This is what the renovations at Union Station look like right now
The Bay Concourse below Union Station has been closed for renovations since the end of Toronto’s PanAm Games in 2015, and now we finally get to see a sneak peak of the brand new section.
In a Metrolinx blog post published Wednesday, snap shots of the new-and-improved transit concourse — set to reopen in spring 2020 — show a modernized, brighter version of the once dreary-looking hall.
"The former Bay Concourse, inside Toronto’s Union Station, had a lot in common with your grandmother’s old kitchen," the blog post accurately states.
While construction is still visibly underway, the photos certainly reveal a handful of improvements.
Goodbye taupe tile – A sneak peek into Union Station’s new Bay Concourse. You’ve waited patiently & it’s finally opening soon. https://t.co/LRb74WZtAJ
— Anne Marie Aikins (@AMAwithAMA) December 11, 2019
The weird taupe colour of the tiles and walls has been changed to white, pot lights make for a much brighter atmosphere and brand new bathrooms make for a clean, polished look.
The new Bay Concourse will also have GO service counters, departure PINs boards (screens showing bus and train departure times), PRESTO machines, waiting area furniture, directional signage, and more customer amenities, according to Metrolinx.
And that's not all.
The total concourse area of Union Station will be more than triple what it was, going from 40,000 sq. ft. to 123,000 sq. ft., including the new York Concourse.
Twelve new staircases and eight new elevators will also make accessing platform level far easier.
Once completed, the concourse will also have new entrances to street level and the city's PATH network.
"We recognize the relief that opening the Bay Concourse will have on our customers," Bill Clowes, Metrolinx vice president of the Union Station Rail Corridor, said in the blog post, "so we’re working together with the city in an effort to get the concourse open as quickly as possible."
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