Halifax railway station (Nova Scotia)
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Halifax
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| Location | 1161 Hollis Street Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada |
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| Coordinates | 44°38′22″N 63°34′05″W / 44.63944°N 63.56806°WCoordinates: 44°38′22″N 63°34′05″W / 44.63944°N 63.56806°W | ||||||||||
| Owned by | Via Rail | ||||||||||
| Platforms | 3 island platforms | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 4 | ||||||||||
| Connections |
Acadian Lines (inter-city bus) Metro Transit (public transit) |
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| Construction | |||||||||||
| Structure type | Heritage Railway Station | ||||||||||
| Parking | yes | ||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | yes | ||||||||||
| Disabled access | Yes | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | 1928 | ||||||||||
| Previous names | Canadian National Railways | ||||||||||
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Halifax railway station is an inter-city railway terminal in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It is operated by Via Rail.
The station is the eastern terminus of the Ocean, Via Rail's eastern transcontinental train which operates between Montreal and Halifax; thus it is also the eastern terminus of Via Rail.
The Ocean is North America's longest running "named passenger train" as it was introduced by the Intercolonial Railway in 1904 to provide first-class rail passage between Halifax and Montreal.
In the early 2000s, the Acadian Lines inter-city bus company moved its Halifax terminal from Almon Street in the North End to the Halifax Railway Station.
The Halifax Railway Station adjoins the Westin Nova Scotian Hotel, a former railway hotel that was built and owned by Canadian National Railways, which also built the station. CN divested the hotel during the 1980s and it is currently operated under the Westin Hotels banner.
The 80-year-old Halifax Railway Station continues the 150-year history of passenger rail service to the city and is the eastern terminus of North America's passenger rail network.
The first railway station in Halifax was opened by the Nova Scotia Railway at that line's southern terminus along the Halifax Harbour at Richmond in 1858. The location was a considerable distance northward from downtown Halifax. The extension of the line to the south was blocked by concerns that locomotive embers would threaten the Royal Navy Dockyard located to the south. The first station was a large, plain wooden building with enclosed platforms. A horse-drawn street railway connected the station to the downtown.
The NSR was taken over by the Government of Canada in 1867 as one of the terms of Confederation. In 1877, a new federal Crown corporation, the Intercolonial Railway (ICR), opened a magnificent new terminal railway station at the foot of North Street, south of Richmond and much closer to the city's downtown. This impressive Second Empire structure was designed by David Stirling, who also designed the Provincial Building and St. David's Presbyterian Church on Grafton Street. The station was faced by the King Edward Hotel, located immediately west of the station, which stood roughly beneath the present-day Angus L. Macdonald Bridge where it crosses Barrington Street opposite the main gate to HMC Dockyard. The North Street Station and the waterfront terminal trackage leading to it were badly damaged in the Halifax Explosion on 6 December 1917. Passenger trains were temporarily diverted to the unfinished south end terminal tracks for two days. However the North Street Station was quickly repaired to enable it to operate another 2 years before closing in 1920.
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