EMC News - It’s all aboard for a new VIA Rail train station for Smiths Falls.

While it was stated last fall that the town was among the communities, including Montreal, Windsor and Oshawa, where a new station was planned, that announcement was made official on Monday afternoon with the unveiling of plans for the Smiths Falls project inside the current station building.

The construction of the new station is a “key element” of VIA’s vision to make the passenger train “an even more convenient, comfortable and environmentally-wise method of travel than it already is,” Magdy Fahmy, VIA Rail Canada’s senior director of real estate, told those in attendance at the media briefing.

While numerous sites were considered for the project, Fahmy said the location selected on the edge of town on Union Street, about 1.5 kilometres down the rail line from the existing station, was determined by VIA, in consultation with its Canadian Pacific colleagues, to offer multiple benefits.

“It provides the space and access we require to provide the highest level of service to the Smiths Falls area,” he noted, adding that the site was within “easy reach” of the downtown, and had road access. “And it has room for growth.”

Although the number of parking spaces at the new location has been reduced from the 26 originally proposed to 18, Fahmy said at yesterday’s event he feels that number is “more than ample.” Likewise, he said the Union Street location was “ideal” from an operational point-of-view.

“The current location has long been a bottleneck for VIA and CP,” he stated. “It is in the middle of the very busy junction of five railway subdivisions, including our own Smiths Falls Subdivision to Ottawa. All too often, passenger and freight trains compete for track time at the current location.”

While the construction start date for the new station is as yet an unknown, the project is expected to be tendered as soon as construction drawings are completed. What is known is that the building will be finished by the end of the year.

As to the look of the new 400 sq. ft. station, it will be “fully-accessible,” according to Fahmy, with standard features such as benches and washrooms.

“We believe it will be an efficient environmentally-sound and attractive addition to your lovely town,” he remarked. “We’ve worked hard to ensure that it will be in harmony with its surroundings and your community’s rich railway heritage. We hope you’ll agree when it opens to serve you.”

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