![]() Ultimately, a local firm, Link & Cameron, was awarded the winner. To do so it launched a worldwide design competition with architects from across Europe and the United States submitting proposals. Louis wanted a magnificent station to showcase its growing importance while combining several terminals then in use throughout the city. This growth was thanks largely to its gateway status with so many westbound settlers passing through the city. Louis expanded to the point that it boasted the nation's fourth largest metropolitan region behind only New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Louis (Nickel Plate Road)įollowing the Civil War, a growing St. Louis (the "Big Four" controlled by the New York Central) Iron Mountain & Southern (Missouri Pacific).In addition, many eastern and western trunk lines, or their future subsidiaries, terminated at the city such as: The Transcontinental Railroad had been finished just over 20 years prior and new lines were still being built across the Frontier. Louis found itself in an increasingly important role as " The Gateway To The West" since it lay at the conjunction of the mighty Missouri and Mississippi rivers. It has been a very impressive transformation.īy the last decade of the 19th century St. The shed itself has been converted into an outdoor entertainment venue including an aquarium, mall, and outdoor eating area. Today, the city's light-rail transit service, MetroLink, still serves the station from directly below the train shed within the subway tunnel. The station was completed in the mid-1890s and served in its original role until 1978 when Amtrak's final long-distance passenger train left the magnificent train shed (at one time the station welcomed over 100,000 daily passengers through its doors). However, it is one of our country's largest, constructed during a time when the nation was rapidly expanding westward.įortunately, the building has been beautifully restored and now serves more as an entertainment and shopping venue with museums (including an operating model railroad), plays, restaurants, and tours available (there is even a hotel on the grounds). Louis Union Station (also known by its initials, SLUS), once one of the busiest terminals in the world, no longer serves dozens of inbound and outbound passenger trains heading east and west. With even more major renovations slated for Union in the coming years, we'll have to see how many more passengers end up confused by the changes.Today's St. Metrolinx was unable to respond by the time of publication to indicate how much of an issue people have had finding the new terminal. Though the City of Toronto assures blogTO that the station directory and wayfinding maps are "posted throughout the station at key locations" and do show where the new bus terminal is, it seems that enough people are still confused as heck by the station to warrant the unnamed employee's work of art. I would have ended up in Scotiabank Arena thinking 'this can’t be right,'" another sympathized. "The bus station's location is truly baffling the first time. "I experienced the frustration and exasperation of the people around me looking for the bus station until they stumbled upon this drawing." "I can sense the frustration and exasperation of the person who had to draw this up," adds the person who posted the image to Twitter. On either side of the Great Hall are GO Train platforms, past white a railway is marked with large Xes. On the map is Union's Great Hall and VIA Rail terminal, on which "you are here" is written. The directions to the bus station," one resident wrote on Twitter alongside a photo of a map titled BUS STATION!!, hand-drawn on lined paper with Sharpie, pen and highlighter and posted in a kiosk window. ![]() When roaming through Toronto's Union Station - Canada's largest travel hub of its kind, which just went through a massive upgrade, no less - one would think that wayfinding would be clear, official and accessible to all who are trying to get around the sprawling building.īut, one commuter has found that this is not exactly the case, at least when it comes to finding the station's fancy new GO bus terminal, which opened its doors at the end of 2020 in a different location than the old one.Īpparently, station staff are being asked for directions to the terminal so often that employees decided to create their own map to help passengers while the kiosk under the VIA departures and arrivals board.
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