Government of Canada, VIA Rail to upgrade Vancouver, Windsor stations

The Honorable Rob Merrifield, Minister of State (Transport) and David Hoff, a member of VIA Rail's Board of Directors announced an investment of C$5.1 million in VIA Rail's Heritage train station in Vancouver. They were joined at the city's Pacific Central Station by Gregor Robertson, the Mayor of Vancouver.

Also, Dave Van Kesteren,
Member of Parliament for Chatham-Kent-Essex, Eddie Francis, Mayor of Windsor,
and Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, General Counsel and Secretary of VIA Rail
Canada, unveiled the design plans for VIA’s new Windsor passenger rail station. Representing
an estimated investment of C$6.3 million from the Government of Canada’s
Economic Action Plan, this investment will provide modern, attractive
facilities to passengers with capacity to meet potential future growth.

VIA Rail will complete
major renovations to the Vancouver Station’s masonry, roof and windows in 2011,
paying strict attention to preserving features that mark the building as a
Heritage site. Designs and specifications have been submitted to Parks Canada
for review. VIA will issue a tender and intends to award the contract by the
end of the year. The majority of the funding for the project will come from
Canada’s Economic Action Plan. In 2009, VIA also completed a project for
improvements to the platform canopy and lighting and repairs to the station
columns from funding announced in 2007. These are part of an unprecedented C$923-million
capital investment by the federal government to improve comfort, service and
safety for passengers.

Scheduled for completion
in the fall of 2011, the new Windsor Station will replace one built in the
early 1960s, providing a welcoming and accessible environment for passengers
with convenient parking, passenger pick-up and drop-off facilities, efficient
ticketing and baggage handling, and comfortable waiting areas. The project is
part of a comprehensive upgrade of the rail infrastructure throughout the
Ontario-Quebec Corridor, including a C$17 million investment to modernize rail
traffic control systems and track structure between Windsor and Chatham.

The Ontario-Quebec corridor
is critical to VIA’s success. As a result of the capital investment by the
Government of Canada, VIA is revamping services while becoming more efficient
and improving its environmental footprint and operational performance.