Pacific Central Station is a

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 ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

, British Columbia, Canada, which acts as the western terminus of

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 cross-country '' The Canadian'' service to

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 the northern terminus of

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. ...

's '' Cascades'' service to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

and Portland. The station is also Vancouver's main intercity bus terminal. The station is

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), ce ...

accessible and is staffed with full Via services. The station is a candidate for the northern terminus of a possible future high-speed rail line being considered primarily by the US state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

History

False Creek station e1f023f2-6300-48b0-806b-3a04ceb0b680-A09113

Pacific Central Station was built in 1917 by the Canadian Northern Railway as the terminus of its line to

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

. It was dedicated on November 2, 1919, a day after the first

Canadian National 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 ...

trains began using the station. It was originally named False Creek Station and was designed by the architecture firm Pratt and Ross. The building was designated a heritage railway station in 1991. Amtrak service to the terminal was originally offered on the '' Pacific International'' from 1972 to 1981, when it ceased due to budget cuts. Cross-border service returned in 1995 with the introduction of the '' Mount Baker International'', which was later folded into the modern-day ''Cascades'' brand. On November 8, 2010, the Canadian government announced a $5.1million plan to rebuild parts of the station, including refurbishing windows, masonry, and the roof of the building.

Services

Rail

Amtrak ''Cascades''

Amtrak ''Cascades'' provides two daily round trips between Vancouver and

, Washington, with one daily train continuing to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

. Amtrak passengers go through Canadian customs at the station upon arrival. Passengers bound for the United States go through

United States border preclearance The United States Department of Homeland Security operates prescreening border control facilities at airports and other ports of departure located outside of the United States under agreement between it and the host country. Travelers are sub ...

inside the station prior to boarding in Vancouver, with a brief 10-minute stop at the

Peace Arch Border Crossing The Peace Arch Border Crossing is the common name for the Blaine–Douglas crossing which connects the cities of Blaine, Washington and Surrey, British Columbia on the Canada–United States border. I5 on the American side joins BC Highway 99 on ...

for agents to collect forms. This is in contrast to Amtrak's international services on the East Coast ('' Adirondack'' to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

and '' Maple Leaf'' to

) where passengers are processed by customs immediately after passing over the border. To enable customs processing away from the border crossing, Amtrak trains are sequestered inside a secure caged area at Pacific Central Station. Additionally, trains make no stops in Canada other than at Pacific Central Station.

Via Rail ''Canadian ''

's ''

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 ...

'' train offers twice-weekly cross-country service to

via

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, and

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 ...

; weekly service to Edmonton (summer only).

Bus

Pacific Central Station is Vancouver's main intercity bus terminal.

Public transit

Pacific Central Station is immediately adjacent to Main Street–Science World station on the Expo Line of

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term "Greater Vancouver" is roughly coterminous with the geographic area governed b ...

's SkyTrain rapid transit system.

References

External links

Via Rail page for Vancouver train station (Pacific Central Station)
{{Vancouver landmarks Via Rail stations in British Columbia Buildings and structures in Vancouver Heritage buildings in Vancouver Transport in Greater Vancouver Amtrak stations in Canada Neoclassical architecture in Canada Designated Heritage Railway Stations in British Columbia Bus stations in British Columbia Canadian National Railway stations in British Columbia Transport infrastructure completed in 1919 Railway stations in Canada opened in 1919 1919 establishments in British Columbia Juxtaposed border controls Former Great Northern Railway (U.S.) stations