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The Central Bus Terminal was a prime example that proximity to downtown is not the most important (let alone: only) criterion to determine the ideal location for an intercity bus terminal, as the integration to the local and urban bus network was really bad.
That obviously depends on the quality of bus services serving the intercity bus station, but given that one of the most important transport policy challenges in this country will be to align and integrate its intercity bus and rail networks. This does not necessitate a joint facility, as Hurdman or Saint-Laurent would still tick the appropriate boxes (convenience of downtown and highway access and ease of transfers to other important modes).
Tremblay LRT station offers downtown access every 5-10 minutes in 5-10 minutes travel time, whereas of all the examples you‘ve listed, not a single one offers anything close to such a convenient downtown connection, which makes me wonder why you would volunteer such obviously nonsensical comparisons.
Decades of research and best industry practice dictate that any suitable intercity bus terminal in Ottawa must be located at a Confederation line adjacent to the 417 Highway and in close proximity to downtown. What stations other than Hurdman, Tremblay (VIA Rail Station) or Saint-Laurent would tick all these boxes?
Which is why we usually let experts, not the general public or politicians plan transportation networks!
I‘m agnostic about how the LRT station should be renamed as long as it finally acknowledges the adjacent location of VIA Rail’s Ottawa station. „Tremblay“ is already probably the worst name anyone could have possibly come up with.
It suggests the same ignorance of international conventions and confusion of wayfinding with branding which Metrolinx showed when they thought that passengers would intuitively deduce that the „UP“ logo means „trains to downtown“. The difference to OC Transpo is that they eventually corrected their mistake and started to prioritize the needs of visitors unfamiliar with the city and its transportation networks…
It's more likely that Ottawa doesn't get any intercity terminal at all, and services continue to disperse. I suspect we'll see west end services terminate at Bayshore or Pinecrest in a few years.
Good luck with that, and do come back with a report on how that goes.
You seemed more concerned with how "Rail Station" or "Train Station" was an internationally used name.
The streetcar stops infront of the airport, what else do you want?
Followers of Yellowstone run away screaming.
Not quite the same, but this gives me Battersea Power Station station vibes (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battersea_Power_Station_tube_station).Offhand, I don't think I've ever heard the term "rail station" used in a North American context. At the same time though, outside of Ottawa, I can't think of a major city's train station that doesn't have a name.
I'm still disappointed that the LRT stop in Ottawa wasn't named Train Station station.
I've taken the bus a few times from St-Laurent Station and I don't totally hate it. I wish it was more of an actual station instead of a bus stop but things could be worse - could always be the street behind Hudson's Bay.
You are correctly naming the culprit for the unfortunate naming of the LRT station serving VIA Rail's Ottawa station (and much more serious misjudgments), but it's certainly not VIA's fault for not having renamed the station to fit within Ottawa's rigid LRT station naming conventions. Cities all over the world have coped with name-less train stations when naming their LRT stations. Ottawa is the notable exception by nothing else than choice.
You only have to look at Montreal to see what happens if you let non-experts and politicians design transportation infrastructure and networks, with a new combined highway-and-rail bridge built for many billions (but with specifications so flimsy which preclude most heavy rail applications) and a tunnel which has been converted from open heavy rail standard to a closed Light Metro system (just at the very moment where a High Speed Rail project was planned which would suffer near-fatal blows to its business case if it couldn't use that tunnel). Similarly, Ottawa insted on choosing the one LRT consortium which failed to achieve "the minimum technical score to qualify for the project" at its own peril...
Let's just stick to "train station" and urban rail networks Canada (from East-to-West):
My understanding is that "train station" is a North American term, whereas "rail station" is used in the rest of the anglosphere (and beyond):
Not sure what exactly your definition of "major city" is, but if we have a look at the main train stations in those CMA cities which have more than 300,000 inhabitants, the main rail station of only seven out of these 15 cities have a name attached:
| City | Main train station | Specific Station Name |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto | Toronto Union Station | Union Station |
| Montreal | Montreal Gare Centrale | Gare Centrale |
| Vancouver | Vancouver Pacific Central | Pacific Central |
| Ottawa-Gatineau | Ottawa train station | none |
| Calgary | no passenger rail service | none |
| Edmonton | Edmonton train station | none |
| Quebec City | Quebec Gare du Palais | Gare du Palais |
| Winnipeg | Winnipeg train station (according to VIA) Winnipeg Union Station | Union Station |
| Hamilton | Hamilton GO Centre | GO Centre |
| Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo | Kitchener train station | none |
| London | London train station | none |
| Halifax | Halifax train station | none |
| St. Catharine's-Niagara | St. Catharine's train station | none |
| Windsor | Windsor train station | none |
| Oshawa | Oshawa train station (according to VIA) Durham College Oshawa (according to GO Transit) | Station name sponsorship by nearby university (not acknowledged by VIA Rail) |
That would still be easier to navigate for visitors unfamiliar with the city than "Tremblay"...I'm still disappointed that the LRT stop in Ottawa wasn't named Train Station station.
It might be a bit more complicated than that, as the underground streetcar platforms are called stations - even for intermediate stations that have no subway or rail service. Personally, I call the in-station terminii "stations" as well - I'm not sure what is widespread.
In the UK one traditionally called them British Rail stations; and (in London at least), I hear Network Rail stations since British Rail was broken up. I wonder what the usage was before the post-war nationalisation.
Normally I go with a million or so. But I think we can ignore cities that don't even have daily rail service!
You have one very important omission: Ottawa calls its RT stations "O-Train station."
Of the 8/15 cities, only Ottawa and Kitchener have sort-of intercity/rapid transit interfaces, and Kitchener calls their station "Kitchener Central," but a central location is not one Ottawa is often accused of.
