Edmonton station (Via Rail) explained

Edmonton
Style:Via Rail
Address:12360 121 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta
Country:Canada
Coordinates:53.5789°N -113.5308°W
Owned:Via Rail
Line:Canadian National Railway
Tracks:1 and 1 passing siding
Parking:27 spaces[1]
Accessible:Yes
Status:Staffed station
Iata:XZL
Opened:1998
Other Services Header:Former services
Other Services Collapsible:yes
Map Type:Canada Edmonton#Canada Alberta#Canada
Map Dot Label:Edmonton station
Embedded:
Stroke-Colour:
  1. C60C30
Stroke-Width:3
Marker:rail
Marker-Colour:
  1. 009D58
Zoom:15

Edmonton station (French: gare d'Edmonton; IATA: XZL) or Edmonton Train Station, is the main inter-city train station in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, operated by Via Rail. The railway station is located approximately 5.5 kilometres northwest of Downtown Edmonton on a spur off the Canadian National Railway near the former site of the Edmonton City Centre Airport. Served by Via Rail's The Canadian, the station is unusually located on a branch off the main line, meaning that trains must either reverse into or out. The station opened in 1998 following the closure of the downtown Via Rail station which was located in the lower level of Edmonton's CN Tower.

Location

Edmonton station lies directly south of the Yellowhead Trail at 12360 121 Street NW, east of the neighbourhood of Prince Charles. It is located on the fringe of a residential area and is relatively distant from restaurants and hotels. The closest hotels are located more than a kilometre to the south on Kingsway NW near the site of the former City Centre Airport.

The station is located more than 30 kilometres north of the Edmonton International Airport in Leduc County.

Former stations

Historically, this is the northwest point of a loop that trains once followed to go into downtown Edmonton. Westbound, for example, trains would divert from the mainline at East Junction (near Fort Road and 66 Street NW), head south as far as the CN passenger station, which was inside the CN Tower. The present-day Edmonton LRT parallels some of the route, and remnants of the former mainline and railyards can be seen along the way. The City Centre Campus of Grant MacEwan University lies on what was once CN railyards to the west of the former station. Trains would then swing north and rejoin the mainline at West Junction just north of the present station. Currently trains depart the station by heading out and going to the left westbound, or to the right eastbound.

Greyhound

Greyhound Canada's new bus station opened here on 30 May 2016.[2] Greyhound operated a shuttle bus for their passengers with tickets, to deal with the lack of public transit to the station.[3] There was no stop for the Edmonton Transit Service buses at the location until September 2017, when a shuttle service began for Greyhound ticket holders.[4]

Greyhound ceased all operations west of Sudbury, including Edmonton, on 31 October 2018.[5]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: LOT 502 - Via Rail . Indigo Parking . 28 December 2020.
  2. Web site: Greyhound's new bus depot is on schedule to open May 30. . Bill Mah . 28 April 2016 . Edmonton Sun .
  3. Web site: Greyhound planning shuttle to deal with lack of public transit to new Edmonton station . Gordon Kent . 29 April 2016 . Edmonton Journal .
  4. Web site: Greyhound Shuttle. City of Edmonton . 24 November 2017 . www.edmonton.ca. en . https://web.archive.org/web/20171201081047/https://www.edmonton.ca/ets/greyhound-shuttle.aspx . 1 December 2017. dead.
  5. News: Fragmented bus service market emerges as Greyhound exits Western Canada . Healing . Dan . 28 October 2018. CTV News British Columbia. 27 November 2018. en-CA.