Edmonton station (;
IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...
: XZL) or Edmonton Train Station, is the main
inter-city
Inter-city rail services are Express train, express trains that run services that connect cities over longer distances than Commuter rail, commuter or Regional rail, regional trains. They include rail services that are neither short-distance co ...
train station in
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
, Alberta, Canada, operated by
Via Rail
Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada.
As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...
. The
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
is located approximately 5.5 kilometres northwest of
Downtown Edmonton
Downtown Edmonton is the central business district of Edmonton, Alberta. Located at the geographical centre of the city, the downtown area is bounded by 109 Street to the west, 105 Avenue to the north, 97 Street to the east, 97 Avenue and Rossdale ...
on a spur off the
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...
near the former site of the
Edmonton City Centre Airport
Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA), was an airport within the city of Edmonton, in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta.
It was bordered by Alberta Highway 16, Yellowhead Trail to the north, Kingsway (Edmonto ...
. Served by Via Rail's ''
The Canadian
''The Canadian'' () is a transcontinental passenger train operated by Via Rail with service between Union Station in Toronto, Ontario, and Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Canadian Pacific introduced this serv ...
'', the station is unusually located on a
branch
A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins.
History and etymology
In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...
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
The CN Tower () is a communications and observation tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 1976, it is located in downtown Toronto, built on the former Railway Lands. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway co ...
.
Location
Edmonton station lies directly south of the
Yellowhead Trail
Yellowhead Trail is a expressway segment of the Yellowhead Highway ( Highway 16) in northern Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It carries a significant amount of truck traffic to and from the industrial areas of north Edmonton and serves as a key ...
at 12360 121 Street NW, east of the neighbourhood of
Prince Charles
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
. 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
Edmonton International Airport , officially branded YEG Edmonton International Airport since 2022, is the primary air passenger and air cargo facility in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian pro ...
in
Leduc County
Leduc County is a municipal district in Alberta, Canada, that is immediately south of the City of Edmonton. It spans east to west and north to south, and has a population of 14,416. The municipal district is home to prairie parkland and severa ...
.
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 CN Tower () is a communications and observation tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 1976, it is located in downtown Toronto, built on the former Railway Lands. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway co ...
. The present-day
Edmonton LRT
Edmonton Light Rail Transit, commonly referred to as the LRT, is a light rail system in Edmonton, Alberta. Part of the Edmonton Transit Service (ETS), the system has 29 stations on three lines and of track. Much of the system has a dedicated r ...
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
Greyhound Canada Transportation ULC (Greyhound Canada) was an intercity coach service that began as a local British Columbia bus line in the early 1920s, expanded across most of Canada, and became a subsidiary of the American Greyhound Lines in ...
vacated its downtown Edmonton bus station in 2016 as part of the construction of
Ice District
Ice District is a $2.5 billion mixed-use sports and entertainment district being developed on of land in Downtown Edmonton and a portion of the neighbourhood of Central McDougall. Its main attraction is Rogers Place, the home arena of the Edmonto ...
and
Rogers Place
Rogers Place is a multi-use indoor arena in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Construction started in March 2014, and the building officially opened on September 8, 2016. The arena has a seating capacity of 18,347 as a ice hockey, hockey venue and 20,73 ...
. A new bus station opened at the Via station on 30 May 2016.
Greyhound operated a shuttle bus for their passengers with tickets, to deal with the lack of public transit to the station.
There was no stop for the
Edmonton Transit Service
The Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) (previously known as Edmonton Transit System) is the public transit service owned and operated by the City of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. It operates Edmonton's bus and Edmonton LRT, light rail systems. In , t ...
buses at the location until September 2017, when a shuttle service began for Greyhound ticket holders.
Greyhound ceased all operations west of Sudbury, including Edmonton, on 31 October 2018.
See also
*
List of railway stations in Canada
The first railway in Canada, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad, opened near Montreal in 1836. This list includes extant and demolished stations.
Alberta
British Columbia
Island
Mainland
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Newfou ...
References
External links
Via Rail Station Description
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonton Railway Station
Via Rail stations in Alberta
Transport in Edmonton
Buildings and structures in Edmonton
Railway stations in Canada opened in 1998