the chauffeur |
|---|---|---|---|
| VIA (Montreal, Ottawa, Windsor) | Great Hall west doors | York Street curb | "York Street, VIA side, train 65" |
| VIA with the lounge | Great Hall west doors | York Street curb | Same |
| GO — York Concourse | York doors | York Street curb | "York Concourse" |
| GO — Bay Concourse | Bay doors / teamway | Bay Street curb south of Front | "Bay teamway" |
| UP Express | SkyWalk or York | Lower Simcoe (SkyWalk) or York curb | "UP Express, SkyWalk end" |
| Subway | Front Street south side | Front's east lay-by (if open) or York | "Front east lay-by" |
| Game night | Any | Front's east lay-by or Bay — York closed | The chauffeur names it |
| Heavy luggage / group | Great Hall west doors | York lay-by; Sprinter | Bag count |
Booking a Union pickup
The engine takes "Union Station" as the pickup with the exit and the train in the notes; the Pearson page books the direct airport run when the train plus the car is not the answer; the Financial District hotels guide covers the hotels a block away.
The Canadian and the long-distance arrivals
VIA's Canadian from Vancouver arrives at Union twice a week after four nights on the train, its passengers with a week's luggage and, often, no plan for the last mile; a chauffeur meets the Canadian at York Street's curb with an SUV or a Sprinter for a party's bags, tracks the train (which runs hours late as often as not, and the flight delays article's tracking logic applies), and drives the party to a hotel or to Pearson for the onward flight. The Ocean's and the Maple Leaf's (the Amtrak train from New York, arriving at Union in the evening after customs at the border) passengers are the same pattern, and the long-distance vs flying article compares the trains with the road for the corridor.
Departures from Union
A passenger leaving Union — a VIA to Montreal at 6:40 a.m., a GO to Oakville, the UP Express to Pearson — is dropped at York Street's curb for the Great Hall and the York Concourse, at the Bay teamway for the Bay Concourse, or at the SkyWalk's Lower Simcoe end for the UP Express; a VIA Business passenger with the lounge's early boarding is dropped at York twenty minutes before departure and the red-eye article's roster covers the 6 a.m. trains.
Booking notes for Union
"Union Station, York Street curb, VIA 65 from Montreal arriving 4:52, two bags" — the exit, the train, the time and the bags; the how to book online article shows the notes field and dispatch tracks the train from the number.
