Pacific Central Station

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Pacific Central VIA Rail Canada simplified.svg
Inter-city station
Pacific Central Station Vancouver.jpg
Station statistics
Address 1150 Station St, Vancouver, BC
Coordinates 49°16′25.4″N 123°05′52.5″W / 49.273722°N 123.097917°W / 49.273722; -123.097917Coordinates: 49°16′25.4″N 123°05′52.5″W / 49.273722°N 123.097917°W / 49.273722; -123.097917
Structure type Neoclassical Revival, heritage railway station building[1]
Platforms 3 island platforms
Tracks 7
Bus operators
Baggage check yes
Other information
Opened 1919 (Canadian Northern Railway)
Architect Pratt and Ross
Accessible Handicapped/disabled access
Station code Amtrak code:VAC
IATA: XEA
VIA Rail: VCVR
Owned by Via Rail Canada[2]
Traffic
Passengers (2011) 149,691[3] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Via Rail   Following station
Terminus Canadian
toward Toronto
BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak
toward Eugene
Cascades Terminus
Rocky Mountaineer
Terminus
Coastal Passage
toward Banff or Jasper
  Former services  
Rocky Mountaineer
Terminus First Passage to the West
toward Calgary
Journey through the Clouds
toward Jasper

Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is a railway station which acts as the western terminus of Via Rail's cross-country The Canadian to Toronto and the northern terminus of Amtrak’s Cascades to Seattle and Portland.

Pacific Central Station is adjacent to the Vancouver SkyTrain Main Street – Science World Station. Westbound trains go into downtown near hotels, businesses and other attractions. End of the line is at Waterfront Station (formerly the Canadian Pacific station), offering connections to the Seabus, West Coast Express commuter trains and other bus lines. Eastbound locals head into the suburbs, such as Burnaby and New Westminster.

The station also provides intercity coach service, being the head office and bus depot of Pacific Coach Lines[4] and the main Vancouver terminal for Greyhound Canada.[5] Also Malaspina bus, which serves the Sunshine Coast communities of Gibsons, Sechelt and Powell River. The station is wheelchair-accessible and is staffed with full Via services.

The Amtrak Cascades provides two round trips from Vancouver. One goes to Seattle, Washington; the other continues on to Portland, Oregon. Rather than stopping for an immigration inspection at the border, as happens with the Adirondack to Montreal and Maple Leaf to Toronto, Amtrak passengers go through Canadian customs at the station upon arrival. Passengers bound for the United States go through United States border preclearance prior to boarding in Vancouver.

The Rocky Mountaineer operated from Pacific Central Station until moving to the nearby Rocky Mountaineer Station in 2005; they began to use Pacific Central Station again for their new Coastal Passage route in 2013. The station is used for the international trip section between Vancouver and Seattle. While the route section between Vancouver to Jasper and Banff operates out of the Rocky Mountaineer Station.

Pacific Central Station at dawn.

The building was designated a heritage railway station in 1991.[1] On November 8, 2010, the Canadian government announced a $5.1 million plan to rebuild parts of the station, including refurbishing windows, masonry, and the roof of the building.[6]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Media related to Vancouver Pacific Central Station at Wikimedia Commons