Union Station Toronto, at 65 Front Street West between Bay and York, is the hub for VIA Rail, GO Transit and UP Express. TorontoAirportTransfer.services meets travellers at the Front Street curbside pickup and drop-off zone by the main entrance, timed to the actual train. A business sedan to Pearson is a planning figure of $130–160 all-in before HST, fixed before you book.
Union Station Toronto: where the chauffeur actually meets you
Toronto downtown Union Station is a block-long heritage building facing Front Street, with the Fairmont Royal York directly across the road. The designated curbside zone for taxis, rideshare and pre-booked cars is on Front Street in front of the main entrance, towards York Street, and that is where our chauffeurs pick up and drop off by default. Front Street is busy at every hour, so the car does not idle there for long: the chauffeur holds nearby, watches the train status and pulls into the zone as you walk up from the platform. You get a text with the vehicle, plate and a live contact the moment the train arrives, and a second message when the car is at the curb. If the Front Street zone is blocked by construction or an event closure, dispatch confirms an alternative legal stopping point by message before you leave the concourse.
Union Station to Pearson: fares by vehicle
Most of our Union Station bookings are the run to or from Toronto Pearson. Here are planning figures for the one-way trip, all-in before HST (chauffeur, vehicle, fuel, 407 tolls if used, airport fees and gratuity). The reservation engine quotes the exact date, time and vehicle before you confirm.
| Union Station to / from | Business sedan (3 pax) | First-class sedan (3 pax) | Executive SUV or luxury van (6 pax) | Sprinter (14 pax) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Pearson (YYZ) T1 or T3 | $130–160 | $195–240 | $160–205 | $280–345 |
| Billy Bishop (YTZ) | Short downtown hop, quoted by the engine | Quoted by the engine | Quoted by the engine | Quoted by the engine |
| Hourly, 3 h minimum | $130–150/h | Quoted by the engine | $160–190/h | $225–270/h |
For the full comparison of rail, taxi and car on this corridor, our Pearson to Union Station route guide walks through every option in detail.
Union Station to Pearson: car or UP Express?
UP Express runs from Pearson Terminal 1 to Union in about 25 minutes, roughly every 15 minutes, and for a solo traveller with a carry-on it is hard to beat. Check current schedules and fares on the UP Express site. A car earns its fare in different situations: three or more people splitting one price, travellers heading to Terminal 3 (UP stops at T1, and T3 needs the Terminal Link train), families with car seats, anyone with more luggage than two hands can manage, very early departures, and trips that start at a hotel or office rather than the station itself. The chauffeur also takes you to the correct departures door, which matters if you are not sure of your terminal; our terminal finder helps you confirm it before you book. The side-by-side numbers are in our limo vs Uber vs taxi vs UP Express guide.
Which exit to use for a Front Street pickup
Union has three main passenger concourses underneath the building: the Great Hall level where VIA passengers wait, and the Bay and York concourses used mainly by GO Transit riders. Whichever platform you arrive on, follow the signs for Front Street and the main entrance; the curbside zone is directly outside. VIA Rail travellers coming up from the platforms usually surface closest to the Great Hall, which puts the Front Street doors a short walk away. GO riders arriving into the York concourse have a similar distance; riders in the Bay concourse walk a little further west. If you arrived by UP Express, the UP platform sits at the far west end of Union in the SkyWalk between York and Simcoe streets, so allow a few extra minutes of walking back east to the main entrance. Tell us in the booking notes how you are arriving and the chauffeur times the approach accordingly.
Meeting a VIA Rail arrival at Union Station
VIA trains from Montréal, Ottawa, Kingston, London, Windsor and Niagara Falls terminate or call at Union, and they do not always run to the minute. Our dispatchers track the train rather than the timetable, so if your Corridor train is held outside Kingston the chauffeur's timing moves with it. Enter your train number when you book. The fare includes the standard 15 minutes of waiting from the actual arrival time for point-to-point station pickups; if you expect a slow walk with heavy bags, add waiting time at booking so nobody is rushed. VIA Rail runs a Business Lounge and a baggage checkroom at Union, and offers curbside assistance at the Front Street zone with 48 hours' notice through VIA directly. That service pairs well with our car: VIA's staff bring you to the curb, and the chauffeur loads the bags from there.
