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
Location205 York Street, London, ON
Canada
Coordinates42.9819°N 81.2464°W / 42.9819; -81.2464
Owned byVia Rail
Platforms1 side platform, 1 island platform
Tracks5
ConnectionsLondon Transit (bus routes 4, 15, 104)
Construction
Structure typeterminal building
ParkingYes
Disabled accessYes
History
Opened1963
Rebuilt2001
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
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