This video might have the distinction of being the most positive media attention the Senate of Canada has received in years.

@flargus7919

11 ай бұрын

I think a lot of the bad Senate headlines petered out a while ago when the never-ending Wallin/Duffy/Brazeau/Meredith/Beyak scandals ran their course. Those nincompoops could only do so much to keep people bad-mouthing the upper chamber. I don't think anyone's really talked about the Senate (other than about those goons) for a while now. Senators are sorta like MLB umpires, you really only get to know their names when they do something stupid, but if they're quietly doing their job you forget they exist.

@robertcartwright4374

11 ай бұрын

Hahaha!

@CityNerd

11 ай бұрын

Now this is a good comment

@jacktattersall9457

11 ай бұрын

For Americans: Canadian Senators are appointed based on a non-political application process with final decision by the prime minister and serve for life until mandatory retirement at the age of 75. Yes, this is British House of Lords style! Note that the Senate will return to its wing of Centre Block at Parliament Hill by 2030 when renovations of Parliament Hill are complete. At which time it will return to a mere Senate of Canada office building.

@nlpnt

11 ай бұрын

Les Lye's comedically drunken, unshaven, stammering dad character on You Can't Do That On Television (which was made in Ottawa) was a Canadian Senator.

As a resident of Ogden, thank you for calling us out for having a car museum in our non-functioning union station. It's hilariously sad

@AstroMagi

11 ай бұрын

The city is actively planning on moving the FrontRunner station back to Ogden Union Station at some point.

@silmarian

11 ай бұрын

That really is like kicking someone when they’re down

@eyezak_m

11 ай бұрын

And hopefully the Rio Grande Plan happens

@darylelee3166

11 ай бұрын

Washington Union Station also serves as the interstate bus station for the city

@alechagen6291

11 ай бұрын

​@@AstroMagi do you have a source on that? I knew they were doing long range planning for the OUS area, but hadn't heard anything specific about moving the FrontRunner platform to be closer to the station building itself.

The best part about Toronto Union Station that you didn't mention was the fact that it was in the literal heart of downtown, literally everything is within walking distance from it, unlike say LA which sorta sits on the edge of the city's downtown.

@thecadeaujournals3980

11 ай бұрын

This is huge! You're totally right. We kind of have the opposite problem to Chicago where we only have a single downtown transit hub- but the benefit of that is that basically everything in the city is accessible from that one stop

@trainsandmore2319

11 ай бұрын

Two words, the Gardiner

@Absolute_Zero7

11 ай бұрын

@@trainsandmore2319 Hot take, the Gardiner is given way more crap than it actually deserves. Its only 80ft wide (so its a lot narrower than most stroads) and takes at most 10s to cross. The only real issue with the Gardiner is less the gardiner and more Lake Shore Boulevard underneath it which is always congested and busy. Say we theoretically remove LSB, all that's left is a viaduct on the backside of ScotiaBank Arena but can be crossed easily. In fact, its even narrower than most sections of the Union Station Rail Corridor so if anything in downtown Toronto is causing a physical divide, its the railway corridor, not the Gardiner. If you were to walk down Bay Street from Front Street to Queens Quay, whilst you only have to walk under 80ft of highway, you have to walk under 420ft of a railway with basically no sunlight. The teamway does try to make the environment nicer, but speaking personally its a much larger barrier to walking than the Gardiner is. Not to mention that on my point of walkability from Union, you very rarely actually need to cross the Gardiner. Most of the major destinations that you'd walk from Union are either north of the station, or are north of the Gardiner. The only major destination south of the Gardiner is the harbourfront center, but if you really don't want to cross the gardiner, the 509/510 streetcar is literally right there and will take you from Union to the Harbourfront.

@tristanridley1601

11 ай бұрын

@@Absolute_Zero7 Honestly the bigger problem is the cost. The maintenance budget is more than all other Toronto infrastructure.

@Humulator

11 ай бұрын

@@Absolute_Zero7 10seconds to cross? It has 40 second countdowns and I can barely cross it in that time

I fully expected Toronto's Union Union station to be #1... after getting snubbed on a certain list of urbanist sports stadiums I'm glad you've come to your senses ;)

@andrew20146

11 ай бұрын

I was a bit baffled by that, too. Scotiabank Centre (hockey/basketball) is across the street and Rogers Centre (baseball) is a 5 min walk away from the centre of the regional rail network. Does the central station need to be under the ball park?

@CityNerd

11 ай бұрын

I’ll revisit Scotiabank Arena at some point

@lemonade4181

11 ай бұрын

@@andrew20146 Scotiabank arena isn’t even across the street, it’s legitimately attached to the station.

@TheKenContinuum

11 ай бұрын

I approve of this comment.

@jacnel

11 ай бұрын

@@lemonade4181 This is correct. To get from inside of Union Station to the Union Station Bus Terminal the most effective route is from the back of Union Station via Scotiabank Arena. The two buildings are basically attached.

As a Columbusite, I appreciate you finally highlighting how absolutely ridiculous it is that we have no passenger rail. It's been a long and hard battle, with many instances where we've been hopeful only for a plan to get shot down even with funding procured (looking at you, Kasich). Fingers crossed the new plan gets the go-ahead, but I won't hold my breath.

@danielkelly2210

11 ай бұрын

Yeah, Kasich, Mr. “Passenger rail is not in Ohio’s future.” Kasich.

@tonylee1103

11 ай бұрын

Finally get Ohio 3C built and NCBT.

@Legitlyyy

11 ай бұрын

Even more depressing when you remember that a local group was trying to save Union Station and the wrecking ball came in by Battelle without warning

@jamieyoder9199

11 ай бұрын

@@Legitlyyy I did not even know that, that does boil my blood even more

@thexalon

11 ай бұрын

I remember Dennis Kucinich was really pushing for the 3C plan (with a possible stop in Akron, and obvious extension opportunities to Dayton and Kentucky). But, y'know, owning the libs by having to drive your F-150 for hours is way better than having great regional rail options.

A couple other things that Toronto Union station has going for it are the new bus terminal, and it's connection to the PATH - an underground maze of tunnels that connects pretty much every major building downtown to Union Station. There's a good number of people who live in apartments connected to subway lines who can travel from home in the suburbs to any office tower downtown without going outside in the winter, all because of the PATH connection at Union.

@matt45540

11 ай бұрын

This could be a fun video tunnels for people not cars

@slavkovalsky1671

11 ай бұрын

Also, the airport connection(s) (plural) are pretty good - you can take a streetcar to Billy Bishop or UP express to Pearson.

@christopherkotsopoulos701

11 ай бұрын

@@slavkovalsky1671 You can also take the free bus shuttle to Billy Bishop from across the street.

@erins9271

11 ай бұрын

Yes the PATH and it's indoor walkway to the Aquarium, CN Tower, and Skydome. The architecture is pretty amazing too.

@pizzajona

11 ай бұрын

That’s cool but does your Canadian PATH connect you to the financial hub of the entire globe?

I keep hearing rumors about restoration of Toronto-Chicago service. That would be nice. On another note, South Bend, Indiana's Union Station is still on a major rail line, but Norfolk Southern doesn't want it used for passenger rail service -- they even ripped out the concrete platforms and use the five tracks there to stage freight trains into the Elkhart yard. So Amtrak gets to use a "shed" a couple of miles to the west.

