[URBAN NOTE] "Riding the Union-Pearson Express"

[rfmcdonald]

Torontoist's Todd Aalgaard recently described his experience, as a journalist, riding the controversial new Union-Pearson Express.

The signage at Pearson itself remains vague, with directions throughout Terminal 1 completely avoiding any mention of the “Union­-Pearson Express.” Only on the platform itself, adjacent to Terminal 1’s boarding area for the existing Terminal Link service, does anything comparable exist: a wall, a couple of doors, a lot of Metrolinx renderings, and the cacophany of construction equipment behind them.

To be fair, though, there’s reason to think that spring of this year might be a more reasonable end ­date than transit­-weary travellers would, quite understandably, let themselves believe. This morning, journalists were invited to the Terminal 1 platform to check out the construction progress, and to see whether reality meets the Metrolinx renderings.

[. . .]

After the donning of reflective vests and helmets to safely enter what it still a construction site, journalists were given a tour of the rail concourse under development. Here, said Daryl Barnett, Metrolinx’s VP of Network Construction, passengers will be treated to everything from another commanding view of the Greater Toronto Area to Wi­Fi access, one of the service’s most-­touted perks.

Ontario-­grown wood lines the ceiling, windows leave the space open to the sun, and supporting beams, officials said, are intentionally designed in a Y­-shape to represent a person with arms raised in elation. ­This is supposedly the way you’ll feel when you’re not stressed out by your trip to and from the airport, an official said earnestly.

It was, of course, a public-relations pitch designed to appeal to Torontonians not universally on board with the plan. The ride, however, did what the most well­-crafted pitch couldn’t.