Niagara Falls station is a railway station in

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the 2016 census. It is part of the St. Catharines - Niagara Census M ...

, Canada. It is served by the ''

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 th ...

'' train between

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 anch ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and is the terminus of

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 ...

Lakeshore West line Lakeshore West is one of the seven train lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Union Station in Toronto to Hamilton, with occasional trips extending to St. Catharines and Niagara Falls. Hi ...

towards Toronto. The Gothic Revival station building, which was built in 1879 by the Great Western Railway, is a designated heritage railway station. It is also listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.

History

The Victorian Gothic Revival style station was built as the terminus for Great Western Railway (1879–1882) and

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 rail ...

(1882–1923). During the period, it was the busiest and the grandest station owned by the railway. The station was renovated in 1951, and the east wing, once housing a restaurant, was partially demolished in 1967. It was acquired by

CN Rail 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 ...

for passenger service from 1923 until the 1970s, since when it has been used by

Via Rail Canada 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 ...

and more recently by

since 2009. In 2012, as a result of federal funding cuts Via Rail Corridor trips between Toronto and Niagara Falls were discontinued, leaving only the single daily Via/Amtrak Maple Leaf service between Toronto and New York. In October 2012, the ticket agent was eliminated, replaced by an automated kiosk. GO Transit operated summer 'excursion' trains to Niagara Falls on weekends and holidays in 2009 and 2010, making them permanently recurring in 2011. Starting in January 2019, it also began operating a single weekday train trip to and from Niagara Falls. In September 2019, the formerly summer-only weekend train service was extended year-round. GO Transit was expected to expand full-time rail service along the Niagara Branch to Niagara Falls by 2023 and with it upgrades to the station.

Services

On weekdays as of September 2021, the station is served by one daily round trip on the GO Transit

, departing toward Toronto in the morning and returning in the evening. On weekends the station is served by four daily trains in each direction throughout the day. At all times, GO Transit bus route 12 operates hourly to

Burlington GO Station Burlington GO Station is a railway station and bus station in the GO Transit network, located at 2101 Fairview Street in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, just south of Queen Elizabeth Way between Guelph Line and Brant Street. Overview It is a st ...

, where it connects to regular train service to Toronto.

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 Via Rail Canada jointly operate the ''Maple Leaf'' train service between Toronto and New York City. The service uses Amtrak rolling stock, but ticketing is shared, and Via crew operates the train along all Canadian stops until it reaches the station where Amtrak crew takes over the operation. The station was served once daily in each direction until March 2020, when ''Maple Leaf'' service within Canada was suspended indefinitely as part of a closure of the Canada–United States border to non-essential travel in response to the ongoing

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

. Trains from New York City were truncated to Niagara Falls, New York. Full service between New York City and Toronto resumed on July 27, 2022.

Customs

There are no US preclearance facilities at the station for the ''Maple Leaf'' train since both it and its sister station in Niagara Falls, New York, are located along the Canada-US border. Therefore, passengers arriving from the US will be inspected by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers at the station. Passengers leaving for the US will be processed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Niagara Falls, New York, station on the other side of the

Whirlpool Rapids Bridge The Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, commonly known as the Whirlpool Bridge or the Lower Steel Arch Bridge (before 1937), is a spandrel braced, riveted, two-hinged arch bridge that crosses the international border between Canada and the United States, con ...

. In January 2020, US Senator

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, an ...

of New York urged the CBSA to open a preclearance facility in the newer Niagara Falls, New York station as one of Canada’s first preclearance operations to improve what he described as an “unpleasant” Canadian inspection experience in the current open-air and uncovered location. In response, the CBSA said it would not commit to a timeline to open any preclearance facilities in the US.

Niagara Falls Transit Terminal

3d letters and plaque nf transit terminal

The

Niagara Falls Transit Terminal Niagara Falls Transit Terminal is located south of Bridge Street on Erie Avenue in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, directly across from the Niagara Falls railway station. Services Local buses * Niagara Falls Transit ** 102 Hospital ** 104 Victo ...

is located directly across Bridge Street from the railway station and serves as the main local, regional and intercity bus terminal for the area. Unlike the train station, the transit terminal is owned and operated by the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario.

References

External links

Niagara Falls Via Rail Station (Canada RailGuide - TrainWeb)
{{Amtrak Ontario stations Via Rail stations in Ontario Amtrak stations in Canada Great Western Railway (Ontario) Grand Trunk Railway stations in Ontario GO Transit railway stations Transport in Niagara Falls, Ontario Designated heritage railway stations in Ontario Railway stations in Canada opened in 1879 1879 establishments in Ontario Designated heritage properties in Ontario Railway stations in the Regional Municipality of Niagara Canadian Register of Historic Places in Ontario