BOTTOM LINE: Pretty on the outside, pants on the inside - it's the poster boy for dreariness.
DISCLOSURE: I don't take a lot of trains, but my 5-star train station would be the Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Union Station may very well be the worst.
When you stroll along Front Street, Union Station is majestic and inspiring; when you enter the main foyer, the enormity is breathtaking; however, the moment you descend into the GO Train dungeon, it's like you're getting clotheslined by the Hulk Hogan of dreariness. It's dim, dirty and cramped. The seats can be gross with stains. There's always some unidentified odour because the ventilation is limited. The food selection and shopping is spectacularly dull. Worst of all, I get nervous whenever I wait for a train on what amounts to a balance beam of platform gymnastics. During rush hour, people's toes are teetering off the edge as the train rolls in!
Plans to redesign the inside were supposed to have began in January 2010, but it's 2012 and I can't say much has changed. It's too bad management is so disinterested because it could be so pretty...