GO Transit and UP Express riders
A lot of our Union bookings come from people who rode GO Transit into the city and want a car for the last leg, often to a hotel, a hospital appointment on University Avenue or an office outside the PATH network. Others do the reverse: they take a car from home to Union for a day-long meeting downtown, then GO home. Both work the same way. The pickup point is the same Front Street zone, and the fare is fixed by address, so a trip from Union to a Liberty Village condo costs the same whether you arrive at 5:40 pm or 9:15 pm. For UP Express connections, some travellers land at Pearson, ride UP into Union and meet a car at the station to reach a destination further east, such as the Beaches or Scarborough, where the rail line does not go.
Union Station to Billy Bishop airport
Billy Bishop (YTZ) is roughly two kilometres south-west of Union on the Toronto Island. Cars drop at the mainland terminal on Eireann Quay at the foot of Bathurst Street, and passengers cross by the pedestrian tunnel or the short ferry. From Union the drive runs along Front or Lake Shore Boulevard and down Bathurst, typically ten to twenty minutes depending on traffic and events at the Rogers Centre. It is a short trip, so the reservation engine quotes it as a downtown point-to-point with the exact fare shown up front. Travellers with heavy bags or a tight connection from a VIA train find it easier than wheeling cases along Lake Shore on foot. For the full picture, read how to get to Billy Bishop airport or book the Billy Bishop airport transfer directly. Porter and Air Canada operate from YTZ; check the airport's own site for current details.
Union Station to downtown hotels and venues
Many hotels are within a few blocks of Union and connected by the PATH, and for those guests a car makes sense mainly when there is luggage, rain or snow, or mobility concerns. Beyond walking distance, a car is the simplest answer: Yorkville hotels, the Entertainment District west of John Street, King West, the Distillery District and the Port Lands all involve a bag-dragging walk or a transit transfer. The chauffeur loads the cases at Front Street and drops you at the hotel's front door or porte-cochère, not at the nearest corner. For conference delegates headed to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, see our conventions and trade shows transport page, which covers group shuttles between hotels, Union and the convention floor. Guests staying across the city can find their neighbourhood on the downtown Toronto car service page.
Timing a pickup around Front Street traffic
Front Street between Bay and York is one of the most congested curbs in the city. Weekday rush hours, roughly 7 to 9:30 am and 4 to 6:30 pm, bring GO crowds, delivery vans and taxis all competing for the same space. Event nights are worse: a Leafs or Raptors game at Scotiabank Arena, a Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre, or a concert on the waterfront can put Bay Street and Lake Shore at a crawl for an hour before and after. Our chauffeurs plan around this. On a game night we stage the car on a side street and time the approach to your walk, and for departures to Pearson we suggest a pickup 15 to 20 minutes earlier than the normal schedule. Allow 35 to 60 minutes from Union to Pearson depending on the time of day.
Luggage, porters and heavy bags
Train travellers often carry more than air travellers, because there is no checked-bag fee pushing them to pack light. Tell us the real number of bags when you book so the right vehicle is assigned: a business sedan takes about three standard suitcases, an executive SUV or luxury van about six, and a Sprinter about fourteen. Ski bags, bicycles in cases, musical instruments and trunks from a long relocation all fit better in an SUV or van. Union has elevators between the platform level and the main concourse; the chauffeur waits at the curb with the trunk open and loads everything. If you want help from the platform to the car, add the meet and greet option below. For multi-family reunions or wedding parties arriving by train, the Sprinter group transportation service carries everyone and their bags in one vehicle.
Meet and greet inside Union Station
The fare covers a curbside pickup in the Front Street zone. If you would rather be met inside, add meet and greet at booking (planning figure $25–35): the chauffeur waits at an agreed spot inside the station with a name board, helps with the bags and walks you out to the car. For Union we normally meet VIA arrivals in or near the Great Hall and GO arrivals at the top of the relevant concourse stairs; dispatch confirms the exact spot in your booking message. Meet and greet is popular with first-time visitors, older relatives travelling alone, and executives arriving from Ottawa or Montréal who want no friction at all. More detail is on our airport meet and greet page; the same process applies at the station.