@ucantSQ

2 ай бұрын

At least their south shore line runs frequently... way out at the airport.

i’m willing to bet that St Paul Union Depot just missed the top ten mark, and i respect the data. it’s a rare survivor… closed in the 70’s but underwent a gorgeous restoration in 2010 and now serves amtrak and local rail again!

@douglasmoen2658

8 ай бұрын

St Paul Union Depot is gorgeous, and since restoration has become the central focus of Lowertown end of downtown St. Paul

The Raleigh Union Station (RUS) is the initial ambitious investment in Raleigh's transit future. It was built from the structure of a dilapidated warehouse in a since re-emerged warehouse district downtown. Phase 2 is breaking ground soon (you can see the site prep in the birdseye aerial in the video) and will include a a bus terminal (RUS Bus) and hundreds of new apartments in two towers. The train station was purpose built to support future regional rail service, and was a really good move by the city to push forward with this station.

@BigCheeks5122

11 ай бұрын

Also, the frequency of intercity service between Raleigh and Charlotte has increased significantly since the new station opened and is the main reason NC Amtrak ridership is at record highs.

@jlpack62

11 ай бұрын

@@BigCheeks5122 ...and it will be the station for HSR northward through Richmond and DC.

@mentalrectangle

11 ай бұрын

Some day, starry eyed dreaming, it could be a station for a regional rail system.

@mcnelson

11 ай бұрын

As a North Carolinian I really would love to see Raleigh in the top 10 of this list some day. I think it could do it too! The Triangle would benefit so massively from regional rail.

@timwatkins6559

11 ай бұрын

Would love to see more people taking rail into Asheville too. Too many damn cars in this small city

As someone who took the train between Chicago and St Louis alot, the differences are jarring between these stations. And I have said for decades that St Louis should have kept their Union Station as a mixed use train station and not as a tourist trap.

@jtsholtod.79

11 ай бұрын

St. Louis Union Station is literally only a block away from the transportation center, but feels like it's miles away. The multi-modal station is like a wasteland of human existence. They could easily connect tracks back through the parking lots into a part of the old train shed. I guess part of the issue is that it was designed as a terminal with dead-end tracks, so it would limit the through-running of trains. But still, there had to have been a better option than what they have now.

@waynecopple385

11 ай бұрын

St. Louis Gateway Station is a long way from ideal for sure. But after a quarter century of the "temporary " facility ( sometimes referred to as St.Louis Union Trailer), it was a big step up. Another statement on the sad status of our rail passenger system.😢

@zgdafzgdaf4264

11 ай бұрын

Also most people who would catch a train in st, Louis would use the kirkwood station.

@toddinde

11 ай бұрын

I completely agree. I loved St Louis Union. I actually arrived by train in that station in 1972, and as a ten year old, thought it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. They completely emasculated the Midway (concourse) in the horrible remodeling. Yes, they could bring trains back and need to. I am sure it will happen someday when people get some common sense.

@thenexthobby

11 ай бұрын

Today, I appreciate the tourist trap as a stealth museum, with what the old shed still shows. I could do without the pond that belches fire to music, but the Ferris wheel is cool.

As a Torontonian, I was sure you'd only mention US stations so I was very pleasantly surprised by #1 haha

@DookieChat

11 ай бұрын

Way to spoil the video with this comment being the first thing you see 🤢

@SpektakOne

11 ай бұрын

As a Torontonian, I didn’t expect our Union to be on ANY top ten list, mainly due to unending construction.

@dragnflye3797

11 ай бұрын

Sadly, the only Canadian station is Toronto. The other Canadian cities dropped the ball on this one.

@khalilheron8385

11 ай бұрын

@@dragnflye3797mind you pretty sure the only other union stations in the country are in Winnipeg and Regina… no surprise they didn’t make the list

@dragnflye3797

11 ай бұрын

@@khalilheron8385 I wanted to say the Pacific Central Station in Vancouver is a sorta union station, but you have to cross a busy stroad to connect with the Skytrain.

The "Go by Train" sign on the tower of Portland Union Station is chef's kiss. Something to clarify is that the Canadian senate is only there at Ottawa Union temporarily. The Centre Block (aka the main parliamentary complex) has been undergoing decade-long major rehabilitation work and so until the work is complete, the House of Commons temporarily moved to the West Block within Parliament Hill while the senate moved to the former Ottawa Union Station. Prior to that, the Station has been in limbo since 1966, when train service was moved to a modernist station in the city's eastern suburbs. Since then, it has been a government conference center, and there was a proposal for it to be the new Canadian Sports Hall of Fame Besides the long-distance trains serving Los Angeles Union Station, there are also many Amtrak Surfliner trains each day, as well as several bus connections with the San Joaquin trains. And for local service, besides the Metro Rail and Metrolink trains, quite a few bus lines stop at the Metro building just through the tunnel from Union Station. LA Union Station didn't open until May 1939. The city council of Los Angeles had desired since the 1910s to construct a Union station to replace the existing three terminal stations in Los Angeles: the Santa Fe's La Grande Station, the Southern Pacific's Central Station, and the Union Pacific's Salt Lake Station. Opposition by the railways led to a series of legal cases that were still not resolved by 1925, and a non-binding question was asked to voters which was passed. The station was designed by John and Donald Parkinson, a father and son team who also worked on Los Angeles City Hall, Ogden Union Station, Pomona station, and the LA Memorial Coliseum!

@haweater1555

11 ай бұрын

Ottawa's original union station was right downtown so close to Parliament Hill that it was actually intended to be convenient for parliamentarians to use -- until trains were kicked out as a "centennial celebration project" .

@jaygatz4335

11 ай бұрын

I lucked out one summer and happened to be in Ottawa during their Doors Open event. I got to tour the station decades after it closed and tried to remember departing on The Canadian for Vancouver when I was 5 years old, and hooking up in Sudbury with the Montreal section of the train. I also remember the Latin spelling, "VNION STATION", on the outside. It still is a beautiful building.

Union station is one of my favourites in Toronto architecture! Glad to see it as #1. However it's heartbreaking to see so many beautiful union stations demolished or used so poorly 😢

@chrisjohnson7929

11 ай бұрын

Regina Union Station. Beautiful building, but it is used as a casino now.

@johnfitzgerald7618

11 ай бұрын

To my mind it Toronto Union Station and the Dominion Public Building to its east make up the most impressive streetscape in Toronto.

Also with Toronto Union its connected to the PATH so you can walk to a ton of downtown destinations without ever having to go to street level which is a godsend in the winter.

@retropuffer2986

11 ай бұрын

I knew people who lived in condos by the PATH and worked in the downtown skyscrapers. They literally didn't have to wear a coat in winter.

@BytesAndCoffee

11 ай бұрын

@@retropuffer2986living in 100% climate controlled comfort from home to work to errands and beyond would be pretty incredible

@NebulonRanger

11 ай бұрын

@@BytesAndCoffee The PATH is legitimately amazing. Every major landmark downtown has an entrance, so you can walk from Union to the Skydome without having to navigate downtown traffic hell as a pedestrian.

I love that ours says GO BY TRAIN right up top. :)

Philadelphia’s 30th street station, not named Union, is iconic. It’s a little small and it should have a better connection to SEPTA’s regional rail, but it has great potential.

@CameronK665

11 ай бұрын

The connection to regional rail is totally fine - the regional rail has its own concourse on the north side of the station. What could be better is the connection to the El and trolley, which requires you to exit the subway, cross 30th street and enter into the station concourse.

