Gord Brown, Member of Parliament for Leeds-Grenville, David Henderson, Mayor of Brockville, and Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, General Counsel and Secretary of VIA Rail Canada, unveiled the design plans for VIA's new Brockville, Ont., passenger rail station. Representing an estimated investment of C$4.5 million, the project will receive C$3 million in funding from the Government of Canada's Economic Action Plan. This investment will provide modern, attractive facilities for passengers, with capacity to meet potential future growth.

The new station will be built adjacent to the existing station, which dates back to 1872.  Desjardins-Siciliano said, "Brockville is an important part of VIA's network serving the Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto triangle. We are ensuring that Brockville will enjoy the best possible quality of service as passenger volumes grow in the future, and as VIA continues to add faster, more efficient, more reliable and frequent train services throughout the Ontario-Quebec corridor."

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

With construction scheduled to begin early next year, the new station is designed to integrate with current and planned infrastructure improvements, including a C$300-million project to expand and improve track between Montreal and Toronto.

"The station design reflects VIA's commitment to deliver the best possible travel experience for our customers," Desjardins-Siciliano said. "That is critical as we continue to enhance our service to meet the needs of people who look to passenger rail for transportation that is safe, convenient, reliable, and environmentally sustainable."

Station and infrastructure improvements have been made possible by an unprecedented $923 million capital investment in passenger rail by the Government of Canada. This investment is stimulating job creation, skills development and private sector activity. Additional infrastructure projects are aimed at improving service quality and cost efficiency at points across VIA's network.

Station design highlights
: A fully accessible and welcoming environment with comfortable, relaxing waiting areas; ample windows providing views of train arrivals and departures: new and expanded parking facilities, which may include new access to Louis Street; a convenient passenger drop-off and pick-up area; space for food vending concessions; landscaping that preserves and reinforces the natural environment; boarding facilities to accommodate additional track lines.