Union Pearson Express - History

History

Improved transit connections to Pearson Airport have been of interest since the late 1980s. Before the specific pursuit of an airport rail link, three formal studies were conducted, and released in 1989, 1990 and 1991. The latter two presented options for either making a connection from the GO Georgetown train line, or the Toronto Transit Commission's (TTC) Bloor/Danforth subway line.

Transport Canada made a request for proposals for an airport rail link in April 2001. In May 2003, the submissions were pared down to four pre-qualified private consortia, who were then invited to submit business cases. A SNC-Lavalin subsidiary named the Union Pearson AirLink Group was selected as the successful respondent to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the UP Express on November 13, 2003. The service was to be called Blue22, as a trip would take 22 minutes to or from Pearson with a stop at the Bloor GO/Dundas West TTC Station. Trains were to be refurbished Budd Rail Diesel Cars, and were expected to begin running between 2008 and 2010.

In June 2008, the Ontario government revised the environmental assessment process from a required three-year period to six months. Furthermore, the high speed link received public statements of strong support from Premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty, Toronto Mayor David Miller and the federal government. However, there had not been significant progress on the project to that point, due to failed consensus in negotiations, regulatory hurdles and community opposition.

In November 2008, Metrolinx, the Ontario government agency for Greater Toronto and Hamilton transportation, released its Regional Transportation Plan titled The Big Move, outlining how an airport rail link was part of a strategy to establish multi-directional high-order transit connectivity to the Pearson Airport district, alongside Highways 427 and 407, the Mississauga Transitway, and other major streets. In December 2008, Metrolinx became the proponent of new EA that would simultaneously assess a combination of both Union Pearson AirLink's project and GO Transit's Georgetown South Service Expansion. The final Environmental Project Report was released on 30 July 2009.

After two years of failed negotiations and financing difficulties, the public-private partnership between Ontario and the Union Pearson AirLink Group was called off. However, the project did not die with it; Metrolinx was handed responsibility to own and operate the service. Metrolinx utilized the name 'Air Rail Link' as a placeholder name until the official name, the Union Pearson Express, was unveiled on November 29, 2012.