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#11
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Toronto Train/ Bus Station Query
Gareth Slee:
I'm staying at Residence Inn Toronto Downtown/Entertainment District which is on 255 Wellington Street West Toronto, Ontario M5V 3P9. How far is it to the closest bus station where I can purchase Greyhound tickets? "Mike": The main Greyhound terminal is at 610 Bay street, 1.5 miles from your hotel. - easy to get to on the subway (Tube) Also is there a Train station nearby? Union station, 65 Front Street West, is only a half mile from your hotel It is also a major subway terminal. From your hotel you can easily walk (few hundred yards) up to King St. where you can take public transit a TTC street car to the subway or to any major city location. The subway in that area follows a U-shaped route. I will show it as a line of # signs against the grid of streets; stations are marked O and labeled in block capitals. University Av. Bay St. Yonge St. # | # # Bus | # # Station | # Dundas St. # | # DUNDAS --------------------O---------------+-------O----------- ST. PATRICK # | # # | # Canon Theatre # | # # | # # | # Queen St. # | # QUEEN --------------------O---------------+-------O----------- OSGOODE # | # # | # ST. # | # King St. ANDREW # | # KING --------------------O---------------+-------O----------- Wellington St. # | # --------------------#---------------+-------#----------- Front St. # UNION | # --------------------################O########----------- Union | | Station | | (trains) Of course you must view this in a monospaced font. The diagram is more or less to scale. From Front to Dundas St. is about 3/4 mile. Your hotel is near the left edge of the diagram, maybe 1/2 mile west of Yonge St. Only relevant streets are shown. Most of the streets shown are dead straight in this area, and the few curves that there are aren't important now. I have marked the train station, bus station, and Canon Theatre. As noted, there are streetcars along King. (There are also streetcars along Queen and Dundas and buses along Bay, but you won't likely use those. The Bay bus is less frequent than the subway.) I expect that when going somewhere from the hotel you will either (1) walk north to King and get a streetcar, then transfer to the subway; (2) walk to St. Andrew station and get the subway, (3) walk all the way to your destination, or (4) take a taxi. I should note that in this area essentially all major office buildings and major shops are connected by underground passages, which are mostly lined with shops. From Metro Hall, on King St. roughly north of your hotel, during shopping hours you could actually walk indoors all the way to the bus terminal, to Union station (railway or subway), or to any of the other four subway stations from St. Andrew around to Dundas. However, I would not recommend doing this unless you found it desirable to avoid some bad weather. While the system (called PATH) does have signs and route maps posted, they are not very easy to follow, and in places the experience is kind of like taking a long walk through an airport terminal. What you do want to know if you're taking an inter-city bus is that you can walk indoors from Dundas subway station to a building called the Atrium on Bay, and from that to the bus terminal. Now some transit details. Because of the U-shaped route, to travel between (for example) Dundas and St. Patrick stations, you board a SOUTHBOUND train in each direction. Incidentally, Dundas station has separate fare barriers for northbound and southbound trains (it's the only one like that on the system), so be sure to use the right entrance. At Union station the train directions are signposted as YONGE NORTHBOUND and UNIVERSITY NORTHBOUND. The TTC is a flat-fare system with transfers included. A single ride is $2.75. Stores, and human fare collectors at subway stations, will sell you tickets or tokens (they are equivalent except that tokens operate the automatic turnstiles at subway stations) at 5 for $11.25 (= $2.25). Machines at subway stations will sell you 4 tokens for $9 if you pay with a $10 bill or 8 for $18 if you pay with a $20 bill. If you start your ride at a subway station and will transfer to a streetcar (or bus), then after entering the barrier, take a transfer (i.e. transfer ticket) from the dispenser just inside (it's red). When you board the streetcar you just show it to the driver. Note: transfers are only good for changing vehicles within the same journey, not for stopovers or return travel. If you start your trip on a streetcar, you must have a ticket or token already, or else you must pay the single-ride fare and change is *not* given. Once you pay, you can then ask the driver for a transfer. At the subway station, just show this to the fare collector. Have a good trip. -- Mark Brader "You can do this in a number of ways. Toronto IBM chose to do all of them... why do you find that funny?" --D. Taylor My text in this article is in the public domain. |
#12
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Toronto Train/ Bus Station Query
Dave Smith and Gareth Slee write:
