Union Station to Niagara Falls: Train, Bus or Car From Downtown Toronto

Stand on Front Street outside Union Station and you are within a short walk of four different ways to Niagara Falls. Downstairs and through the concourse are the GO and VIA platforms. Across Bay Street, at 81 Bay, is the Union Station Bus Terminal, where the intercity coaches leave. And at the kerb on Front Street, cars pull in and out of the pick-up zone. All four get you to the falls. They do not get you to the same place, at the same time, with the same amount of carrying.

What is the best way from Union Station Toronto to Niagara Falls?

The train is the best value for a single traveller with a small bag, especially on a weekend. The bus is quicker than the train on paper and drops you closer to some attractions. A car makes sense for a group, a family with luggage or car seats, a late evening, or a destination that is not near a station, such as a Fallsview hotel lobby or a Niagara-on-the-Lake inn.

Option one: the GO train from the Union concourse

GO Transit runs Niagara Falls trains on the Lakeshore West line from Union. The service runs all year. On weekends, Metrolinx says, there are eight trips on Saturdays and Sundays serving Niagara Falls, and since late 2025 every Lakeshore West train serving Niagara Falls also stops at the new Confederation GO station in Hamilton. The published weekend trips we have checked take a little under two and a half hours from Union to Niagara Falls GO.

On weekdays, direct Niagara trains are fewer. When a direct train is not running, GO's own advice is to take the Lakeshore West train to Burlington and transfer to GO Bus route 12, which ends at the Niagara Falls Bus Terminal, across the street from the train station. The GO weekday trips page explains that connection.

What the train is good at: a fixed timetable, no traffic, and a comfortable seat with a lake view for part of the way. GO lets children aged 12 and under travel at no charge. What it is not good at: luggage. There is no baggage service, so whatever you bring, you carry up and down the platforms, and on summer weekends the cars are busy with day-trippers and bicycles. Our journal post on the GO train schedule and the last-mile problem covers the timetable in more depth.

Option two: VIA Rail and the Maple Leaf

The Maple Leaf, operated jointly by VIA Rail and Amtrak, runs once a day between Toronto and New York City and calls at St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, Ontario, before crossing into the United States. From Union, it is the one train that continues across the border.

Two practical notes from the VIA Niagara Falls station page: the station is unstaffed, opening 30 minutes before a train and closing 30 minutes after, and there is no checked baggage service there. With one train a day, it suits travellers whose timing happens to match. For everyone else it is a backup.

Option three: the coaches at 81 Bay Street

The Union Station Bus Terminal, on the second floor at 81 Bay Street, is where FlixBus and Megabus leave for Niagara Falls. FlixBus currently lists at least 13 trips a day on the route, with a minimum trip time of about 1 h 30 and fares from CA$20.98 (as of 2026). In Niagara Falls its stops include the Niagara Falls Transit Terminal on Erie Avenue, Rapidsview and Table Rock, which is a short walk from the Horseshoe Falls. Megabus also serves the bus terminal on Erie Avenue.

The coach puts you closer to the falls than the train if you get off at Table Rock. It is also exposed to the same QEW traffic as a car, so a Friday-afternoon departure can run well past its scheduled time. Our post comparing FlixBus, Megabus and the GO bus goes through stops and luggage allowances.

Price my ride from Union Station

Option four: a car from the kerb on Front Street

The City of Toronto's Union Station transportation page says the taxi and rideshare pick-up zones are on Front Street, towards York Street. That area has moved during construction work in recent years, so when you book a chauffeured pickup at Union, the reservations desk confirms the exact meeting point and your chauffeur's details before the day.

From there, the drive is straightforward. Our route planner puts Union Station to the Fallsview hotels at about 129 km (80 mi): west on the Gardiner Expressway, onto the Queen Elizabeth Way (the QEW, the main highway around the western end of Lake Ontario), across the Burlington Bay Skyway and on through Niagara. That is usually 1 h 30 – 1 h 45 off-peak. Allow 2 h or more on a summer Friday afternoon or a long-weekend Saturday, when the QEW slows through Hamilton and Burlington. For Niagara-on-the-Lake, the drive is a similar 127 km (79 mi), about 1 h 40.

If you are staying at a downtown hotel rather than arriving by train, there is no reason to go to Union at all: the car can collect you at the hotel door. Our post on downtown Toronto hotel pickups explains how that works with front desks and porters.

The other end: where each option actually drops you

This is the part people forget to plan. The Niagara Falls GO and VIA station, at 4267 Bridge Street, is in the north end of the city, about 4 km from the falls. From the station, our route planner puts Clifton Hill at about 3 km (4 minutes by car) and the Fallsview hotels at about 4.5 km (about 7 minutes). The WEGO Green Line calls at the station on its way south to Table Rock, which is a good option for a light traveller in daylight.

The coaches can drop you at Table Rock or at the transit terminal on Erie Avenue, next to the train station. A car drops you at the hotel entrance, the porte-cochère, the winery door or the theatre.

If you are arriving at Union on a long-distance train from Montreal or Ottawa and connecting onward, the same logic applies: tell us your train number in the booker. We track train arrivals as we track flights, so a late train does not leave you without a ride. Our train station transfers service describes how we handle connections at Union and at the Niagara stations.

Chauffeur vs rideshare vs taxi for this trip

The verdict. If you are travelling alone with a backpack on a weekend, take the GO train: it is good value, reliable and pleasant. If you want to reach Table Rock on a budget and do not mind traffic risk, the coach is fine. A pre-booked chauffeur wins when there are three or more of you, when you have suitcases, children who need car seats or someone who cannot manage stairs and platforms, when you want to go straight to a Fallsview lobby or a wine-country inn, or when the trip runs late at night. Our chauffeur vs taxi vs rideshare guide sets out the comparison more fully.

When the train genuinely makes more sense

We would rather you took the train than booked a car you did not need. The cases where we tell people to ride GO:

• You are one person with carry-on-size luggage, going on a Saturday or Sunday when the direct trains run.
• You are visiting for the day, will use WEGO around the falls, and will be back at the station well before the last train.
• You enjoy the ride for its own sake; the stretch along the lakeshore is part of the trip.

Even then, some people mix the two: the train in the morning and a car back in the evening, when the timetable thins and a long day has left everyone tired. Our guide to getting to Niagara by train and bus is a useful companion.

Reserve your chauffeur from downtown Toronto

Who it suits

For individuals, the train is often the right call, and our page for individual travellers covers the cases where a car is worth it, such as a late business dinner or heavy luggage. Couples on a weekend away usually prefer to arrive at the hotel rather than at a station 4 km from it. Families with strollers, car seats and suitcases find a door-to-door car far easier than platforms and transfers. Groups of six or more often find that one Executive Sprinter or SUV is simpler than coordinating train tickets and taxis at the other end.

Booking it with NiagaraFallsLimo.net in 3 steps

1. Tell us where and when. Enter Union Station (or your hotel, office or condo) as the pickup and your Niagara hotel, winery or attraction as the drop-off. If you are arriving at Union by train, add the train number.
2. Choose your car. Every vehicle class shows its fixed fare: Standard Sedan for up to three passengers and two large bags, SUV for up to six, Executive Sprinter for up to twelve.
3. Add passengers and extras, then pay. Bags, child seats and any extras, secure payment and an emailed confirmation. The desk confirms the Union meeting point before your trip.

If you are coming from the airport instead, a direct car from Pearson saves the trip into downtown; see our Toronto Pearson transfer page. The full Toronto to Niagara Falls route page has timings for other parts of the city.