Toronto Union Station Revitalization | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | NORR

[Richard White]

Normally I would not believe BlogTO BUT they do make a good case. Even Citynews said the same thing about the conditions in the teamway.

 

[adHominem]

It appears Bondfield MAY have endangered lives after the mumford and sons concert.

Yeah, but it was the lives of Mumford and Sons fans, so it's not really so bad.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Clearly someone need to be flayed before the holidays.

AoD

 

[TOareaFan]

I heard AMA comment on this on Tuesday (after the first Mumford and Sons show but in advance of the second show that night) and her wording made me mad. She said that the contractor, hired by the city, was to blame for the closing of the doors and caused the problem. Clearly the "between the lines" text was "If they are to blame then, we, ML cannot be blamed"....well, I am sorry, but as the operator of the building and the services and knowing there is a large event about to be let out....maybe, just maybe, it makes sense to send someone around to make sure the building is ready for that surge of people...but no, it seems ML is never to "blame" for anything.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Of course they can be blamed - whose job is it to monitor the condition of that portion of the teamway? The cause is one thing; the reaction to that is another.

AoD

 

[Richard White]

I heard AMA comment on this on Tuesday (after the first Mumford and Sons show but in advance of the second show that night) and her wording made me mad. She said that the contractor, hired by the city, was to blame for the closing of the doors and caused the problem. Clearly the "between the lines" text was "If they are to blame then, we, ML cannot be blamed"....well, I am sorry, but as the operator of the building and the services and knowing there is a large event about to be let out....maybe, just maybe, it makes sense to send someone around to make sure the building is ready for that surge of people...but no, it seems ML is never to "blame" for anything.

Actually The City of Toronto is the operator of the building.

 

[DSC]

They look to be similar in form to the wayfinding pillar in the plaza outside Union Station

They have started to put the panels into the new pillars in the Great Hall and they ARE very similar to the ones outside in the Sir John A Macdonald Plaza shown in the photos above.

 

[raptor]

 

[JasonParis]

A bit surprised VIA gets its name in their (central) Concourse, unlike Bay and York which aren't GO East and GO West.

 

[WillTo]

I dunno. Those columns are nice but I feel like there needs to be a little arrow to indicate the VIA Concourse is ahead and that you are not currently in the VIA Concourse.

 

[TOareaFan]

Actually The City of Toronto is the operator of the building.

should have been clearer (or posted slower)....they (ML) operate just about all of the services out of the building (particularly at that time of night) and have (IMO) a duty of care to make sure the building is set up/ready for the surge of customers coming their way from the event.

So that we do not end up engaged in a lengthy back and forth on this.....I am, in no way, saying the city and their contractor are not responsible.....but the arrogant tone of ML on this (and, frankly, most things) suggests (to me) that they seldom (never) think they have any "blame" to take.....and that is the part I have issue with.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Actually The City of Toronto is the operator of the building.

Not necessarily - contrast this and the incident where falling concrete struck a passenger on her way to the platforms.

AoD

 

[union2pearson]

The ownership of the station is actually broken up from one end to the other. The Bay East Teamway is owned by Metrolinx, the Bay West, York East and York West are owned by the City and Skywalk belong to Allied Properties...The Great Hall, and VIA Departures are the City's responsibility. The new Food Court in the York Concourse also belongs to the City. The York and Bay Concourse is Metrolinx's responsibility.

Attempting whom to contact when something breaks or goes wrong...Priceless.

 

[Richard White]

The ownership of the station is actually broken up from one end to the other. The Bay East Teamway is owned by Metrolinx, the Bay West, York East and York West are owned by the City and Skywalk belong to Allied Properties...The Great Hall, and VIA Departures are the City's responsibility. The new Food Court in the York Concourse also belongs to the City. The York and Bay Concourse is Metrolinx's responsibility.

Attempting whom to contact when something breaks or goes wrong...Priceless.

I am surprised they do not do what they did in the UK where National Rail owns key stations like Paddington, Kings Cross-St Pancreas, Victoria and I think maybe even Marylebone. It is centralized in a way that the competing railway companies do not have control over certain parts of the station.

 

[Le Gique]

why do you think it's impending?

Actually, from what VIA staff and Travelers Aid volunteers were told, they were expecting the permanent removal of the clock, main departure boards and info booth over a year ago. Then— all work on the floor stopped (what, eight months ago?) with no official explanation that I am aware of.

Unconfirmed news is the new departure boards are not displaying as expected and this is holding up removal of the old ones.

If anyone can access verified information, please share.

Seems hard to imagine the Hall without a big clock or with the info desk relegated to a window (over where the Hertz outlet was). A booth has been in the centre of the space since construction, except for a short period when VIA began and there was an info pillar there, showing cities served.