@xavierdomenico

11 ай бұрын

It's def underlooked

@michaelbanks898

11 ай бұрын

@@CameronK665I wonder how hard it would be to create an underground concourse from 30th to the MFL. It’s a short walk, but boy it would be nice to not cross that busy street

@cameron_o

11 ай бұрын

​@@CameronK665there used to be a concourse underground but it got closed due to crime. I believe there's talks to reopen it as they finish revamping 30th st MFL station

@mkervelegan

11 ай бұрын

It also looks like a train station that Hitler would have designed. Only thing missing are ruptured eagles clutching bronze Hakenkreuze.

Another thing that Denver Union Station has going for it is it also has an underground bus tunnel/station with tons of busses going in and out to all over the region. I was just thinking of RTD ones but it also has Bustang and Greyhound.

@luckyluna62

11 ай бұрын

I didn’t realize greyhound is undergorund😮 it used to be somewhere else in the city back in the day

@drivers99

11 ай бұрын

@@luckyluna62 yeah there used to be a greyhound station that took up a city block but they tore it down a couple years ago

@GoGreen1977

10 ай бұрын

Besides those transportation services, DUS is a fun place to hang out. There are several great restaurants inside and more surrounding the DUS, a big "living" room where one can gather with friends and eat or drink food and beverages from the more casual restaurants/bars, an upscale hotel, some retail, including an outpost of an independent bookstore, and an easy walk to the baseball stadium (Coors Field).

Toronto Union also has the Union Pearson Express, a respectable airport rail link with 15m frequencies on a 25m journey to Pearson airport! When you consider UP + VIA + Amtrak + Ontario Northland + GO + TTC subway and streetcar and having a sizeable bus hub it's position on this list makes a lot of sense. I think it's the 2nd busiest station on the whole continent only behind NY Penn!

@frojo9

11 ай бұрын

Completely correct: As a proud Chicagoan one of the parts that I yearn for the most is a quick airport to central downtown connection. Orange Line from Midway to downtown isn't that long but O'Hare has most of the flights and Blue Line takes forever. When I had a 5-hour layover in Toronto I was able to, briefly, visit the city because of the Union Pearson Express train. I knew it wouldn't take too long to get there and back. I find very shockingly few cities in the WORLD have this kind of service which sucks because airport are on the outskirts of town usually (well.. not the aforementioned Midway) AS THEY SHOULD BE. If there is a solid and fast connection I'm more likely to visit during a layover or use the rail connections instead of connecting flights like how I frequently fly to Munich but will sometimes fly to Frankfort and then just use Deutsche Bahn to get to Munich.

@dragnflye3797

11 ай бұрын

When we visited Toronto last winter, we deliberately chose to not rent a car and use the train to get around instead. The train out to the airport was nice and we didn't have to drive the 401.

@pauly5418

11 ай бұрын

@@dragnflye3797 As a visitor, you made the right choice in taking the train. The flip side is if you had rented a car, traffic can be pretty bad and not just the 401.

@sirjohneh

11 ай бұрын

I love the UPX! I even take it from the Bloor Dundas W Station on TTC line 2 as an express downtown - a lot of people do this.

@rlwelch

11 ай бұрын

By my count, more than half of all passenger train lines in Ontario go through Union (including TTC streetcar, TTC subway, GO trains, UPX, VIA, Amtrak)

Note for pittsburghs union station, the bulding you showed is not used for rail, but is apartments. There is a seperate building that serves amtrak. That building has no right being on this list

@JamesSantelli

11 ай бұрын

And it’s a total bummer to see the beautiful old station, only to be shoved over into the terrible Amtrak building.

@dannylittle6766

11 ай бұрын

To add insult to injury, Pittsburgh's light rail has a line that goes to the station, but is not used at all.

@pastorjerrykliner3162

11 ай бұрын

The Pittsburgh Amtrak station is NASTY. It doesn't even have parking.

@johnchambers8528

11 ай бұрын

I don’t know why Pittsburgh’s Amtrak station is referred to as a Union Station. As far as I know it was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad and only their trains used that station. Pittsburg had a different station for the B&O Railroad as well as the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad. I believe only the P&LE station served other railroads than their own but never was referred to as a Union Station.

I am from KC, just recently rode the Southwest Chief for the second time in my life and Missouri River Runner for the first, probably because of you and @notjustbikes channels. Going to take MO River Runner to St Louis two more times this year with the family.

@ryanhake6990

11 ай бұрын

Greatly miss the trains in Europe and South Korea

Toronto Union also has the UP Express or Union Pearson Express which operates every 15 minutes, seven days a week, as a 25-minute journey with stops at Bloor and Weston in between. Not to mention the PATH tunnels and long-distance buses to places like Detroit and NYC. And two things you didn't mention about Denver Union Station is how the RTD system has direct service to Denver International Airport from the station as well as the fact Amtrak runs a Winter Park Express/Ski Train during winter weekends, so skiers can skip the traffic! It drops passengers 100 yards from the ski lifts, closer than parking would! If it wasn't for Moffat's vision of connecting Denver to the west with Salt Lake City and tackling the Continental Divide with the Moffat Tunnel, it wouldn't have become the economic engine that it is today. Here's some Union Station facts to go along with the video: DC's Union Station was designed by Daniel Burnham. He was Director of Works for the 1892-93 World's Columbian Exposition, which was referred to as "The White City". He also worked on Chicago Union, Pittsburgh Union/Pennsylvania Station, the plans for Manila and Baguio when the Philippines were a part of the US, and he even worked on NYC's Flatiron Building and London's Selfridges department store! Cincinnati Union Terminal opened in 1933 and was designed by Alfred T. Fellheimer, who was the lead architect for GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL! He also worked on the Buffalo Central Terminal, Erie Union Station, Burlington Union Station, and what's now the Hamilton GO Centre.

@cobrakai3732

11 ай бұрын

Burnham also drafted the 1909 Plan of Chicago. You probably knew that but I'm surprised it wasn't listed in your comments above with all of the other accolades :)

@HighHolyOne

11 ай бұрын

​@@cobrakai3732 Thank you for this mention. Until very modern times, Chicago was the only city on the Great Lakes where the lakefront was dedicated to the people as parkland. Other cities allowed industry. The two young men who pushed this design for Chicago were Daniel Burnham, as you said, and a fellow named Montgomery Ward. Burnham's monument in Graceland Cemetery (Chicago) is stunning, befitting a city planner, and should be on the tourists' lists. For architecture, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is also buried there with a very simple marker. Cyrus McCormick, many other famous Chicagoans.

@MiaCollinsNeighborhood

10 ай бұрын

Going UP anyone?

I love to use the word "AmShack" when referring to Houston's Amtrak station

Denver Union Station does anchor a very impressive expansion of Downtown, has a 22-bay underground, climate-controlled bus terminal, and the Ski Train. But it's all substance over style: in 2019, Denver's LRT and Commuter Rail combined got less ridership than San Diego's LRT alone, despite San Diego having a far crappier central station.

Toronto Union Station also has the UP Express (Union-Pearson Express) to the airport, and a bus station with regional, intercity and international buses to Detroit and New York.

