Union Pearson Express

Union Pearson Express

The Union Pearson Express (UP Express) is an airport rail link service under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It will run between Canada's two busiest transportation hubs: Union Station in Downtown Toronto, and Toronto Pearson International Airport in the City of Mississauga. The project is to be completed in time for the 2015 Pan American Games. The Air Rail Link will be a distinct service and identity from its sister operating division, GO Transit, nonetheless sharing some common facilities such as stations and trackage.

Improved transit connections to the airport have been explored since the late 1980s. The federal government requested formal airport rail link proposals from the private sector in 2001, and a public–private partnership was announced in 2003. However, this partnership was called off by the Ontario government in 2011 after years of failed negotiations and financing difficulties. Metrolinx, the Ontario crown agency that manages and integrates transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, was handed responsibility for the design, construction and operation of the UP Express.

UP Express service will consist of 140 train trips per day, running every 15 minutes, seven days a week, carrying 5,000 passengers per day, and eliminating an estimated 1.2 million car trips each year. Construction began in 2011, some of which is being accommodated as part of the Georgetown South Project, expanding a rail corridor the UP Express will share with other train service providers. Initially, the UP Express will utilize diesel multiple unit (DMU) trains that will meet EPA Tier 4 United States emission standards. The DMUs will be convertible to electric power, which will occur with the electrification of the Kitchener line and the UP Express at a future unspecified date. The issue of electrification has become a source of opposition and legal challenges from the Clean Train Coalition (CTC).