Halifax, Nova Scotia railway station
Encyclopedia
The Halifax Railway Station is an inter-city railway station in Halifax, Nova Scotia
. It is operated by Via Rail
.
, 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.
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.
. 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 diverted to the unfinished south end terminal tracks for two days. However the North Street Station was quickly given temporary repairs to enable it to operate another 2 years before closing in 1920.
in the city's South End.
A route for the railway was chosen along the western side of the Halifax Peninsula
bordering the Northwest Arm
by F.W. Cowie, a government engineer. This project required a deep cut extending up to 100 feet deep through solid Halifax slate for 8 kilometres (5 mi) to connect with the main line at Fairview
. 16 arched concrete road bridges were to span this trench to maintain connections for the street network.
The official start of construction is dated 31 July 1913 and equipment was moved into Halifax by the fall. Crews proceeded from the north, with trains hauling the rock to the southwestern corner of Bedford Basin
where it was dumped in front of Mt. St. Vincent College
to create the ICR's new classification yard. Crews working from the south hauled the rock to dump into Halifax Harbour
, creating new deepwater shipping piers and dockside warehouses that were called the Halifax Ocean Terminal. The crews met in the fall of 1917 but several years of work remained before the trackage and docks would be operational.
A trans-Atlantic ocean liner passenger terminal was planned for the Ocean Terminal piers (later Pier 21
) and the ICR had plans to build a larger railway station and adjoining hotel, however Canada was deeply committed to the First World War
and the North Street Station continued to be the only railway station serving the city.http://www.halifaxurbangreenway.org/interpretation/railway_cut_short_history.htm
The plans to shift to a south end station were accelerated in late 1917 when much of the North End tracks and facilities were badly damaged by the Halifax Explosion
.
passenger terminal near the Halifax Ocean Terminals which included the new ocean liner passenger terminal at Pier 21
. The union station would serve not only CN but also the Canadian Pacific Railway
's Nova Scotia subsidiary, Dominion Atlantic Railway
which operated passenger trains from Yarmouth
, Digby
and the Annapolis Valley
into Halifax using trackage rights
over CNR from Windsor Junction
to the Halifax Ocean Terminal.
The new, and present, station opened in 1928 at the south end of Hollis Street, opposite Cornwallis Park. The structure is constructed of white limestone and has a colonnaded entry off Hollis Street. Inside, the Ticket Lobby has a high arched ceiling with a seated waiting area and ticketing/baggage counters. At the time of its construction, the station had a massive covered train shed which extended for 1,500 feet south over the station tracks to protect passengers boarding and disembarking from the weather. The earlier 1920 "temporary" station was converted to an attached baggage and express shed. CNR also had a coach yard with repair/service shop facilities for its passenger train equipment immediately southwest of the station's trainshed. Finally, a turn-table was located immediately southeast of the trainshed to permit locomotives and cars to be turned around, since the station was a stub-end terminal.
Displayed beside the new station was the 1839 locomotive Samson
, the oldest in Canada. It remained on display until 1950 when it was moved to Stellarton, Nova Scotia
.
An adjoining CNR Hotel
, the Hotel Nova Scotian
, was also built as part of the same project, although it opened 2 years later on 23 June 1930 and has a markedly different, yet complementary, architecture style.
The new station and the adjoining Hotel Nova Scotian were connected to the nearby Pier 21
ocean liner passenger terminal by an overhead walkway that crossed the numerous sidings feedin the ocean terminal sheds. Frequently, CNR passenger trains connecting to ships would operate to the Halifax Ocean Terminal, then back into the Halifax Railway Station afterward, or vice versa. A booking office for immigrants and platforms at Ocean Terminal served as a kind of auxiliary station.
The station saw intensive traffic during World War Two, moving military personnel to East Coast bases and overseas. Station use declined in the postwar period as part of the broad loss of rail passenger traffic. Locals runs, which also served as suburban trains for Halifax, were the first to be discontinued. CN cut one of its three daily Halifax-Montreal trains, the Maritime Express during the early 1970s, leaving only the Scotian and the Ocean Limited, along with various local services to New Brunswick
and Sydney
provided by Dayliners. The Dominion Atlantic Railway
also gradually reduced departures to a single daily voyage in each direction from the Halifax Railway Station to Yarmouth via Kentville and Digby.
. Via Rail replaced the Scotian with a former CP train, the Atlantic which was extended from its eastern terminus at Saint John
to Halifax. Budget cuts in 1981 saw the Atlantic service cancelled, however it was restored in 1985 and the Ocean was dropped from Halifax when its eastern terminus was moved west to Moncton.
During the 1980s, Via Rail continued to implement changes to the Halifax Railway Station. The train shed was demolished after requiring major repairs to its roof. The former CN coach yard facilities were closed and the site razed after a Via opened its new Halifax Maintenance Centre in a new building near the turntable southeast of the station; the former CN coach yard property now hosts an Atlantic Superstore
. The HMC was responsible for overhauling and repairing the numerous Dayliners and many of the cars that operated on the long-distance trains in the Maritimes
.
Major budget cuts were announced to Via Rail in the 1989 federal budget which resulted in over 50% of Via services cut on 15 January 1990. The impact on the Halifax Railway Station included cancellations of Dayliner service on the routes from Halifax to Sydney, Yarmouth, Saint John, Edmundston, and Campbellton. The Ocean was also cut from 7 days/week to 3 days/week, but restored to its eastern terminus at the Halifax Railway Station, and the Atlantic was cut from 7 days/week to 3 days/week, sharing its equipment with the Ocean. At this time, Via's Halifax Maintenance Centre was also closed.
The Halifax station was given federal heritage protection in 1991 when it was designated a Heritage Railway Station under the newly passed Heritage Railway Stations Protection Act
.
A 1994 change to Via Rail routes in the Maritimes saw the Atlantic discontinued and the Ocean upgraded to 6 days/week, however the train frequency at Halifax was not affected. In 2000, the Acadian Lines
intercity bus company shifted its service from its Bus Station on Almon Street to the Halifax Railway Station, taking over the stub of the station's old baggage and express shed. The station remains connected by an interior walkway to the old Hotel Nova Scotian
, now the Westin Nova Scotian.
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. It is operated by Via Rail
VIA Rail
Via Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
.
Current use
The station is the eastern terminus of the OceanOcean (passenger train)
The Ocean is a Canadian passenger train operated by Via Rail between Montreal, Quebec and Halifax, Nova Scotia. It is currently the oldest continuously-operated named passenger train in North America. The Oceans schedule takes approximately 21 hours, running overnight in both directions...
, 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
Acadian Lines
Acadian Lines, legally incorporated as Acadian Coach Lines LP/Autocars Acadien SEC, is a Canadian coach operator based in Moncton, New Brunswick....
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
Westin Hotels
Westin Hotels & Resorts are an upscale hotel chain owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. As of 2011, Westin operated over 160 hotels in 37 countries.-History:...
banner.
History
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.Richmond Station 1858 to 1877
The first railway station in Halifax was opened by the Nova Scotia RailwayNova Scotia Railway
The Nova Scotia Railway is a historic Canadian railway. It was composed of two lines, one connecting Richmond with Windsor, the other connecting Richmond with Pictou via Truro....
at that line's southern terminus along the Halifax Harbour
Halifax Harbour
Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality.-Harbour description:The harbour is called Jipugtug by the Mi'kmaq first nation, anglisized as Chebucto...
at Richmond
Richmond, Nova Scotia
Richmond is a Canadian urban neighbourhood comprising part of the North End of the Halifax Peninsula in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality....
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
Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax
Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax was a British Royal Navy base in Halifax, Nova Scotia from 1759 to 1905. The Halifax Yard was the main year round base of the Royal Navy's North American Station when first established in 1759 during the Seven Years' War....
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.
North Street Station 1877 to 1920
The NSR was taken over by the Government of Canada in 1867 as one of the terms of ConfederationCanadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
. 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
Angus L. Macdonald Bridge
The Angus L. Macdonald Bridge, locally known as "the old bridge", is a suspension bridge crossing Halifax Harbour in Nova Scotia, Canada; it opened on April 2, 1955....
where it crosses Barrington Street opposite the main gate to HMC Dockyard
CFB Halifax
Canadian Forces Base Halifax is Canada's east coast navy base and home port to the Atlantic fleet, known as Maritime Forces Atlantic....
. The North Street Station and the waterfront terminal trackage leading to it were badly damaged in the Halifax Explosion
Halifax Explosion
The Halifax Explosion occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917, when the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives, which accidentally collided with the Norwegian SS Imo in "The Narrows"...
on 6 December 1917. Passenger trains were diverted to the unfinished south end terminal tracks for two days. However the North Street Station was quickly given temporary repairs to enable it to operate another 2 years before closing in 1920.
South End terminal project
The ICR's owner the Government of Canada, announced at a Halifax Board of Trade luncheon on 30 October 1912 that plans were being drafted for a major railway and shipping terminal at Greenbank, near Point Pleasant ParkPoint Pleasant Park
Point Pleasant Park is a large, partially forested municipal park at the southern tip of the Halifax peninsula. It once hosted several artillery batteries, and a well-preserved 18th century Martello tower can be found there...
in the city's South End.
A route for the railway was chosen along the western side of the Halifax Peninsula
Halifax Peninsula
The Halifax Peninsula is a community and planning area located in the urban core of Halifax Regional Municipality in the province of Nova Scotia. Halifax Peninsula is home to Downtown Halifax, the financial and economic heart of the region, which was also the site of the original settlement and...
bordering the Northwest Arm
Northwest Arm
The Northwest Arm, originally named Sandwich River, is an inlet in eastern Canada off the Atlantic Ocean in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality.-Geography:...
by F.W. Cowie, a government engineer. This project required a deep cut extending up to 100 feet deep through solid Halifax slate for 8 kilometres (5 mi) to connect with the main line at Fairview
Fairview, Nova Scotia
Fairview is a former community and current neighbourhood within the urban core of Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada.-Geography:...
. 16 arched concrete road bridges were to span this trench to maintain connections for the street network.
The official start of construction is dated 31 July 1913 and equipment was moved into Halifax by the fall. Crews proceeded from the north, with trains hauling the rock to the southwestern corner of Bedford Basin
Bedford Basin
Bedford Basin is a large enclosed bay, forming the northwestern end of Halifax Harbour on Canada's Atlantic coast.-Geography:Geographically, the basin is situated entirely within the Halifax Regional Municipality and is oriented northwest-southeast, measuring approximately 8 kilometres long and 5...
where it was dumped in front of Mt. St. Vincent College
Mount Saint Vincent University
Mount Saint Vincent University is a university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was established in 1873 and is locally referred to as The Mount.-History:...
to create the ICR's new classification yard. Crews working from the south hauled the rock to dump into Halifax Harbour
Halifax Harbour
Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality.-Harbour description:The harbour is called Jipugtug by the Mi'kmaq first nation, anglisized as Chebucto...
, creating new deepwater shipping piers and dockside warehouses that were called the Halifax Ocean Terminal. The crews met in the fall of 1917 but several years of work remained before the trackage and docks would be operational.
A trans-Atlantic ocean liner passenger terminal was planned for the Ocean Terminal piers (later Pier 21
Pier 21
Pier 21, a former ocean liner terminal, is Canada's National Museum of Immigration in Halifax, Nova Scotia.It operated as an ocean liner terminal and immigration shed from 1928 to 1971 and became an immigration museum in 1999. Pier 21 is Canada's last remaining ocean immigration shed...
) and the ICR had plans to build a larger railway station and adjoining hotel, however Canada was deeply committed to the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the North Street Station continued to be the only railway station serving the city.http://www.halifaxurbangreenway.org/interpretation/railway_cut_short_history.htm
The plans to shift to a south end station were accelerated in late 1917 when much of the North End tracks and facilities were badly damaged by the Halifax Explosion
Halifax Explosion
The Halifax Explosion occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917, when the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives, which accidentally collided with the Norwegian SS Imo in "The Narrows"...
.