10. Kansas City 2:35 9. Portland 2:57 8. Alexandria 3:30 7. Dallas 6:25 6. New Haven 7:16 5. Los Angeles 8:02 4. Denver 8:40 3. Washington, DC 13:12 2. Chicago 13:46 1. Toronto 14:37

@colinjohnson8511

11 ай бұрын

spoiler alert

@metagoat

11 ай бұрын

Great comment thank you

@CityNerd

11 ай бұрын

Boo. It’s all about the suspense!

@johnwireman2660

11 ай бұрын

The read more kinda serves as a spoiler.

@theultimatereductionist7592

11 ай бұрын

THANK YOU FOR THESE TIMESTAMPS, johnmberger!

Any city that combines the facilities of the train service they still have, with that of intercity bus, and local public transit, deserves credit in these times. It's a tremendous help to travelers.

i take the DC union station almost every day and love it! such cool architecture with tons of shops and places to eat inside. could definitely use another metro line connection tho

St Louis's Union Station is actually quite nice. To connect to Amtrak, you get off one stop later heading downtown and not at Union Station proper. Union Station itself is a mall but what's nice is the area around it like dense high-rise apartments, grocery stores, urban parks, a huge library, city hall, several theaters, a bunch of government buildings, all within walking distance or short bicycle trips with PROTECTED lanes! I’m very surprised there was no mention of Union Depot in St. Paul, MN (then again, it's a Union Depot not Union Station). It has a beautiful old building, including a restaurant, ticket office, small lounge and it’s often used for events. It has one Empire Builder in each direction every day as well as the addition of the Great River between it and Chicago, a light rail station on the METRO Green Line, and a bus terminal with both intercity and local buses. The headhouse was designed by architect Charles Sumner Frost, who designed many buildings for the Chicago and North Western, and also worked on the Navy Pier Auditorium.

As a Denverite, I wouldn't rank DUS higher than LA Union Station. To quote a friend of mine, "At Denver Union Station, passengers are an afterthought." Signage is poor, at one point RTD passengers weren't even technically allowed to use the restrooms in the station (unless they bought something there), and there's inadequate personnel at the station to help passengers (e.g. information booth, Amtrak ticket counter). No ticket kiosks or maps in the building either, cause that might "ruin the ambiance" or something. Also it's unfortunate that years ago they removed the tracks immediately south of the station, which makes it more challenging to implement a new Front Range route stopping at the DUS platform. But hey, if you want to go to a trendy restaurant in a cool old building, then DUS is your spot!

@octorokpie

11 ай бұрын

Is it really normal for a city these days to have an attended information booth for their transit network? I admittedly wouldn't know, but it seems kind of silly these days. And there's plenty of ticket kiosks and such on the platforms, where the actual travel is happening. Just seems like you gain very little by forcing these things into the pretty facade building when everybody is navigating with google maps and buying tickets on their phone. The signage up the block and in the bus terminal could definitely be improved, though! And losing those rails sucks, but it's hardly gonna be the real pain point on Front Range rail. Let people get their pretty photo ops in the picturesque station with an overpriced coffee, that's not what's holding rail in Denver back.

Yay Toronto! Er, I mean… thanks! I should add that Union Station also has: - one end of the Union Pearson Express airport train to Pearson Airport, and - the city’s main bus terminal for regional, intercity, and international buses. In addition, one of the tram routes passes near the terminal of the downtown Island Airport (you just walk one block south past Little Norway Park). They dug down underneath it and tripled the size of the passenger concourses and built an additional level of shopping and restaurants, which is finally filling out and being populated. They are expanding these concourses to the south as well. The station has been under construction for about 15 years…

@falsum2701

11 ай бұрын

I don't know if the buses count. They used to before they built the new bus station. But now to get from the train station to the bus station you have to run sideways across a bunch of Leafs/Raptors fans exiting the ACC like that one scene in the movie 1917.

@jtsholtod.79

11 ай бұрын

@@falsum2701 hey, at least it's close and connected. Considering the wasteland that was the old Coach terminal and annex at Bay/Edward/Elizabeth through the 90s for GO and very recently for most other lines, this location is much nicer, accessible, and faster for most routes to get out of the downtown core.

@falsum2701

11 ай бұрын

@@jtsholtod.79 I didn't think the old terminal was so bad. It worked well enough, was much closer to the main station, and had direct pedestrian access to Front Street. Sure, it wasn't great that it was outdoors-partiucularly in the winter. Generally, though, I had no complaints.

@pauly5418

11 ай бұрын

@@falsum2701 There will be another route with a bridge between CIBC Square North Tower (which is still under construction) and Union Station directly.The north and south towers are to be connected by a bridge/park.

@scottdawson4705

11 ай бұрын

@@falsum2701that’s the old Union Station Bus Terminal (USBT) you mention, not the old Toronto Coach Terminal? For those watching from afar, the old USBT was regional GO buses only; the old Toronto Coach Terminal (TCT) was intercity and international buses. The TCT was several subway stops and a trudge through a mall away from Union Station. Both terminals have been recombined into the new USBT. (I say recombined, because before the old USBT was built, GO buses went to the Toronto Coach Terminal as well.)

Sadly, Winnipeg does not have daily service... the Canadian only serves it 2x a week in each direction. It also gets 2x/week trains on the Winnipeg-Churchill train (formerly known as the Hudson Bay).

@kathrynstemler6331

11 ай бұрын

Still 2 different services - so there is that.

@PeloquinDavid

11 ай бұрын

It's still a nice little station though nowadays it mostly serves as office space and as a short cut (and air conditioned break - cool in summer, warm in winter: IYKYK) for walks from the downtown proper to the waterfront development at The Forks (of the Red and Assiniboine rivers), right behind the station. Very visible (and audible) signs of Winnipeg's railway part are omnipresent at the Forks, mind you: one of the country's freight railway main lines still passes behind the station on a very regular basis...

@roger1818

11 ай бұрын

I was going to say the same thing but you beat me to it.

As a Torontonian I love how often my city tops the list. Some other fun facts about Union Station in Toronto, just to humbly brag: - Connects directly to the PATH network, a sprawling underground pedestrian network that connects to almost all of downtown (you don't even have to go outside!) which includes numerous hotels, shopping malls, and practically every office tower - Has an above-ground enclosed concourse that goes to the Sky Dome (NOT Roger's Center) sports venue and CN Tower, among other tourist destinations - Has direct buses to individual district hubs in the city - Has a shopping concourse that almost rivals Grand Central in NYC - Has a direct one-stop train line (the UP Express) to Pearson Airport - NO above-ground parking. So you are walking distance from anything you'd want when downtown

Toronto Union Station is incredible! It's absolutely massive in size has full service restaurants, food courts and shopping. It has a direct line to Pearson International Airport, connects to the TTC subway network, GO Regional rail network and the TTC Street Car network as well as GO Bus network. It's connected to the Scotiabank Arena and the Toronto PATH underground city network. It's been undergoing a decades long muti-billion dollar renovation and modernization while still keeping many of the stunning historical aspects. I hope you have a chance to come see it in person one day soon!

It's nice to see Denver mentioned on this channel, we rarely get any attention, good or bad.

The thing that drives me UP THE WALL about Pittsburgh's Union Station is that it's a gorgeous building... that you don't go in. The building with the breathtaking rotunda has been luxury apartments for decades. Instead, next to the beautiful building, they built a shed under the train overpass. The waiting room has too few seats for the number of people boarding each train and you have to go up an escalator to get to the old train platform which is still in operation twice a day. Clownery.

