Metrolinx will launch the Union Pearson Express (UPX) train to the airport in about two weeks. But it could be another two years before it delivers a direct connection between the UPX Bloor Station and the nearby TTC.

A tunnel was supposed to provide direct access from the Dundas West subway station to the UPX stop that is also served by GO trains.

That is still the plan. It’s just taking longer than expected, UPX president Kathy Haley told the Global AirRail conference in Toronto on Thursday.

It will likely be two years before a weather-protected link is available, she said. Haley didn’t provide reasons.

But the Star has learned that Metrolinx has not been able to negotiate access through the parking garage beneath the Crossways building, a mixed residential, retail complex, that stands between the UPX station and the subway.

The building’s ownership has changed in the time Metrolinx has been trying to gain underground access. If it can’t come to terms with the latest owner, it will likely have to expropriate some property to build the tunnel.

With UPX to begin running June 6, transit officials will only say that negotiations are continuing and the plan to provide a tunnel is firm.

“Our plan was always to have an underground connection. It’s part of the Big Move (regional transportation plan) to have the most seamless connections between all transit systems. We really want to make it as easy as possible because that’s the key to getting people on transit. We have to make it simple and easy,” said spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins.

Meantime, there’s a plan to beef up a second entrance to the Bloor UPX station at Dundas and Edna Sts. by adding a kiss-and-ride for easier drop-off and pickup to the airport. The new pickup area should be ready by early July, she said.

Until then customers travelling from the subway to the UPX will have to walk about 300 metres along Bloor to the primary entrance for the UPX/GO station. The route is fully accessible with no stairs or curb cuts and it has signs to help travellers find the airport train, said Aikins.

While Metrolinx has asked the city to install a traffic light at Dundas and Edna, that likely won’t happen immediately.

The terminus stations at the airport and Union Station are complete but crews are scrambling to finish the stops at Weston and Bloor.

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

Aikins blamed the harsh winter for delaying the completion of those two stations. Both will include heated shelters, canopies and enclosed entrances and, ticket areas.

The Weston UPX stop is near Lawrence Ave. W., east of Weston Rd. It includes space for future retailers and washrooms and a new pedestrian bridge over Lawrence Ave.; it will also have 220 parking spaces.

Haley told the conference that 25 per cent of UPX riders are expected to use Bloor Station and 10 per cent are expected to board at Weston.