mdrejhon
Senior Member
Deja vu. North Toronto railway station.
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VIA Rail
- Thread starter ehlow
- Start date
steveintoronto
Superstar
Yeah, that was my thought too. I was inside that building and up the tower before it became the LCBO. Used to live at Cottingham and Avenue Rd, (that was the Rochdale era) and trucking past there was a regular thing. There was a very real threat at the time of it being torn down, so credit to LCBO for re-purposing it in a way that was minimally invasive. (A dropped ceiling is about as intrusive as it got).
steveintoronto
Superstar
Not only is it a gem of a building, and absolute credit to Woodcliffe, it set a precedent of taste and vision long before it was so 'hip' in Toronto (There were a number of impressive developments, but nothing like the torrent in the last few decades) but it also set a bar for surrounding development, nothing to match it, but nothing dared fall too far beneath it. I was trucking past there doing a distance walk down the Nordheimer Ravine and through Summerhill to the Don a few weeks back, and had to stop and marvel at it. I believe there was a revamp a decade or so back, but at that time, it was a move to restore it closer to original. Now I check the dates, that was Woodcliffe. LCBO's tenancy predated that by decades. I remember it being virtually derelict, which is how we entered a door ajar at track level to climb up the clock tower (incredibly steep metal rungs, btw). The tower is not directly accessible from the main areas.
The latest picture linked has more of a resemblance to Grand Central than Union does. All absolute gems...
Addendum: Apologies for going off topic here, I believe most in this forum will appreciate the potential of the North Toronto Station to live again as a transit hub, and *still be* an architectural restoration masterpiece.
Clarifying my recollection (and this predates my era!)
This is a love story! I have a lot (but not every) confidence this will see passenger traffic again, and it can only further develop the neighbourhood which has come bounds from its past, even though it always was a choice area of real estate.
The latest picture linked has more of a resemblance to Grand Central than Union does. All absolute gems...
Addendum: Apologies for going off topic here, I believe most in this forum will appreciate the potential of the North Toronto Station to live again as a transit hub, and *still be* an architectural restoration masterpiece.
Clarifying my recollection (and this predates my era!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Toronto_railway_station[...]Brewers' Retail moved into the northern portion of the terminal building in 1931.
[...]
Restoration
The interior of the station in 1916
Though the former beauty of the station's exterior could be surmised even in its most downtrodden days, much of the station’s elegant interior was hidden behind boardings put up by Brewers' Retail and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO, the government-owned alcohol store which had moved into the southern part of the terminal building in 1940) until the building was restored in 2004 by Woodcliffe Corporation. The Architects were Goldsmith Borgal & Company Ltd, Architects and Eastern Construction was contracted to do the work.
[...continues at length...]
This is a love story! I have a lot (but not every) confidence this will see passenger traffic again, and it can only further develop the neighbourhood which has come bounds from its past, even though it always was a choice area of real estate.
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cplchanb
Senior Member
They just sent a request for proposals out late last year....hopefully a decision within the next few months?
Urban Sky
Senior Member
I can't really say anything about this, but I refer to the following links:
VIA Rail webpage: Fleet renewal programme
http://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/governance-and-reports/fleet-renewal-program
VIA Rail 2016-2020 Corporate Plan
http://www.viarail.ca/sites/all/files/media/pdfs/About_VIA/our-company/corporate-plan/Summary of the 2016-2020 Corporate Plan.pdf (pp. 1-2, 11, 18, 35, 49-52, 59)
The Star (April 15, 2016): Via eyes new trains, frequent service to woo riders
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada...ew-trains-frequent-service-to-woo-riders.html
National Post (February 29, 2016): Via Rail seeking federal budget funding for $1.3B passenger car upgrade in Toronto-Montreal corridor
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/c...nger-car-upgrade-in-toronto-montreal-corridor
International Rail Journal (September 21, 2016): Via Rail prepares to order new trains
http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/north-america/via-rail-prepares-to-order-new-trains.html
Maybe other people here can provide more links and historic background...
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Urban Sky
Senior Member
I can't really say anything about this either, but I refer to the following links:
VIA Rail webpage: VIA Rail's plan for dedicated tracks
http://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/governance-and-reports/dedicated-tracks
VIA Rail 2016-2020 Corporate Plan
http://www.viarail.ca/sites/all/files/media/pdfs/About_VIA/our-company/corporate-plan/Summary of the 2016-2020 Corporate Plan.pdf (pp. 2, 6-9, 16-18, 21-24, 35-36)
CBC News (April 15, 2016): Via Rail's $4B plan for Quebec-Ontario route opts for 'frequency' over speed
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/via-rail-quebec-ontario-1.3537019
Railway Age (May 4, 2016): National Dream redux
http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/passenger/high-performance/national-dream-redux.html?channel=
National Post (May 11, 2016): Transport minister aims to get on track with Via Rail’s upgrade proposal
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/c...-get-on-track-with-via-rails-upgrade-proposal
International Rail Journal (August 17, 2016): Via Rail seeks private sector partnership for Toronto-Montreal upgrade
http://www.railjournal.com/index.ph...partnership-for-toronto-montreal-upgrade.html
London Free Press (September 15, 2016): Transport Minister Marc Garneau says Via train could be the answer to SWO travel
http://www.lfpress.com/2016/09/14/t...high-speed-train-through-southwestern-Ontario
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crs1026
Superstar
You may want to poke through past posts in this thread and others in this forum. The answer is already there, in detail, and with many links.
- Paul
SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
This infographic from VIA does a good job covering the proposal, and electrification is certainly on the table.
VIA's president tweeted me saying more info in early 2017, so we're all eagerly awaiting that. We suspect that this project will be one of the first funded by the Fed's new Infrastructure Bank.
Other items of interest are a new corridor through Peterborough, and the project spanning Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City.
mdrejhon
Senior Member
This is a very new infographic directly from VIA too -- updated during late 2016.
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DSC
Superstar
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SamStar
New Member
http://railpictures.net/photo/599465/
http://railpictures.net/photo/599641/
The Brightline trains look very good IMO
Allandale25
Senior Member
One more link:
mykawartha.com (November 8, 2016): VIA Rail officials propose to bring commuter train service to Peterborough
mykawartha.com/news-story/6953825-via-rail-officials-propose-to-bring-commuter-train-service-to-peterborough
This article included a picture of the slide deck the VIA CEO used and one of the slides had a map of the route. As best I can tell a copy of this presentation isn't on VIA Rail's website. HT: alexanderglista
APTA-2048
Senior Member
Are you talking about the stainless steel cars? VIA is in the process of refurbishing the ones on The Canadian and giving them attractive, modern interiors. I'm sure the ones used in The Corridor can be given updated interiors like the refurbished LRCs and RDCs.
kEiThZ
Superstar
This infographic from VIA does a good job covering the proposal, and electrification is certainly on the table.
VIA's president tweeted me saying more info in early 2017, so we're all eagerly awaiting that. We suspect that this project will be one of the first funded by the Fed's new Infrastructure Bank.
Other items of interest are a new corridor through Peterborough, and the project spanning Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City.
Is it just me or do the costs and construction time keep rising?