Thanks for shouting out Columbus! I was hoping you would. I did a project on it during my masters at osu. The fact that the freeway cuts right through where rail used to be is such an insult to injury

@rossplotkin3506

11 ай бұрын

Same thing was done to Syracuse. New York Central Railroad Station lobotomized for freeway 690. Painful.

@tonylee1103

11 ай бұрын

Build Ohio 3c an ncbt

Thank you for mentioning Tacoma and Seattle Union Stations, even though they don't have service anymore. Beautiful spaces that I wish could still be used for their original design, but Seattle's Union Station is a possibility for a new Link Light Rail station in the future. Also, as a Pacific Northwesterner, I would be interested in a video about the 2017 derailment on the Point Defiance Bypass. Such a shame, but I would be interested in your take on it.

@FDW137

11 ай бұрын

The International District/Chinatown station on Link is located right where the trains serving Seattle Union Station would've stopped, it's just the Station building that isn't being used.

@samhutchison9582

11 ай бұрын

The bypass is efficient but the original path is so darn scenic.

I am is 65 years old and I lived in the northern Virginia, DC area for pretty much 60 of those years. I’m ashamed to say that I had no idea, regardless of the number of times I’ve passed or been in that train station that it was officially named Alexandria Union Station

As someone who lives in the front range of Colorado and has been hearing about plans for a front range passenger rail for almost 30 years now I would love a dedicated video about that corridor and why no progress ever seems to happen.

@fatcatboo

11 ай бұрын

Are you talking about RTD line leaving Denver and going to Colo. springs? Last I heard there was a giant block called Castle Rock that won't let it run thru..

@Atmviola

11 ай бұрын

@@fatcatbooI also heard that there was “talk” about expanding the train from Denver to Boulder… but yeah who knows when that’ll ever happen

Toronto Union Station also has the Union Pearson Express which makes getting from the airport to the middle of Toronto easy. Also, a huge food court, connections to the Toronto Path system and just beautiful architecture inside and out.

Pittsburgh Union is so weird because they have a light rail stop but like it doesn’t show up on any of the route maps, even as a spur of the main services. It’s right by the busway, and they should really remake the busway into a light rail corridor

Toronto Union belongs at the top of this list, what wasnt mentioned is the addional service via Ontario Northland Railway to north bay, cant wait for those new trainsets.

From an architecture standpoint, I'm a big fan of Union Station in Worcester, MA. I've taken trains from there west into upstate NY and it's quite nice.

A car museum in a train station...incredible logic, Ogden! That's just as bad as the fact that the Museum of Bus Transportation in Hershey, Pennsylvania...doesn't even have a bus stop! That aside, here's some New Haven lore: The current building is the third such station in the city of New Haven, preceded by both an 1848 station in a different location, and an 1879 station near the current station's location. Designed by Cass Gilbert (who also worked on the state capitols of Arkansas, West Virginia, and Minnesota), the present beaux-arts Union Station was completed in 1920 after the previous Union Station (once near the site of the current Union Station parking garage) was destroyed by fire. The New Haven Railroad who once owned it went bankrupt in 1961, and the station was transferred to Penn Central in 1969 before they too went bankrupt the next year! It closed in 1973 and was almost demolished before the Northeast Corridor Improvement project saved it in 1979. After extensive renovations, it reopened in 1985. You can take the shortest Amtrak journey in the country from New Haven Union...to New Haven State Street. Two-minute journey and it's free! New Haven-style pizza is locally known as apizza. It originated in 1925 at the Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana and is now served in many other pizza restaurants in the area like Sally's Apizza and Modern Apizza.

Phoenix is only an urbanist dream if you're in an alternative universe. But in that universe, yes, we'd already have two through-connected regional rails, intercity lines to Tucson and possibly Yuma, a little larger light-rail line, and BRTs that steal space from cars on our broad straight stroads. I think the Amtrak station issue is a red herring; in-state lines are the greater need, and an economically viable Brightline might one day run a line to L.A.

One you missed is New Orleans, which is a terminus for three long-distance Amtrak trains, and there is also a streetcar stop out front. It's a 1950s vintage building, so it's nothing to look at, but there are some nice murals inside. I continue to support an Amtrak Chicago-to-Florida train, which if it happens would put Nashville back on your list.

@qjtvaddict

11 ай бұрын

So you support high speed rail?

@jimpern

11 ай бұрын

@@qjtvaddict Only when it makes sense, typically for distances of about 400 miles or less.

The LA Union Station can totally be #3 or #4 if we can increase Metrolink/Metro frequencies!

@mrxman581

11 ай бұрын

Even as is it should be at least number four. It has more rail services of different types running through the station than the station he listed as number four. There are several Amtrak and Metrolink lines that use LA Union Station not just one or two

@TohaBgood2

11 ай бұрын

Actually Metrolink got a ton of money from the state to upgrade all the lines to 30 minute frequencies for the Olympics. Metro is also getting a massive boost in service. I agree that even as is LA Union should be at least number 4 or 3 on this list, but after the upgrades it will probably be in contention for the top stop. No other hub is planning anything even remotely as transformational as LA Union.

@mrxman581

11 ай бұрын

@@TohaBgood2 Very true and it will be getting an expansion and reworking of it train tracks to accommodate the HSR by installing run through tracks on its platforms which it currently doesn't have

The transit authorities that have turned the rail yard into a parking lot and the public station into their own private office space should all be fired and anyone who has retired should have their pension revoked. Imagine getting paid to take over management of the transit system for a region and then just systematically dismantling it. It would be like taking over management of a hospital and replacing all the equipment and staff with some vending machines out front where you can buy some band-aids.

@stevengordon3271

11 ай бұрын

Just like being a Republican POTUS.

@theultimatereductionist7592

11 ай бұрын

@@stevengordon3271 EXACTLY!

It’s worth noting that beautiful building in Pittsburgh is now apartments and not where you wait for the trains anymore. The current waiting area leaves a lot to be desired.

@missybarbour6885

11 ай бұрын

The map he showed even has it labeled as apartments lol

@pastorjerrykliner3162

11 ай бұрын

@@missybarbour6885 The Pittsburgh station is NASTY!

@TheRealE.B.

11 ай бұрын

@@missybarbour6885 One might assume that the map only meant the upper floors. But no, most of the train station is shoved off to the side. The Target in Downtown Pittsburgh is probably bigger if you ignore the actual train platforms behind the apartments.

@empressmarowynn

11 ай бұрын

Once dated someone who lived in it and the units are just your boring basic apartments but the public spaces inside are stunning.

@thedapperdolphin1590

11 ай бұрын

The actual station behind the building looks like it’s an abandoned structure from the outside. Haven’t been inside though.

