Union Station is the inter-city

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

for

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. It is a grand beaux-arts structure situated near The Forks in

downtown Winnipeg Downtown Winnipeg is an area of Winnipeg located near the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. It is the oldest urban area in Winnipeg, and is home to the city's commercial core, city hall, the seat of Manitoba's provincial government, ...

, and was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

in 1976. The station is also a Heritage Railway Station, so designated since 1989.

History

Initial construction

Constructed between 1908 and 1911, the station was built as a joint venture between 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. Man ...

, National Transcontinental,

Grand Trunk Pacific Railway The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway running from Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a Pacific coast port. East of Winnipeg the line continued as the National Tra ...

and the Dominion government. The first train to enter the station did so on 7 August 1911, with the official opening the following year on 24 June 1912. Union Station was designed by

Warren and Wetmore Warren and Wetmore was an architecture firm in New York City which was a partnership between Whitney Warren (1864–1943) and Charles Delevan Wetmore (June 10, 1866 – May 8, 1941), that had one of the most extensive practices of its time and w ...

, the architects responsible for

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style and constructed from local

Tyndall limestone Tyndall Stone is a registered trademark name by Gillis Quarries Ltd. Tyndall Stone is a dolomitic limestone that is quarried from the Selkirk Member of the Ordovician Red River Formation in the vicinity of Garson and Tyndall, Manitoba, Can ...

, Union Station was one of Western Canada's largest railway stations. The building extends for 110 metres along Main Street, with the entrance close to the intersection of Main Street and

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. The building's entrance doors are located under a decorative iron canopy that projects from the austere white limestone. Atop the building is a large dome.

Use

Union Station was for many years an important transportation hub in the region. Thousands of immigrants passed through its halls, and it was home to the regional office of 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 ...

which inherited the building from its predecessors. There were once several trans-border trains to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota operating out of the station. The Great Northern Railway had its ''

Winnipeg Limited The ''Winnipeg Limited'' was an overnight named passenger train operated by the Great Northern Railway between St. Paul-Minneapolis and Winnipeg, Manitoba. It competed on the route with the overnight '' Winnipeger'' of the Minneapolis, St ...

'', while the Northern Pacific Railway also had an unnamed day train.

Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad The Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (MStP&SSM) was a Class I railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Midwestern United States. Commonly known since its opening in 1884 as the Soo Line after the phonetic spe ...

had its ''Winnipeger'', which did not serve Union Station, terminating at Canadian Pacific's station on Higgins Avenue up until its discontinuance in 1967. All of these services were discontinued prior to

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

and there are no present plans to reinstate any of them.

turned over passenger rail services to

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 ...

in 1978, which has operated out of Union Station ever since. At present, Union Station is used by two trains - the Toronto-Vancouver ''

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

'', and the

Winnipeg – Churchill train Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,60 ...

. Although it is still used as a passenger train terminal, the functions of Union Station have changed with time. For instance, the terminal building contains offices occupied by non-railway tenants. The trainshed, which includes a total of eight through tracks and four passenger platforms, houses the

Winnipeg Railway Museum The Winnipeg Railway Museum is a railway museum located on tracks 1 and 2 within the Via Rail-operated Union Station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Volunteers from the Midwestern Rail Association Inc., a non-profit organization founded in 1975, o ...

on two tracks and two platforms. It is a variation of Bush-type shed designed by

Lincoln Bush Lincoln Bush (1860–1940) was an American civil engineer and inventor, known for his work with railroads. Abraham Lincoln Bush was born on December 14, 1860, in Palos Township, Illinois, the son of Lewis Bush and Mary Ritchey Bush. He was named f ...

. Union Station is one of two major inter-city railway station buildings in

Downtown Winnipeg Downtown Winnipeg is an area of Winnipeg located near the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. It is the oldest urban area in Winnipeg, and is home to the city's commercial core, city hall, the seat of Manitoba's provincial government, ...

. However, unlike Union Station, the

Canadian Pacific 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 ...

Railway Station ceased functioning as a railway station upon the creation of Via Rail Canada in 1978 and is now used for purposes unrelated to transportation.

Renovation

During 2011, Via Rail undertook a $3 million renovation of the station, composed largely of repairs to the roof and trainshed, as well as various improvements to increase the energy efficiency of the building. Renovations have included the installation of a new roof, the upgrade and insulation of the main roof from R0 to R25 and the replacement of low efficiency boilers with 3 high efficiency near condensing boilers. Due to renovations, the gas consumption in the building has been reduced by 82%, electrical consumption has been reduced by 25%, and water consumption has been reduced by 2 million gallons per year since 1990. The heating costs for the building have been reduced to 67 cents per square foot / year, which is well below the requirement of $1 per square foot / year for the Manitoba eco-efficiency rating. The renovated building has received the BOMA BESt Level 2 designation. Since the environmental upgrades, the building has won the Building Owners and Managers Association of Manitoba (BOMA) 2012 Earth Award for Multi-Use Building. In 2012, the Government of Canada and Via Rail have announced a further $6.5 million investment in building renovations. Plans for these include renovations to the passenger waiting areas, new fully accessible public washrooms, improvement of the East entrance, repair and repainting of the rotunda, as well as various safety improvements. Construction on the renovations will begin in 2013.

Future plans

Future plans call for the

to be moved elsewhere in the metro area to make way for a rapid transit hub station where several routes that cross the city will meet.

Gallery

File:UNION STATION WINNIPEG RAILWAY STATION (CANADIAN NATIONAL) NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE OF CANADA.jpg, View of Union Station from

(2017) File:Main St entrance to Union Station, Winnipeg as seen from rotunda.JPG, Main Street entrance as seen from rotunda File:Economy passenger lounge in Union Station, Winnipeg.JPG, Economy passenger lounge File:Historical photo of entrance of Union Station in Winnipeg.jpg, Historical photo of entrance of Union Station

References

External links

Union Station information on Via Rail's websiteNFB film for the Centennial of Union Station, "The Story of a Station"
{{NHSC Beaux-Arts architecture in Canada Buildings and structures in downtown Winnipeg Via Rail stations in Manitoba Railway stations in Canada opened in 1911 Designated Heritage Railway Stations in Manitoba Transport in Winnipeg

Warren and Wetmore buildings 1911 establishments in Manitoba Rail infrastructure in Winnipeg

Canadian Register of Historic Places in Manitoba