The Union-Pearson Express witnessed massive ridership numbers this weekend, with lineups to board the airport train service as long as two hours. If you build it, they might not come. But if you make it free, they will come in droves.

Did anyone see this coming? News that Metrolinx was offering free UPX rides on Family Day weekend met with more than a few quips. "What, people are going to take a train to the airport just because it's free?" Apparently, yes.

The CBC reports that 10,000 people rode the train on Saturday. The vast majority of these people were there just to try it out, but there might just be a lesson in this weekend's bizarre free-for-all. Clearly there's interest in the service. And clearly it's just too damn expensive.

Whoever thought up this stunt for Metrolinx deserves a gold star, as the UPX is all over the news this weekend. That said, one suspects that pressure to drop the fare price will only increase in the wake of all this attention.

Check out massive lineup in the video below. It just keeps going and going and going and going...

Photo by Moodycamera Photography on Flickr.