

Chris Fox, CP24.com





Renovations to the shed behind Union Station where GO trains stop have hit a snag.

The initial design work for the renovations did not take into account the size of the new electric trains that will one day run through the station and as a result Metrolinx Spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins tells CP24 that the ceiling as it currently sits is “off by a couple of inches.”

In order to ensure the long term viability of the facility, experts at Metrolinx are now studying the viability of two options, Aikins says. The first option would see crews raise the ceiling while the second option would be to dig up the tracks and lower them slightly.

It is not immediately clear what impact the extra work will have on the $248 million budget for the project.

“We aren’t standing there scratching our heads,” Aikins said on Friday morning. “We’re putting together a plan that is most cost efficient and has the least impact on customers.”

According to a report in the Globe and Mail, the design work for the Union Station renovations took place in 2006, five years before the province announced that it wanted to electrify GO Transit rails to provide more frequent service to Ontario commuters.

That means that if Metrolinx proceeded with the current plans for the shed it would become off-limits to GO Trains as early as 2024, which is the targeted completion date for the electrification of all GO lines.

Speaking with CP24, Aikins noted that none of the work that has to be done so far “has to be undone.”

Rather, Metrolinx just has to come up with a plan to accommodate the new electric trains and their Catenary wires.

“The train shed was not initially built for electrification so we do have to put together a plan on how we can do that,” Aikins said, noting that the plan is about 75 per cent complete. “Are we going to raise the roof a couple inches? Lower the rail a couple of inches? There is a variety of things that we can do.”

Any modifications to the plans for the shed could be complicated by heritage laws.

Built in 1929, the shed is considered a heritage feature of Union Station, which is classified as a National Historic Site.