Reasons to Love Toronto Now: because the new Union Station was worth the wait

Some 213,000 GO commuters pass through Union Station every weekday—that’s more than twice the daily traffic of Pearson Airport. And, for the past six years, those people have been forced to navigate a holy mess of scaffolding and construction detritus, as the station’s glitzy $1.3-billion revitalization has been stymied by setbacks and cost overruns. But this spring, they started to see some results when the new York Street GO concourse opened its doors. The 62,000-square-foot space is an airy sweep of glass and stone, almost Nordic in its bright utility. It features streamlined stairway and elevator access, a new GO platform and dozens of automated ticketing machines and Presto vendors—which all seems downright luxurious after years of soul- and time-sucking commutes. The York concourse is one of several projects coming together soon: the Union-Pearson Express will be zooming up to the airport in time for the Pan Am Games, and a fancy new food court will open next year, featuring a Burger’s Priest, Union Chicken and a 30,000-square-foot fresh food market. Like its commuters, Union Station is finally going somewhere.