This man makes my week bearable to go through. 😁

I feel like this was a missed opportunity to use fun footage of the underground streetcar loop at Toronto Union! It LOOPS UNDERGROUND

STL union station really is a shell of what it was and the Amtrak station downtown is kinda sketch. The Kirkwood Amtrak station is way cuter than the STL station AND it gets Lincoln Service & MO River Runner coming through it. Plus it’s kept open mainly by volunteers since the city bought it from Amtrak. Not a union station but I think still worth mentioning 😊

@waynecopple385

11 ай бұрын

I definitely would have ranked L.A. above Pittsburgh and Winnipeg. LAUPT is not ideally situated relative to downtown but it has WAY more intercity rail than either of them. Winnipeg is down to either 8 or 10 arrivals and departures a week. Neither station has any kind of local rail service. I think San Diego deserved a mention. It's a gorgeous building that is well situated. It has commuter rail and light rail. It also has/had frequent Amtrak service before the various land slips developed. BTW when mentioning places like Denver, its not one Amtrak departure a day, the California Zephyr does run in both directions, otherwise their would be a huge pile of cars and locomotives at one end. And, as long as I'm doing the picking of the nits, if you count trains the way flights are counted, Denver would be up to an unbelievable FOUR arrivals and departures per day 😅. An arrival and a departure each day for Oakland and Chicago. But you are entirely right, even by my count its pathetic, a shadow of a ghost. Despite my contrary thoughts I did enjoy your work on this.

@markholm7050

11 ай бұрын

I arrived in St. Louis at Union Station, with my mother and sister, in 1959. Despite that I was not quite four years old, I still remember it. I grew up in St. Louis County, and was back to Union Station a few times. I also traveled with my mother and now two sisters from the Kirkwood station that was then Missouri Pacific. I have been back to Kirkwood station several times in the last couple of decades, mostly because there is an ice cream stand next door.

Another entry for the “No Longer a Train Station” list: Cleveland Union Terminal. It’s still served by local metro as the Tower City stop, but regional rail has been discontinued, and the one intercity train has been rerouted to a sad looking station built in the 70’s closer to the mainline, where the Lake Shore Limited passes through in the predawn hours. The Union Terminal concourse has been converted into a mall, Tower City Center, that’s been struggling post COVID; the platforms and sidings, other than those still used by the RTA, have been converted to underground parking for the mall.

As a native of DC, I was ALSO saddened that we weren't Number 1. However, I can see how Toronto wins. Chicago? It's close, but I'll concede. Fair play.

I didn’t expect Winnipeg Union Station to make it into the honourable mentions but I’ll take it.👍🏽

Those train frequencies... We live in a village in Italy with 10k inhabitants and we get a regional train once per hour. Twice during rush hour. And Italy is still pretty car centric once you leave the town centres.

@danielkelly2210

11 ай бұрын

It's pretty unreal unless you're used it to. Even fairly large cities may only get 1 to 3 trains a day. It's different on the corridor between Boston and Washington DC, which gets many more.

It's fair to consider Ogilvie Transportation Center and Union Station as a single hub. Unions north bound platforms are across the street from Ogilvie. A connection can be made in 10 minutes but 15 minutes is more comfortable

@adamt195

11 ай бұрын

Soon to be through running

I grew up staying at the Royal York Hotel when in Toronto, so have tons of experience in Union Station. I used to walk from the hotel to the video arcades in Union via underground passageways (actually, can do a LOT of underground walking from block to block throughout downtown; chalk it up to fine winter-based urban planning). Would have been shocked to see this station anyplace other than #1.

@partiellementecreme

11 ай бұрын

Lucky you! It’s always been my dream to stay at the Royal York and sashay from my train right into the hotel lobby.

For what it's worth, STL's repurposed Union Station does have an adjacent light rail station. You missed the beautifully restored Meridian (Mississippi) Union Station, now (rather optimistically) called the Meridian Multi-Modal Transportation Center. It doesn't boast much Amtrak frequency, but (like many other train stations and depots) it has served as the centerpiece of revitalization efforts in its area. It's also quite photogenic. I'll be attending Brownfields 2023 in Detroit next month and detouring enroute to photograph a LOT of current and former train stations, including several that you featured.

@stevengordon3271

11 ай бұрын

If they dropped Union from its name, it is not eligible for this list.

@colormedubious4747

11 ай бұрын

@@stevengordon3271 The big sign still says "Union Station" and the locals and Amtrak still call it that.

L.A. Union Station is also a start/end point for the L line which rakes you to Pasadena, also the point to get the Fly Away bus to LAX, and other LA bus lines. Want a good view of the station and the old original ticket counter, watch the first 4 or 5 minutes of Social Distortions Maxhine Gun Blues, and the extended version of Princes Cream. Finished in 1939 it was the last purpose built station in the USA. Art Nouveau to boot and close to Olvera Street, and Original Philippe’s.

@perha45

11 ай бұрын

And it was built as LAUPT, Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal. It became a 'Station" when the Metro line opened a through track.

You might have mentioned that the Canadian Senate uses the Ottawa Union Station only while the actual Senate Chamber on Parliament Hill is being renovated.

I'm seeing all these "yay Toronto!" comments, but as a resident in the city, I think it speaks more to how bad urban/public transit is in North America than actual praise of the system (though seeing lower ranks with "one daily intercity train" was pretty damning as is). Effectively, the list was topped with "It's fine, I guess" and it's terrible that that's good enough. Would it even place on a fully-international list of union-equivalents? I doubt it.

@Fan652w

11 ай бұрын

Writing as a European I suspect Toronto might make an international list. I gather from RMtransit videos that Toronto's main bus station is right next to the Union rail station. That is a huge plus in favour of Toronto when compared to European cities of a similar size (eg Berlin).

When you explained your criteria, I thought Toronto would measure up well. I was surprised, however, when you placed it at the top of the heap.

Woohoo! I think this is the first time my city ranked #1 on one of your videos! Union Station also links to the UP Express - which is a relatively-new train service that goes from Union Station to Pearson International Airport. It also makes two stops along the way, which has been really helpful to people living in the Northwestern part of Toronto.

As a patient Torontonian, I feel heard and rewarded

One of the only knocks I've heard on Toronto's Union, is that it's constantly under construction. But given the sad state and destruction of so many other stations, I'm so grateful to live in a city that's actively investing in our transit and no where near finished. I wish things would move faster, but compared to other cities in North America, I'm so happy to live somewhere where I'm not forced to own a car.. I much prefer a savings account. That said, I'm 30 and a homeowner, but for those my age unlucky enough to go to university, it's sad to see they missed the time of attainable housing and are stuck renting over-priced apartments. Hopefully Mayor Chow will save us! 😄

@partiellementecreme

11 ай бұрын

It’s worth it; the old Union Go concourse was hideous.

Have taken trains both to and from your #1 and #2 stations and agree with ranking those on top. Might have ranked LA’s a little higher because I really liked it.

Proud Denver Union station made it as far on the list! It's beautiful, functional, and is basically Denver's living room

I’d like to make the argument that Denver is top 3. There’s actually 3 more light rail lines and a regional rail line for a total of 7 at the northeast portion of the station and 11 bus lines in an underground bus terminal underneath the rail station. There’s several parks plazas surrounding the main building and the station itself extends several blocks in lower downtown. It’s very nice

@rlbond

11 ай бұрын

Does it even count as transit if the light rail lines operate at 30-60 minute headways? Only the airport line has the "best" headways at 15 minutes.

@aaronchapa1117

11 ай бұрын

@@rlbond one line is every 60 minutes, mostly because its incomplete. 2 run every 30 during peak times and the rest are every 15 during peak times.