The train station is quite close to your hotel, but unless your destination is on the main corridors you are probably better off taking the bus. Canadian rail service is infrequent and usually runs late. Bus service is much more frequent and tends to run on time. Well I'm looking to travel to Niagara and then onto Cleveland OH. I'm hoping the buses won't be fully booked for my dates (10th Feb and 12th Feb) . There are only 2 or 3 trains each day from Toronto to Niagara Falls. One on the morning (an Amtrak train that goes on to New York City, but operated by VIA Rail Canada crews in Canada), one in the evening (a VIA train that terminates at Niagara Falls, Ontario). Buses run almost hourly. It wouldn't occur to me to buy a ticket in advance for a bus to Niagara Falls. I would not expect the trains to be full either at this time of year, although I could be wrong about the morning train. I would not expect these trains to run significantly late on this particular journey[1], so unless the fare is a factor, the choice is mostly a matter of whether you prefer more comfort or more flexibility as to time. [1] The onward service to New York -- and the same the other way, forming the evening train from Niagara Falls to Toronto -- is subject to significant delays at the border and over the course of its trip. This also means that if you wanted to go from Toronto to Niagara Falls, New York, you would be better not to do it by staying on the train. The Niagara Falls train and bus stations are across the street from each other, in the old downtown business area, which is pretty seedy. It is about 2 miles down river from the falls. More like 1.5 miles. By the way, downriver is north -- if you cross the river from Canada into the US, you're going east. The bridge near the train and bus stations is no longer available to the general public, but if you want you can walk across via the Rainbow Bridge, near the falls. -- Mark Brader | The only trouble was, no despot had the resources to plan | every detail in his society's behavior. Not even planet- Toronto | wrecker bombs had as dire a reputation for eliminating | civilizations. --Vernor Vinge, "A Deepness in the Sky" My text in this article is in the public domain. |
#13
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Toronto Train/ Bus Station Query
Mark Brader wrote:
It wouldn't occur to me to buy a ticket in advance for a bus to Niagara Falls. Nor would I. My son had no problem getting on a bus from Toronto to St.Catharines on Christmas Eve. I would not expect the trains to be full either at this time of year, although I could be wrong about the morning train. I would not expect these trains to run significantly late on this particular journey[1], so unless the fare is a factor, the choice is mostly a matter of whether you prefer more comfort or more flexibility as to time. Any time I pick up my son at the St.Catharines station the train from Toronto is usually at least a half hour late. The train is almost always late arriving in St.Catharines on the Niagara to Toronto run. I have to pick him up and drop him off at the St.Catharines station and have been doing so for the past 7 years. Only once has the train been on time. [1] The onward service to New York -- and the same the other way, forming the evening train from Niagara Falls to Toronto -- is subject to significant delays at the border and over the course of its trip. This also means that if you wanted to go from Toronto to Niagara Falls, New York, you would be better not to do it by staying on the train. Almost agreed. Since the OP is staying at a hotel right by the Rainbow bridge he could walk across to the US and grab a taxi to the train station.... but he will be getting onto the same train. It may be cheaper to get it on the US side. The Niagara Falls train and bus stations are across the street from each other, in the old downtown business area, which is pretty seedy. It is about 2 miles down river from the falls. More like 1.5 miles. By the way, downriver is north -- if you cross the river from Canada into the US, you're going east. The bridge near the train and bus stations is no longer available to the general public, but if you want you can walk across via the Rainbow Bridge, near the falls. But he won't be crossing that bridge. He will be turning right and walking upriver. |
#14
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Toronto Train/ Bus Station Query
Mark Brader:
[1] The onward service to New York -- and the same the other way, forming the evening train from Niagara Falls to Toronto -- is subject to significant delays at the border and over the course of its trip. This also means that if you wanted to go from Toronto to Niagara Falls, New York, you would be better not to do it by staying on the train. Dave Smith: Almost agreed. Since the OP is staying at a hotel right by the Rainbow bridge he could walk across to the US and grab a taxi to the train station.... but he will be getting onto the same train. It may be cheaper to get it on the US side. I think you misread either my remarks or Gareth's postings. He isn't going in the direction of New York City and I wasn't giving advice on doing so. The bridge near the train and bus stations is no longer available to the general public, but if you want you can walk across via the Rainbow Bridge, near the falls. But he won't be crossing that bridge. He will be turning right and walking upriver. Not upon arrival, but he might want to see the falls from the US side. For all I know it might also be convenient for him to board his onward bus from the US side. -- Mark Brader, Toronto "1. Buy 64 more buses." --Michael Wares My text in this article is in the public domain. |
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