London station (Ontario)

London station in London, Ontario, Canada is a major interchange for Via Rail trains running from Toronto west to Sarnia and Windsor. The station is a large, modern, wheelchair accessible building on the south end of the city centre, and connects to local public transit bus services.

London
A Via train at the station in London, Ontario
Location	205 York Street, London, ON Canada
Coordinates	42.9819°N 81.2464°W / 42.9819; -81.2464
Owned by	Via Rail
Platforms	1 side platform, 1 island platform
Tracks	5
Connections	London Transit (bus routes 4, 15, 104)
Construction
Structure type	terminal building
Parking	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	1963
Rebuilt	2001
Services
Preceding station Via Rail Following station Strathroy toward Sarnia Sarnia–Toronto St. Marys toward Toronto Glencoe toward Windsor Windsor–Toronto Ingersoll toward Toronto
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Strathroy toward Chicago International St. Marys toward Toronto Preceding station Canadian National Railway Following station Hyde Park toward Sarnia Grand Trunk Railway Main Line Dorchester toward Montreal Hyde Park toward Goderich Goderich– London Terminus Terminus London– Stratford Pottersburg toward Stratford

History

Former CN station in 1966

The first passenger station at this site was completed by Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1853. The station continued to serve the London area for the Grand Trunk Railway after the two companies amalgamated in 1882.[1] The original building survived until 1935 when it was torn down to make way for a new station built by the Canadian National Railway.[2]

The first CN station was demolished and gave way to two structures, a three-storey building at 205 York Street (now home to the CN Credit Union) completed in 1963[3] and the 10-storey CN Tower Building at 197 York Street built in 1969.[4] The latter building, an International-style structure was closed in 2000 as CN staff dwindled and was imploded at 9:15 a.m., on February 4, 2001.[5] The old credit union building was incorporated into the current station structure after 2001 and remaining site of the old station became a parking lot. The platform area from the previous stations were retained in the new station.

The International Limited was operated jointly by Via Rail and Amtrak between Chicago and Toronto. The service, which had started in 1982, was discontinued in 2004.[6]

References

1. http://images.ourontario.ca/london/69363/data?n=5
2. http://cnr-in-ontario.com/References/index.html?http://cnr-in-ontario.com/References/RailwayAge_19370213_0285-0289.html#285-1
3. http://www.london.ca/d.aspx?s=/About_London/timeline8.htm Archived 2010-12-18 at the Wayback Machine
4. http://www.cncu.ca/cncuHistory.html#anchor1980
5. http://www.odysseymediagroup.com/nan/Editorial-Rail.asp?ReportID=18303
6. Melzer, Matt (23 April 2004). "Final Run of the Amtrak / VIA International". TrainWeb.org. Retrieved 4 August 2015. From 1982, Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada had jointly operated the International train between Chicago and Toronto

External links

• Media related to London, Ontario railway station at Wikimedia Commons

• Via Rail station page for London station (Ontario)