Align UPX fares with GO Transit’s
Re Kvetching about UPX is still premature, Sept. 28 Christopher Hume wonders why people are so negative about the Union-Pearson Express (UPX) train service. The trains are gorgeous, and run with great frequency. Perhaps it is our frustration that the service has been priced far beyond its reasonable value.
As it stands, it appeals only to airline travellers coming into Toronto; it costs $27.50 for a single full trip, three stops from Pearson to Union. Imagine an airport worker spending up to two hours worth of after-tax wages for their trip home from work?
We residents would love to have express access to Union or the Bloor subway, but this price prevents frequent use. Pricing needs to be brought much closer to the GO price of $5.65 for one-way trips within Toronto, in order for UPX to become a meaningful link to downtown Toronto and serve Toronto residents. Peter Schubert, Weston, Ont. The single ride ticket between Malton GO station ( just north of Pearson Airport) and Union Station on the train is $7.20. The ride takes 32 minutes and makes three stops.
The single ride ticket between Pearson Airport and Union Station on the UPX is $27.50, almost four times as expensive. The ride takes 25 minutes and makes two stops.
The question then is: How do taxpayers persuade the responsi- ble authorities to price the UPX similar to GO train fares? Miguel Prohaska, Toronto I love our new UPX. Finally we have what so many cities have had for a long time. The price is just fine if you use your Presto card.
I started my homeward trip in North Korea. The train to the Chinese border rattled along at maximum 60 km/h, according to my GPS. The high-speed train to Beijing made a steady 270 km/h with barely a ripple on the drink in front of me. The Stockholm airport express performed the vibration-free 20-minute-run at 205 km/h.
The UPX has comfortable cars but wiggles its way to town on a newly laid track at barely 100 km/h after an agonizingly slow start at the airport. Is it too late to straighten the track that seems to make a small bend every 300 metres? Bengt Lindvall, Toronto