Where once it was dark, now there is light.

Some 80 years ago, massive steam trains trundled into the train shed at Union Station, connecting the east and west of Canada under a low-slung 35,000-square-metre roof, where daylight cracked in through narrow vents.

Over the years, steam engines gave way to diesel. And now, parts of that leaking wooden roof are being removed to make way for a glass atrium allowing natural daylight onto the tracks.

When the project is complete in 2014, energy-efficient bulbs mounted in the glass ceiling will light it up at night.

“It tends to be a very dark place even on a bright day and that’s a huge difference our customers will notice,” said Michael Wolczyk, acting vice-president of capital infrastructure for GO Transit.

Renovations throughout the train shed, used by GO and VIA Rail, are underway, part of a massive multi-million dollar renewal. Decaying wood on portions of the roof has been replaced with steel, and work has closed tracks 11 and 12.

Construction will continue, two tracks at a time, until workers get to tracks 1 and 2. That section will be restored to look as it did when it was brand new — in 1930. The train shed, like the rest of Union Station, is a heritage building.

“We have to go through an extensive approval process to do any work in here,” said Wolczyk. “One of the conditions of our approval is the part of the shed over these first two tracks has to be restored to original condition.”

Even the tired-looking wood decking overhead will be salvaged and reused where possible, said Wolczyk. “That’s going to be a bit of a challenge.”

The train shed will have more exit points for passengers coming off platforms and further renovations to Union Station will triple the size of the concourse areas. With GO Transit ridership forecast to double in coming decades, work on the project began in 2010.

The City of Toronto and Toronto Transit Commission are also in the midst of massive renovations at Union Station. Most have long agreed a facelift for the hub is overdue as commuter traffic becomes increasingly gridlocked. Further transit expansion will make it even more important.

Work moves slowly, though, said Wolczyk, as planners must co-ordinate between the three parties involved — Metrolinx, which owns GO, the city and the TTC — and keep Union Station, Canada’s busiest passenger hub, in operation.

“We can only take a small part of it out of service at any time,” said Wolczyk. “It is a very difficult place to work in.”

The city, which owns Union Station below the train platforms and above the subways, is digging down to make room for future concourse space and a larger retail area, said principal project engineer Rick Tolkunow.

“Everything else is basically a work in progress,” said Tolkunow. And it will remain that way until at least next year. The city is on track to have renovations complete by 2015.

TTC project manager Malcolm MacKay said work on a second subway platform — which is responsible for the current bomb-shelled appearance of Front St. — is still slated for completion in 2014. And about those barriers seemingly blocking you every which way you turn? They may change places, but they won’t be going away.

“You will still see those restrictions for the duration of the project, it will just move along the platform,” said TTC spokeswoman Jessica Martin.

Upstairs on the GO platforms, work on the atrium should be finished in time for the Pan Am Games.

Other platform improvements won’t be complete until 2016. A new west concourse is due to open in 2013, and a larger Bay St. concourse should be done in 2015.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Cam Bear, who takes the GO train in from Oshawa five days a week, said he hasn’t noticed much difference so far. Train platforms are “decrepit,” said Bear, who works on Bay St. “Certainly if there are improvements, that’s great.”

Darius Fadavi, a student at Ryerson, said the renovations haven’t inconvenienced him during his commutes from Mississauga. In fact, he only learned of the project a few days ago.

“So instead of dark it’ll be light? I don’t know how I feel about that. It’ll be different.”

The train shed

• Designed by American architect Abraham Lincoln Bush.

• Built in 1920-30, after World War I delayed a scheduled 1913 start to construction.

• Design was meant to protect passengers from the elements while allowing fumes to vent.

• Like the rest of Union Station, a designated heritage site.

• The roof covers more than 35,000 square metres; 30,000 square metres will be restored or replaced, and 5,000 square metres will be taken out to put in a glass atrium.

• Portion of roof over tracks 1 and 2 will be restored to its 1930s appearance.

• 40,000 people pass through the train shed during its busiest hour, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.

• 200,000 people use GO Transit through Union Station every weekday.

Read more about: