Pacific Central Station

Pacific Central Inter-city station
Station statistics
Address	1150 Station St, Vancouver, BC
Coordinates	49°16′25.4″N 123°05′52.5″W
Connections	Pacific Coach Lines   Greyhound Canada
Structure	Neoclassical Revival, heritage railway station building
Platforms	3 island platforms
Tracks	7
Baggage check	yes
Other information
Opened	1919 (Canadian Northern Railway)
Accessible
Code	Amtrak code: VAC
Owned by	Via Rail Canada
Services
Preceding station   Via Rail   Following station Terminus Canadian Mission Harbour toward Toronto Amtrak Terminus Cascades Bellingham toward Eugene     Former services     Rocky Mountaineer Terminus First Passage to the West Kamloops toward Calgary Journey through the Clouds Kamloops toward Jasper

Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is a railway station that 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, Oregon Until Via Rail took over operations around 1979, Canadian Pacific Railway’s passenger trains went further west to Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver, now used by the SkyTrain and the West Coast Express commuter railway.

Pacific Central Station at dawn.

Pacific Central Station is adjacent to Main Street SkyTrain station. Westbound trains go into downtown near hotels, businesses and other attractions. End of the line is at the Waterfront station (formerly the Canadian Pacific station), where there are connections to the Seabus, West Coast Express commuter trains, and other bus lines. Eastbound trains go away from the city into the suburbs, such as Burnaby and New Westminster.

The station is wheelchair-accessible and is staffed with full Via services.

The station also provides intercity coach service, being the head office and bus depot of Pacific Coach Lines and the main Vancouver terminal for Greyhound Canada. Also Malaspina bus, which serves the Sunshine Coast communities of Gibsons, Sechelt and Powell River.

Cascades provides two round trips from Vancouver. One goes to Seattle, WA; the other goes all the way to Portland, Oregon (with all the same stops as to Seattle). There is presently no one train that goes all the way from Vancouver to Eugene, Oregon(or vice versa), although one can take the early train from Vancouver and transfer to another train in Seattle or Portland that will go the rest of the way to Eugene.

Rather than stopping for an immigration inspection at the border, as happens with Adirondack (Amtrak) to Montreal and Maple Leaf (train) to Toronto, Amtrak passengers go through Canadian customs right at the station upon arrival. It is usually pretty quick. Agents will ask various questions such as reason for visit. Those with criminal court records including DUII's may very well be refused entry. Boarding the trains: passengers are asked to be at the station about an hour before departure. Passengers' bags pass through U.S. border preclearance facilities and airport-style X-ray machines before talking to a US customs agent, who will do further checking. Upon successful completion through customs, passengers may board the train. The train stops again at Blaine, WA, at the border. US border agents board the train to check out passengers. Some one once said: at the station, agents want to know "who you are." At the border, agents want to know "what you have." Passengers have to remain in their seats in their assigned cars. No use of the bathroom or of the bistro or loounge cars during the inspection. After the inspection (usually lasting about 20 mminutes), the train continues, and people are free to move about the train. This arrangement is meant to expedite border-crossing times for the train, which otherwise might be delayed hours on an already 4.5 h trip to nearby Seattle.

The Rocky Mountaineer operated from Pacific Central Station until moving to the nearby Rocky Mountaineer Station in 2005.

The building was designated a heritage railway station in 1991.

On 8 November 2010, the Canadian government announced a $5.1 million plan to rebuild parts of the station, including refubishing windows, masonry, and the roof of the building.

See also

• List of heritage buildings in Vancouver
• Main Street-Science World Station

External links

• Via Rail page for Vancouver train station (Pacific Central Station)

Media related to Pacific Central Station at Wikimedia Commons