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.