Families, child seats and accessibility
Whatever the exemptions for taxis and buses, we fit the right child seat for every child who needs one. Taxis are exempt, which is why families arriving at Union with toddlers often end up holding a child on their lap in a cab. Our cars carry infant, convertible and booster seats on request; add them at booking and the chauffeur installs them before arrival. Details are on the child car seat transfers page, and the province's guidance is on the Ontario car seat page. For travellers who use a wheelchair or walker, Union has elevators to all main levels, and VIA offers its own station assistance on request. Tell us about mobility needs in the booking so we send a vehicle with a low step-in height, or see the wheelchair accessible transfers page for ramp-equipped options.
Union Station for business travellers
Union sits at the edge of the Financial District, and many of our corporate clients use it as a transfer point: VIA business class from Ottawa or Montréal, a car to Bay Street for a morning of meetings, then a car to Pearson for an evening flight. We can build that as a sequence of point-to-point bookings or as an hourly charter with the same chauffeur and car all day. The hourly option (3-hour minimum, business sedan planning figure $130–150 per hour) suits roadshows and back-to-back meetings where the car holds outside each building. Corporate accounts get consolidated invoicing and a single booking contact; see corporate car service for how billing works and the hourly chauffeur service for as-directed bookings.
Late-night and early-morning trains
The first GO trains of the morning and the last VIA arrivals of the evening are when a pre-booked car matters most. After midnight, the taxi line on Front Street can be thin, and rideshare prices can jump when a late Corridor train empties onto the curb together. Our fare does not change with the hour; a 12:40 am pickup costs the same as one at noon. Dispatch runs 24 hours, so if your train is delayed well past midnight the chauffeur stays with it. For very early departures to Pearson, such as a 6 am flight, we typically suggest leaving Union or a downtown hotel around 3:45 to 4:15 am, which gives time to check bags and clear security. The early-arrival guide on how early to arrive at Pearson explains the reasoning.
Winter at Union Station
Toronto winters bring slush on Front Street, wind off the lake and the occasional storm that slows everything. In January and February our chauffeurs wait in the car with the heat running until you are at the doors, then load bags quickly so nobody stands in the cold. Winter tires are fitted across the fleet from late autumn to spring. When Environment Canada issues a snow warning, dispatch adds buffer time to Pearson departures automatically and messages you with a revised pickup time; you can check conditions yourself on the federal weather site. Train delays also increase in winter, which is another reason we track the actual arrival rather than the schedule. If a storm cancels your VIA train altogether, message dispatch and we either rebook to the new train or, where it makes sense, drive you to your destination instead.
How to book a Union Station pickup
- Open the reservation engine and enter Union Station Toronto, 65 Front Street West, as the pickup (or drop-off).
- Add your train number and scheduled arrival time. For GO trips, add the line and the approximate arrival.
- Choose the vehicle class that fits people and bags, and add child seats or meet and greet if needed.
- The engine shows one all-in fare with HST on its own line. Confirm and pay.
- You receive a confirmation, then the chauffeur's name, car and plate before pickup.
Cancellations more than 72 hours before pickup are free; 72 hours or less is 10 %, 48 hours or less 50 %, and 24 hours or less or a no-show 100 %, all measured from the scheduled pickup. Check the current planning figures on our rates page.
Other Ontario stations we serve
Union is the busiest, but we also meet trains across the province. VIA and GO travellers heading west often use Oakville station to avoid downtown traffic, and Waterloo Region travellers use Kitchener station. For bus passengers arriving on GO buses or intercity coaches next door, see the Union Station Bus Terminal page. All of them work the same way: a fixed fare, a chauffeur timed to the actual arrival, and a vehicle sized to your group. For general information on the station itself, including shops and events inside, visit the Toronto Union site.
