Stratford station in Stratford,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

is served by four

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 ...

trains daily running between

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron fl ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

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 ...

. The station, though outside the immediate downtown area, is relatively central. The station building is wheelchair accessible. Via accommodates wheelchair access into the trains provided 48 hours' notice. On October 18, 2021,

GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven millio ...

started weekday service though Stratford, between Toronto and London. The pilot service does not offer Presto access and riders need to purchase e-tickets. Two years later in October 2023, the service ended.

History

From the fall of 1863, a young

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

worked as a telegrapher at the Stratford, Ontario station of the Grand Trunk Railroad. onot, Robert: Thomas A Edison, A Streak Of Luck, Da Capo Press, p. 16Edison's father was from Canada and fled to US after the

Rebellion of 1837 Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

Two structures remain that were built in 1913 by the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...

(GTR): a two-storey, brick-clad, railway station building, and a one-storey express building linked by an overhead canopy. The GTR merged into the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

in 1920. In addition to serving regional trains, it served international trains to Michigan and Chicago, including the Grand Trunk's long-running ''

Maple Leaf The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along the ...

.'' The station buildings were designated as a Heritage Railway Station in 1993. The station is also designated under Part IV of the ''

Ontario Heritage Act The ''Ontario Heritage Act'', (the ''Act'') first enacted on March 5, 1975, allows municipalities and the provincial government to designate individual properties and districts in the Province of Ontario, Canada, as being of cultural heritage ...

'' since June 13, 1988. The Ontario Heritage Act designation notes that the station is built in the

Prairie Style Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hip roof, hipped roofs with broad Overhang (architecture), ove ...

of architecture, influenced by

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

. It was erected by the Grand Trunk in 1913 and opened in August 1914. The designation covers the exterior of the whole structure, roof, masonry, windows, original doors and brick platforms (these were covered at the time of the designation in 1988). The building included a tower, that has since been removed. The ''

International Limited International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

'' was operated jointly by

and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

between Chicago and Toronto. The service operated from 1982–2004.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stratford, Ontario Railway Station Via Rail stations in Ontario Buildings and structures in Stratford, Ontario Rail transport in Stratford, Ontario Grand Trunk Railway stations in Ontario Designated heritage railway stations in Ontario Designated heritage properties in Ontario Former Amtrak stations in Canada Prairie School architecture Railway stations in Perth County, Ontario Railway stations in Canada opened in 1856 Railway stations in Canada opened in 1914

History

See also

References

External links