Another phase of Union Station construction begins, with years of disruption ahead

Metrolinx has begun preliminary construction at Union Station for its GO Expansion project, starting with removal of a canopy section over two platforms to facilitate platform widening. The canopy over tracks 11 and 12 is set to come down in December.

It's the latest in an ongoing construction cycle that has defined the downtown transit hub for over a decade and a half. The City's multi-year Union Station Revitalization Project launched in 2010 and was deemed complete in July 2021 after 11 years of work. That $824-million upgrade increased the station's floor area by roughly 14 per cent, tripled GO's concourse capacity, added roughly 160,000 square feet of retail and dining, and enclosed the station's moats in glass canopies.

But those were just the city's upgrades. Metrolinx has run its own unaffiliated Union Station Enhancement Project since early 2022 to prepare the rail hub for GO Transit's planned partial electrification by 2036 and two-way, all-day service every 15 minutes or faster. Once complete, Metrolinx says Union Station will have capacity to run up to 80 trains per hour during peak periods — four times the current level.

As of 2026, it has been 16 years since Union Station was free of construction, and several more years of disruption remain before the dust and noise finally settle.