I take the UP Express train into the office every day (here in Toronto). This is a rail service that we have spoken about many times over the years on this blog.
It started as an airport link that was too expensive, but was then repriced so that more people would use it, and use it locally. It is now widely used by people like me. I don't know the exact split, but in the mornings, it feels like majority commuters.
Then on Monday of this week, the province announced that local service would be reduced from every 15 minutes to every 30 minutes. Supposedly this was in order to improve service between downtown and Pearson airport.
Commuters immediately reacted. In fact, while riding the train on Tuesday morning, there was quite literally a guy beside me on the phone trying to complain to his local city councillor and MPP. A petition was also started on Monday that, at the time of writing this post, had close to 6,000 supporters.
And then -- some 24 hours after the initial announcement -- the Minister of Transportation announced that the province would be walking back this service change and that he had "directed Metrolinx to not proceed." Boom.
As a daily rider, this selfishly makes me happy. But more importantly, I think it, once again, shows how quickly voices can get amplified in today's world and how important good regional express rail is to our city. Clearly we need more of this!
Sadly, it probably also shows that some people have no idea how lines like these are actually getting used. I have to believe that if anyone had looked closely at ridership and the split between local/airport, that this decision wouldn't have been made in the first place.
I'm late to the party here, but I was reading this morning about how New York City recently completed the rollout of its One Metro New York (OMNY) fare payment system. What this does is allow you to use contactless payment systems, like Apple Pay, to get on the subway. ONMY is now available across the five boroughs on every bus and at all 472 subway stations (feel free to impress your friends at virtual parties with this stat).
Metrolinx here in Toronto is similarly piloting contactless payments on the Union Pearson Express. You now have the option of tapping a credit card, a phone, or a watch. Maybe this doesn't seem like such a big deal, but I still remember when the PRESTO payment card was first rolled out -- it felt late to me. Apple added near-field communication (NFC) to iPhone in 2014, and at that point I think it was fairly obvious that standalone payment cards wouldn't be around much longer.
That time has arrived for New York City and will be hopefully arriving shortly for Toronto. And I think it will be particularly useful for tourists who may not have a Metrocard (NYC) or PRESTO card (Toronto) and just want to jump on a train. I've only taken the subway a handful of times during this pandemic, but I'll be back at it once the world fully resumes. And I definitely can't wait to take the UP Express to the airport again (and to the Junction).
It was announced this week that Metrolinx will be making changes to the popular UPX train service that connects Union Station to Toronto's Pearson International Airport. This is an interesting transit story. And as someone who will be moving to the Junction (adjacent to one of the stops along the way), I have a vested interest in this announcement.
The UPX started out as a high-priced boutique train service to the airport. A one-way fare was $27.50 per person (without a PRESTO card). This was too much and I argued that here on the blog. If you looked at the math and compared it to the alternatives, such as taking an UberX, most people were not going to take this train.
The fares were ultimately dropped -- by a lot -- and the service then took off not only as a link to Pearson but as an inner-city commuter service. I now sometimes call it the Union-Junction Express, because the actual train ride from Union to Bloor St (at Dundas West) is about 7 minutes once you're on the train.
The announcement this week merely solidifies the train's evolution from high-priced boutique service (which didn't work) to airport/commuter service (which is really working). The trains are expected to run more frequently now, some of which will continue to make the same stops as today and some of which will stop in new locations along the line.
As transit-advocate Cameron MacLeod said in the Globe and Mail yesterday, "there's both good and bad news here." The good news is more frequent service. Even quicker trips in some instances. And better integration with the broader GO train network. The bad news is the award-winning UPX station at Union will no longer be needed. The service is expected to move to a new platform.
Photo by Sean Thoman on Unsplash