@rlbond

11 ай бұрын

@@aaronchapa1117 That is really an unacceptable level of service. #3 DC's red line which connects to Union Station runs every 6 minutes on weekdays as a comparison and the least frequent line is 15 minutes off-peak. I don't see how Denver could be top 3

@aaronchapa1117

11 ай бұрын

@@rlbond you’re being really defensive for no reason. I’m talking about the station. I do not care about how much better DC’s transit system is

I love KC Union Station, I grew up not too far from it. It is definitely more an attraction than train station as the Amtrak hub is a little sad haha. Went the River Runner a lot on college, I would love for them to expand service ! Glad KC is getting some love!

I take the Pennsylvanian from Pgh to NYC regularly and it’s so great. I love taking the trains so much 😭

7:34 the Metro-North New Haven line actually terminates at State Street station, which is just north of New Haven Union station. It stops in both however

I'm split on the now former Ottawa Union Station. On the one hand it's a beautiful building in the heart of the city, it's next to the Rideau Centre and Chateau Laurier, and I wish trains still went downtown along the canal and over the Alexandra Bridge into Gatineau. On the other hand I kinda love the way the canal is today with walking/cycling paths alongside it. Oh well, at least they didn't tear it down.

@DanielRWomack

11 ай бұрын

Have to agree and while Tremblay Station isn't the most beautiful building in the area, it functions quite well overall and I've chosen to reach/leave the city by train far more often than by air; location really is important!

@falsum2701

11 ай бұрын

We could still have the canal that way while making the train station a train station again. Just put train tracks down Colonel By!

@DanielRWomack

11 ай бұрын

@@falsum2701 lol well if they're just closing it off anyways...might as well!

@falsum2701

11 ай бұрын

@@DanielRWomack Colonel By is exactly the kind of destructive urban freeway that good cities should be dismantling. Plus, it used to be train tracks!

@roger1818

11 ай бұрын

I don’t love the way there are 3 highways/parkways for motor vehicles adjacent to the multi use pathways beside the Rideau canal. I would love to see them removed (at least the two on the east side of the Canal) and replaced with tracks, but that won’t happen in my lifetime, especially since the Shaw Centre is now in the way.

toronto union station is also the central hub for ontario's regional bus system which isn't as bad as it sounds, depending on what city you're going to it can be faster than taking the train outside of rush hour. also i've been watching this channel for about a year now and i didn't realize until today that i wasn't subscribed because every video shows up in my recommended anyways.

My hometown Union Station at #4! I love that station very much. The look of the Cincinnati one made me chuckle. "Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice..." 😂

Yes, Please do a video on that Cascades derailment!

New Haven! It is about time we got some love on here.Also, the underground tunnels to the tracks at new Haven are amazing. They look like a set from Logan's Run.

@donaldpaluga

11 ай бұрын

Had the last Solari di Udine board, something the Nerd didn't mention

I'm surprised that St Paul Union Station was not mentioned. It's definitely not a top 10, but Amtrak runs through it (I took it down to Wisconsin recently) and it connects to the Green Line Light Rail and I think there are bus stops near by as well. It definitely could do better but thought I would see it. The top 10 look pretty solid though! I know this list would look different if Penn or Grand were Union Stations. Or if the Boston stations were Union stations.

@pxmonkeederp

11 ай бұрын

I was about to come say this. Union Depot in St. Paul is a real multimodal transit gem, with Amtrak service, a connection to the Green Line light rail service (which in turn links up with the Blue Line and the Northstar Commuter Rail), and multiple Metro Transit bus lines, as well as service from Greyhound, Jefferson Lines, and Megabus services.

@WoodyZappa1

11 ай бұрын

Also, it has historical significance because the Great Northern Railway was headquartered down the street and James J. Hill “The Empire Builder” was so important to American passenger service.

@karlahovde

11 ай бұрын

Maybe because it is called Union Depot, not Union Station?

@awilder87

11 ай бұрын

@@karlahovde that's very possible actually, didn't even think about that.

As someone not from the USA it's bizarre how infrequent the trains to these stations are

@danielkelly2210

11 ай бұрын

Some rural stations don't even have a train every day, maybe just 3 times a week.

@JaanusKalde

11 ай бұрын

It truly is. My car centric small Eastern European train station has like 20 trains a day and it's considered poor.

@TripleOmega

11 ай бұрын

Yes. Honestly how do you make it into a top ten list with 3 trains per DAY.

@Geotpf

11 ай бұрын

@@danielkelly2210 As far as I know, the only Amtrak train that runs less than daily is the Sunset Limited, which runs three times a week in each direction. During the pandemic, some other trains only ran that much but I believe they all run at least once a day now.

@een_schildpad

11 ай бұрын

If you can believe it, Indianapolis (the biggest city in the state of Indiana) only has a single train 3 times a week connecting to Chicago! It's honestly just sad.

Always love it when a video opens with a shot of Denver

Union Station in DC has so much potential. For intercity rail to Philly/NYC/Baltimore its hard to beat the Acela and NEC in the US (low bar but still its unquestionably the best intercity rail line in the US). Heck, even to Boston if you really hate driving and driving. MARC and VRE are both legit commuter rail systems. Rail connection to Richmond has a lot of potential. It's hard to knock the metro connection and the streetcar line would be amazing if they ever continue it across town to Georgetown through K st. MARC to Baltimore is solid. They are proposing a 2nd Metro line through Union Station going East-West mostly through DC

Wooo! Love the rare recognition that Canada exists from an American content creator :) Great video!

I'm confused why Portland's Union Station, with many services per day, gets beat out in this video by stations in other cities that aren't even used for trains anymore.

Houston just recently approved another major freeway expansion. I know NJB made a Houston video, but would love to see a good ol' fashioned City Nerd dunking on Houston. As a resident here, it is frustrating getting around by just a car 99% of the time and I feel legitimately terrified here most of the time.

Indianapolis Union Station has to be on the forgettable list. To be fair since the daily train from Indy to Chicago has been discontinued, not much there anymore except for the Greyhound and the grand hall for weddings, events, etc.

@eriklakeland3857

11 ай бұрын

And the fact that the new downtown BRT hub was built far enough away to where it’s an inconvenient transfer frustrates me. Should’ve used some of the underutilized Pan Am Plaza for bus bays and have IndyGo move into Union for indoor functions it currently houses at the new facility.

@een_schildpad

11 ай бұрын

It's so sad, because you can see it was beautiful at one time. On the potential upside, I've been hearing about the potential of Amtrak bringing back daily service. But yeah, also super weird that the new transit hub is so far away from it 🙃

As a car-free Old Town Alexandria resident, I am SO happy to see ALX mentioned!

@xavierdomenico

11 ай бұрын

We love ALX

I'm pretty sure the frequencies mentioned for these gorgeous railway cathedrals physically hurt my tiny European heart

Can you make a video about the outrage of the destruction of New York's Pennsylvania Station in 1963? I was only two when this happened, but thinking about it almost brings me to tears.

3:14 I'm on Flickr (yes, it's still alive), and one of the most prolific North American bus photographers was a guy I used to follow, Zack Willhoite aka busdude. He was one of the three victims on that was on that first Cascades Bypass run. So it was strange that one day, he was uploading, and the next, it completely stopped. :(

To add to Winnipeg's honourable mention- It was designed by the same architecture firm that did NYCs Grand Central Station, so it is actually quite nice from that perspective. It is also directly adjacent to The Forks which is a central city park/market/gathering place (both of which have been given National Historic Site designations). While Union Station doesn't have much traffic right now, there are plans to use it as a Bus Rapid Transit hub in the future once the network has expanded. Winnipeg's current bus and cycle networks could use some improvement but I'm glad to see things hopefully trending in the right direction, albeit slowly.

