UPX now costs province $11 a ride — down from $52

But Metrolinx casts doubt that the service will ever break even under subsidized fare structure

The province is subsidizing rides on the Union Pearson Express (UPX) at much lower levels than it did last year, but it still costs the public about $11 every time a passenger boards the controversial airrail link.

According to figures that will be presented at the Metrolinx board on Wednesday, it cost the provincial government $62.8 million to operate the train between Union Station and Pearson Airport during the fiscal year that ran from April 2016 to March 2017.

Over the same period, 2.76 million people rode the service. With revenues from fares and other sources totalling $32.4 million, the government provided a subsidy of $30.4 million, or about $11 per rider. Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca called the new numbers “great news.”

The subsidy is much lower than the $52.25 per ride it cost the government in the 2015-16 fiscal year.

“I’m delighted to know that we’ve managed to drop the subsidy for the UP Express by 80 per cent year over year. I think that’s really critical,” the minister said.

Although Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency that operates the UPX, has cast doubt on whether it will be possible for the service to break even under its new fare structure, Del Duca said that remains the goal.

“I think it’s trending the right way, but we definitely have more work to do,” said the minister, who is also the Liberal MPP for Vaughan.

Michael Harris, transportation critic for the Ontario PC party, said the new lower subsidy number is nothing to celebrate.

“Only the Liberals can pat themselves on the back for jacking the subsidy at the beginning and then reducing it down to $11,” he said.

Harris, who is the MPP for Kitchener-Conestoga, argued Metrolinx should never have ignored warnings that its original fares were too high, and it was a mistake to attempt operate the UPX as a “premium” rail line.

The UPX entered service in June 2015 and initially charged $27.90 for atrip between the airport and Union, or $19 with a Presto card. Travellers found the price too high and the service failed to attract enough riders.

In March 2016, Metrolinx decided to slash the fares to $12, or $9 with a Presto fare card. Ridership has surged since.

In its first 10 months of operation, a little more than 750,000 people rode the line, less than half the number that rode last year.

Aside from additional fare revenue from increased ridership, the UPX has also cashed in on corporate sponsorships.

Revenue from partners such as CIBC and Deloitte, which paid for naming and advertising rights, and Mill Street Brewery and the Drake General Store, which rent space at Union Station, made up almost 28 per cent of the service’s revenue.

The Metrolinx board is expected to approve a 3-per-cent fare increase to the UPX on Wednesday. It will only affect fares that cost more than $5.65 and won’t apply to shorter trips on the line that don’t make the full trip from Union to the airport.