Leaside station is a former railway station in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

that served

Leaside Leaside (/'liːˌsaɪd/) is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located northeast of Downtown Toronto, in the vicinity of Eglinton Avenue East and Bayview Avenue. The area takes its name from William Lea and the Lea family, who se ...

and

Thorncliffe Park Thorncliffe Park is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the former Borough of East York. The City of Toronto recognizes Thorncliffe Park's boundaries as the Don River on the south side; Leaside Bridge, Millwood Road, and Laird Driv ...

. The

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

built the station in 1894 to serve the new community of Leaside, on a railway line leased from the

Ontario and Quebec Railway The Ontario and Quebec Railway (O&Q) was a railway located in southern and eastern Ontario, Canada. It was initially chartered in March 1881 by managers of the Canadian Pacific Railway to run between Toronto and Perth, where it would connect, via ...

.''An Act to confirm the lease of the Ontario and Quebec Railway to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, and for other purposes'', S.C. 1884, c. 54, confirming the That wooden frame structure burned down in the 1940s and was replaced by a more contemporary building in 1946. Passenger service ended in 1982, a few years before

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

’s Toronto to Havelock route was discontinued.

Metrolinx Metrolinx is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario that manages and integrates road and public transport in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), which comprises much of Ontario's Golden Horseshoe region. Headquartered at Union Sta ...

began demolition of the former station in June 2022 as part of its early works for the construction of the

Ontario Line The Ontario Line is an under-construction rapid transit line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its northern terminus will be at Eglinton Avenue and Don Mills Road, at Science Centre station, where it will connect with Line 5 Eglinton. Its southern te ...

maintenance and storage facility (MSF) in Thorncliffe Park.

History

The first railway company to come to Leaside was the

, in the 1870s. The

Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Mani ...

purchased some land north of that in 1906, for a locomotive repair shop and marshalling yard. When the CPR built a new line, connecting Leaside Junction down through the Don Valley via Don Station to

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

in 1892, it gave the station more prominence and enabled additional train service. Between 1975 and 1983 the building was operated by

CP Hotels Canadian Pacific Hotels (CPH) was a division of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) that primarily operated hotels across Canada. CPR restructured the division as a subsidiary in 1963. Early hotels Since passenger revenue made a significant co ...

for the ''Village Station Restaurant'' and for a short time after that was used as a CPR business centre and CPR Police office. Under

's regional transportation plan,

The Big Move The Big Move is the regional transportation plan (RTP) published by Metrolinx for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) in Ontario, Canada. It makes specific recommendations for transit projects, resulting from seven "green papers" and ...

, consideration has been given to providing through GO Train service to Seaton from Union Station. The earlier

MoveOntario 2020 MoveOntario 2020 was a 2007 plan proposed by the Government of Ontario that would fund 52 rapid-transit projects throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area in Ontario, Canada. It was succeeded by The Big Move and GO Transit's Go 2020. Histor ...

plan was to serve

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

by way of the Midtown Corridor.

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Leaside railway station Railway stations in Toronto Canadian Pacific Railway stations in Ontario Railway stations in Canada opened in 1894