Toronto Flights, Trains, Bus Services and Driving

By Train

Services arrive at Union Station on Front Street, just a block west of Yonge Street (and opposite the Royal York Hotel). VIA Rail trains serving Toronto include Oakville-Toronto-Montréal, Ottawa-Kingston-Toronto, Windsor-London-Toronto, Sarnia-London-Toronto, Niagara Falls-Toronto and Vancouver-Jasper-Toronto (the Canadian). For further details on routes and ticketing, visit the excellent seat61 website.

From the U.S., the jointly run Amtrak/VIA Rail ‘Maple Leaf‘ service runs daily between New York and Toronto and offers both coach and business classes. Note that, at Niagara Falls, customs and immigration controls mean that delays of up to 2 hours may be incurred by passengers.

Upon arrival in Toronto, the station has direct access to the subway, allowing you to reach any destination within Toronto quickly and easily. 

By Bus

Canada has a well-established network of intercity coach services which, as well as offering a good degree of flexibility, enjoy the benefits of relatively cheap ticketing, modern vehicles and decent levels of service.

The downtown Toronto Bus Terminal (also known as Toronto Coach Terminal) located at 610 Bay Street - just north of Dundas street - is the point of destination for intercity and international services run by both Greyhound and Coach Canada. With Coach Canada, scheduled services include those from Buffalo and New York, Montreal and Kirkland (in Quebec) and ten destinations within Ontario. Greyhound’s cross-border services comprise of routes where the U.S. freeway system enters Canada, with the most useful ones for visitors to Toronto being from New York, Buffalo and Detroit.

Driving to Toronto

In our general section on driving to Canada, we outline for U.S. visitors the merits of the NEXUS partnership program, which offers a quick and simplified entry process into Canada. 

Toronto itself is served by a number of major highways (400-series roads within Ontario have a speed limit of 100 km/h) with the main route from Detroit being via London and Hamilton (401 and 403). From New York and Buffalo, the Queen Elizabeth Way runs passed Burlington to Toronto from Niagara Falls. 

From other destinations in Canada, the 401 runs south-west all the way to Toronto from Montreal, while Ottawa-Toronto is served by the 416 and 401. North-south routes across the city comprise of Highway 400 (running from Barrie) and Highway 404, while from the west the likes of Cambridge, Waterloo and Kitchener and served by the 401.

Approximate driving times to Toronto are: from Niagara Falls - 1 hour 30 minutes, Buffalo - 2 hours, Detroit - 4 hours, Ottawa - 4 hours 40 minutes, Montreal - 5 hours 40 minutes.

By Air

Most foreign travellers arriving in Toronto will do so by air. Usually, international flights arrive at Lester B. Pearson International Airport in the northwest corner of Metro Toronto. Pearson has three terminals, serving more than 50 airlines. The most spectacular is the Trillium Terminal 3, Tel: (416) 776-5100 which, as well as offering a bright and airy environment in which to board your flight, incorporates an impressive food court and a wide-range of retail stores.

The recently opened Terminal 1 building is part of an ambitious project to replace Terminals 1 and 2 with a single unified terminal. When complete, all three terminals will be capable of accommodating up to 50 million passengers per year.

Easily accessible from highways 401, 427 and 409, the airport is approximately 30 minutes from downtown Toronto. By road, take Highway 427 south to the Gardiner Expressway East.

That said, a cheap and reliable way to reach the airport/ downtown Toronto is with Pacific Western’s Airport Express service (www.torontoairportexpress.com), which operates every 20 minutes during peak periods and every 30 minutes during off-peak.

Travelling between the airport, the bus terminal and all major downtown hotels, the company has customer agents positioned at the following locations within each Terminal:

Terminal 1 - Location #1 - Arrivals Level (Domestic Baggage Claim Area)
Terminal 1 - Location #2 - Ground Transportation Level (Follow signs to "Ground Transportation"). The company’s desk is then located at the base of the escalator to the right and reads "Airport Express".
Terminal 2 - Located Curbside at Area #18 
Terminal 3 - Located Curbside at Area # 27

Staff are also on hand to advise and assist travelers with information on how to reach their final destinations. For further information e-mail: info@torontoairportexpress.com, call: (905) 564-3232, fax: (905) 564-5959 or, within Canada, dial (toll free) on: 1-800-387-6787.

Rates for taxis and limousines to/from the airport are metred, with a list of current tariffs available on the Greater Toronto Airports Authority website. However, we recommend the use of public bus services including:

GO Transit (located at Terminal 2 on the "Arrivals Level" post 20, and at Terminal 1 on the "Ground level", column S2). Westbound services take passengers to central stops in Bramalea and Brampton, while Eastbound destinations include the Yorkdale and York Mills subway stations. For more information call: (416) 869-3200 or 1-(888) GET ON GO (438 6646) or visit: www.gotransit.com.

Toronto Transit Commission - 192 "Airport Rocket" - provides all-day travel between Kipling Station on the Bloor-Danforth Subway and Pearson Airport. Buses stop only at Kipling Station, Dundas Street & East Mall Crescent, Terminal 3 (Departures Level), Terminal 2 (Arrivals Level) and Terminal 1 (Ground level). Operating daily between 5:30am and 2:00am, travel time is approximately 20 minutes.

From Terminal 2, the 58A bus runs to Lawrence West station, while the no. 307 (Blue Night) bus serves Eglinton West station. For details of these routes, along with the 300 Bloor-Danforth service, please visit the company’s website at: www.ttc.ca.

Note: trips may take longer during rush hour, especially between from 7am to 9am. Therefore, during peak periods, please allow extra time for your journey.