Here's what one of Toronto's next transit stations will look like

John Tory's reign over Toronto's top job came to an abrupt end in 2023, but the disgraced ex-mayor's first-term campaign promise is finally coming to fruition after almost a decade — or, at least, an emaciated version of the SmartTrack plan that helped win Tory the 2014 municipal election.

SmartTrack was first pitched as a 22-station rapid transit line running on existing GO Transit rail corridors promised to be deliverable by 2021, but the project has since been whittled away to just five stations planned to enter operation in 2026.

Stations follow a rough U shape along approximately 40 kilometres of existing GO rail corridors, with stops planned at Finch-Kennedy, East Harbour, King-Liberty, Bloor-Landsdowne, and St.Clair-Old Weston.

Metrolinx is offering an updated preview of what their King-Liberty GO Station will look like, along with a slightly confusing reveal of a new simplified name of "King Station."

Day 10 has us shifting to our next #SmartTrack Station— #KingLibertyGO! It enhances connectivity to King Street, Sudbury Street, & Joe Shuster Way. Expect improved access to TTC bus service, streetcars on King and Queen Streets, & a direct GO train connection to Union Station 🎉 pic.twitter.com/nTzOfbFzB4

— GO Expansion (@GOExpansion) December 21, 2023

The station on the GO Kitchener Line is planned as an island platform accessed via a pair of pedestrian bridges that will link the platforms to King Street, Sudbury Street and Joe Shuster Way.

The access from King Street, at the west end of the 1890-built rail underpass, features a relatively austere multilevel building, while the Sudbury and Joe Shuster Way entrances would feed directly into the station's pedestrian overpass.

The naming convention shown in updated renderings is a departure from earlier versions, which referred to the station as "King-Liberty."

A few commenters have pointed out the possible confusion presented by having the station share a name with King subway station on the Line 1 Yonge-University, located a few kilometres to the east of the new SmartTrack stop.

But the render shows "King Station". All stations need unique names, otherwise passengers, & emergency responders, get confused. Call it Liberty Station, or King-Liberty Station. Stop being confusing @Metrolinx !

— Long Branch Mike LBM - In my Long Branch Tram Era (@LongBranchMike) December 21, 2023

Official construction is not slated to begin until 2024, though early works for the site have been ongoing since 2022, when a former event venue adjacent to the station site was demolished for staging areas.

Though the project being constructed is just a fraction of what was initially promised almost a decade ago, the five stations are expected to introduce 110,000 new daily riders to the GO Transit network by 2031.