@andrewleach3983

11 ай бұрын

There's a lot of potential for passenger rail in Winnipeg. Intercity, regional, metro, Ottawa style O-train, etc. The whole city was built around railroads and a lot of right of ways still exist. Just looking at Google Maps, there's a fairly clear route for a train from the airport to downtown Union Station, using existing lines.

@kevinandrew_

11 ай бұрын

@@andrewleach3983 LRT would be a great solution. From what I remember a few years ago though, the rail companies have been hesitant to give up any of their rail lines+yards, so I'll still take BRT over nothing, especially since the small amount of BRT that has gone up so far has incorporated parallel bike paths alongside.

@YoungThos

11 ай бұрын

It took a full half century from the time we hired Norman Wilson (of the Toronto Subway) to devise a rapid transit plan for Winnipeg in 1959 for the first phase of the first line of a BRT to open in 2012. We like to take things nice and slow in Winnipeg 😹

@kevinandrew_

11 ай бұрын

@@YoungThos Yeah there's a huge car centric culture issue here. I love cars more than most, trust me, but there's a difference between car enthusiasm and car reliance. I think a lot of people here just haven't experienced good transit and walkable cities to understand how much better it is to have multiple legitimate commute options and how much better of an investment of our tax dollars they are. I work near downtown but live on the north side of the city. I would love to transit or bike to work and stop paying for parking but that turns my 20 minute drive into either an hour+15 bus ride (if they show up), or a 45 minute bike (which is fine, problem being it's down almost exclusively unprotected roads). We somehow avoided building freeways but didn't bother to spend that money on other modes of transit instead. Might have to move further south/central honestly because the north side of the city is quite neglected for these things and I think I'll be dead before it gets better lol.

@evankrosney6759

11 ай бұрын

The current rapid transit "station" outside of Union Station is hardly BRT as it doesn't have a dedicated right of way or any sort of transit priority outside of rush hour. I'm excited about the prospect of Union Station becoming a Transit Hub, especially given its connections to The Forks and Main Street as an arterial route. Union Station is such a beautiful building and it would be amazing to breathe some new life and use out of it other than Via Rail. To be honest, I think that Main Street is fairly overbuilt for the amount of traffic it actually handles-especially considering the other connections to North Winnipeg like the Salter or Arlington bridges. The street could really use a dedicated BRT lane and bike infrastructure as well. I'm hoping the city makes this happen and makes fully funding the Transit Master Plan and frequent service network a priority in the near future.

City Nerd the only channel where I can get actual rage against the machine on a weekly basis.

I was pleased to see two stations on your list: Toronto Union, which I use frequently, and Ottawa's old Union Station, which I used when I lived there as a youngster. Relatively speaking, Toronto's station is thriving and has been undergoing decades-long renovations and upgrades to accommodate both VIA Rail and GO Transit, among other services. It is an end point for the famous Canadian, which uses the mid-50's Budd cars and dome cars. Truly a trip back in time. As for Ottawa, the station was conveniently located right downtown and connected underground to the grand Château Laurier Hotel, but service got relocated to a new station built in '66, in a suburb. They considered tracks along the scenic and historic Rideau Canal too ugly, so we got a road and cars instead, and parkland. I have used L.A.'s station, and seen Portland's. It is a dream of mine to see the Cincinnati station in all its deco magnificence. I've also visited the awesome and unused Buffalo and Detroit stations, which I believe are being renovated. Thanks for bringing our attention to these important historical structures.

I was definitely surprised when moving to Seattle a few years ago that we have a Union Station… but with no trains. I’m bummed that Sound Transit seems to be barely considering using Union Station as part of future light rail alignments. It’s in such a perfect location.

@emma70707

11 ай бұрын

Yes! Such a pity!!!

@Absolute_Zero7

8 ай бұрын

Thing is Union Station and King Street Station is basically the same station, just 2 different buildings at opposite sides of the rail corridor. So you can technically argue that Seattle does use its Union Station.

Now we need top 10 non union stations

Kansas City's Union Station is less of a hub for transport anymore, but is almost always busy due to the consistent traveling exhibits, an IMAX theater, and Science City. It's a great place to spend a day.

Kind of felt like Toronto would be #1 (and your video was great with so much information) but you did leave out a couple of important points, the first being that Toronto (and the province) continue to invest heavily in adding services (at all levels) going out of Union and the fact that Toronto just finished building another complete floor UNDER the current station (a new concourse) for almost the entire length of the station (roughly one city block wide and four or five city blocks long). The Station was immense and the work took a long time but it is really beautiful (Link below from a Toronto KZreadr who does walk-abouts). Many parts of the station are being upgraded as we speak and there are rumblings that a second station is being proposed a mile or so down the rail tracks to the west of the current station to handle the increasing load of trains. Fairly exciting. Oh, and I forgot to mention that some of the tracks may be covered over in the downtown area to add park land for inhabitants to enjoy and the entire regional rail lines are being electried to reduce pollution. Having gone through all that, I now realize that Toronto may be moving in the right direction after all. Thanks for the video neighbourino. LOL Promise video from Johnny Strides:kzread.info/dash/bejne/X2eumsprpNm3idI.html&pp=ygUadW5pb24gc3RhdGlvbiB0b3JvbnRvIHRvdXI%3D Bonus video from RMTransit: kzread.info/dash/bejne/jGZsrq6foNWTh6w.html Another bonus video from RMTransit: kzread.info/dash/bejne/X2Wr282xd8rMlcY.html

You missed some fun intercity(ish) services out of Denver Union Station(ish). There's the Winter Park Express, which runs one round trip Fri-Sun during the winter. Its not exactly intercity because most riders do the round trip in a single day for skiing, but it is run by Amtrak and does connect to a city outside of Denver's urban area. Then there's the Rocky Mountaineer, a private sightseeing train to Moab that runs twice weekly during the spring through early fall. But despite the check-in for this service being at Union Station (really across the street), the train boards at a siding near a different regional rail station and guests ride a coach bus from Union to get there.

The saddest Union Station I've been to is the one in Buffalo, NY. It has been abandoned for 70+ years (pretty much since the street car lines were removed) and is completely bypassed by all rail traffic in the area. Some local activists have petitioned to have the Amtrack line moved there, but that hasn't gained enough steam.

@jaygatz4335

11 ай бұрын

Detroit has a similar situation; I believe they are renovating it.

@MiaCollinsNeighborhood

10 ай бұрын

@@jaygatz4335Name: Michigan Central Station. Closed: 1988. Used by Amtrak from 1971 until that time (18 years)

As a European, this particular video of yours might actually be more eye-opening than even the 4-lane drive-through stroad banking. The fact that many of these huge world-class cities have train stations that are either basically sheds or see only a few inter-city passenger trains a day is eye-opening. I knew that the situation particularly for passenger rail was dire in the US, but this video really drove home the extent of it. I just looked up a few numbers to see if my impression matched reality, and it seems like it does: the main strain station in my city (with a population of just ~130k) sees around 1000 trains a day, and is also directly connected to a tram and bus hub with a dozen or so inter-city and regional lines.

I am so happy to see toronto so high on the list-- Union Stn in toronto is really something special. There is a 4th kind of train there as well, the union pearson express train, although it's expensive and only has two stops but it takes you right to the airport