Toronto’s new downtown-airport rail link takes 25 minutes. (Image: Union Pearson Express)
Travelers to Toronto will have a new option for getting to and from Toronto Pearson International Airport starting June 6; that’s the starting date for passenger service on the Union Pearson Express.
The new rail link runs from Union Station in downtown Toronto to Terminal 1 at the airport via intermediate stops at the Bloor and Weston GO Transit stations. Trains operate every 15 minutes, and the estimated travel time between Union Station and the airport is 25 minutes. Trains will be equipped with Wi-Fi and flight information screens.
The individual one-way fare is $27.50 — about half the taxi fare for an equivalent trip. Frequent users might want to take advantage of the PRESTO regional transportation card, which brings the cost of an airport-downtown trip down to $19. Tickets are available online or via mobile device at upexpress.com, or from vending machines at stations.
Entrance to the new express trains at Pearson Airport. (Image: Union Pearson Express)
The decision to build the airport rail link was made in 2010, with plans to have it ready in time for Toronto’s hosting of the Pan Am Games, which will be held there this summer.
In the U.S., the next big airport-rail link is coming at Denver, running from Union Station downtown to Denver International. That one is due to start carrying passengers next year.
NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Airport smoking ban? + Trip Report: Aer Lingus + Terminal shuffle at Heathrow + More Uber at airports
As a resident it isn’t great. As Dan said (and I did 3 weeks ago) the Toronto Transit Commission 192 Rocket plus subway is $3 CAD. To use UP express most people would have to use the bus/subway to get to UP express (adding $3 to the expense) making it $30.50 per person. If I needed greater haste MSM and I would have called a limo ($55 from mid-east Toronto) and had door to door service. Adding the bus/subway to get to UP Express the limo would be faster despite the traffic.
We went to Toronto last month and did a very easy connection from the airport to downtown Toronto. It was only $3 CDN (and only $2 for seniors!).
From Terminal 1, you just have to go to Ground Level Column R4 (easily found) and you catch the #192 express bus (called the 192 Rocket) which takes you non-stop to Kipling Station on the Line #2 (Bloor-Danforth). The bus is very easy to board even with suitcases (and there is an area to store them) since it is a wheelchair-accessible bus.
At the Kipling Station, you make an easy transfer to the subway and again it’s easy since there are elevators and escalators. Just ask for a paper transfer in case you have to show it. We weren’t even asked for it!
The Toronto subway system is very comfortable and safe and you can connect to anywhere in Toronto, including Union Station, from the #2 line.
Yes, it involves a transfer or two, and it did take a total of about 50 minutes, but that’s quite a difference in price between $3 and $27.50!
The funny thing is that we got a ride back to the airport to go home. It took almost an hour since there was a lot of traffic due to construction leaving downtown Toronto and on the 401 Express towards the airport. We almost missed our flight because we underestimated the time required, even on a weekend.
Personally, I prefer to take the real “public” transportation when visiting foreign cities. Not only is it much cheaper, but you also get a real introduction to the city rather than just seeing tourists!
The price is still too high to make it my first choice if I am paying out of pocket. I’ll either fly into the city terminal or take a free hotel shuttle to a hotel and then Uber/city bus. If someone else is paying then great, it’s convenient and fast. They should have made the price half of what it is to make it worth it to me when I visit TO. I could see how for a resident it improves things as it avoids high parking or taxi fares for a trip out of town.
Meanwhile, work continues at a glacial pace for the Metrorail extension to Washington Dulles airport (expected to open in 2019 or 2020), and no rail service at all at the one U.S. airport that would benefit tremendously: Las Vegas. But, according to Wikipedia, “Providing monorail service to the [Las Vegas] airport has been an unpopular idea with limousine and taxicab operators in the city, as trips to and from the airport form a major portion of their business.” Better to pollute the air and raise costs for millions of Las Vegas visitors than to take away a few thousand jobs, I guess.