The "Temporary" Station 1920 to 1928
Meanwhile, the ICR was merged into a new federal Crown corporation, the Canadian National Railways (CNR) in 1918. The CNR opted to locate a temporary new passenger station in the Halifax Ocean Terminal project at the south end of the city that fall and on 22 December 1918, the Maritime Express departed for the first time from the new (temporary) south end station.http://www.halifaxurbangreenway.org/interpretation/railway_cut_short_history.htm The station was a long, single-story brick structure. Although considered "temporary", it operated for ten years.New South End station 1928 to present
By the mid-1920s, CNR and the federal government were able to agree on building a new Union stationUnion station
A union station is the term used for a train station where tracks and facilities are shared by two or more railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently between them...
passenger terminal near the Halifax Ocean Terminals which included the new ocean liner passenger terminal at Pier 21
Pier 21
Pier 21, a former ocean liner terminal, is Canada's National Museum of Immigration in Halifax, Nova Scotia.It operated as an ocean liner terminal and immigration shed from 1928 to 1971 and became an immigration museum in 1999. Pier 21 is Canada's last remaining ocean immigration shed...
. The union station would serve not only CN but also the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
's Nova Scotia subsidiary, Dominion Atlantic Railway
Dominion Atlantic Railway
The Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley....
which operated passenger trains from Yarmouth
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Yarmouth is a town and fishing port located on the Gulf of Maine in rural southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Yarmouth County. The town is located in the heart of the world's largest lobster fishing grounds and has Canada's highest lobster catch.- History :The townsite may...
, Digby
Digby, Nova Scotia
Digby is a Canadian town in western Nova Scotia. It is the shiretown and largest population centre in Digby County.The town is situated on the western shore of the Annapolis Basin near the entrance to the Digby Gut which connects the basin to the Bay of Fundy.Named after Admiral Robert Digby, RN,...
and the Annapolis Valley
Annapolis Valley
The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy.-Geography:...
into Halifax using trackage rights
Trackage rights
Trackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....
over CNR from Windsor Junction
Windsor Junction, Nova Scotia
Windsor Junction is a Canadian suburban community in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality. It is located 15.6 km north west of the HRM urban core, 3 km north of the Bedford Basin near the communities of Waverley, Fall River and Lower Sackville.-Railway history:The name of the...
to the Halifax Ocean Terminal.
The new, and present, station opened in 1928 at the south end of Hollis Street, opposite Cornwallis Park. The structure is constructed of white limestone and has a colonnaded entry off Hollis Street. Inside, the Ticket Lobby has a high arched ceiling with a seated waiting area and ticketing/baggage counters. At the time of its construction, the station had a massive covered train shed which extended for 1,500 feet south over the station tracks to protect passengers boarding and disembarking from the weather. The earlier 1920 "temporary" station was converted to an attached baggage and express shed. CNR also had a coach yard with repair/service shop facilities for its passenger train equipment immediately southwest of the station's trainshed. Finally, a turn-table was located immediately southeast of the trainshed to permit locomotives and cars to be turned around, since the station was a stub-end terminal.
Displayed beside the new station was the 1839 locomotive Samson
Samson (locomotive)
The Samson is an English-built railroad steam locomotive made in 1838 that ran on the Albion Mines Railway in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is preserved at the Nova Scotia Museum of Industry in Stellarton, Nova Scotia and is the oldest locomotive in Canada....
, the oldest in Canada. It remained on display until 1950 when it was moved to Stellarton, Nova Scotia
Stellarton, Nova Scotia
-External links:*...
.
An adjoining CNR Hotel
Canadian National Hotels
Canadian National Hotels was a hotel chain under control by Canadian National Railways. In addition to their own hotels, it acquired some from rival railway companies like the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, Grand Trunk Railway and Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway...
, the Hotel Nova Scotian
Hotel Nova Scotian
The Westin Nova Scotian is a Canadian hotel located in Halifax, Nova Scotia.It was built by the Canadian National Railways. Construction began in 1928 and it opened on 24 June 1930 as the "Nova Scotian Hotel"...
, was also built as part of the same project, although it opened 2 years later on 23 June 1930 and has a markedly different, yet complementary, architecture style.
The new station and the adjoining Hotel Nova Scotian were connected to the nearby Pier 21
Pier 21
Pier 21, a former ocean liner terminal, is Canada's National Museum of Immigration in Halifax, Nova Scotia.It operated as an ocean liner terminal and immigration shed from 1928 to 1971 and became an immigration museum in 1999. Pier 21 is Canada's last remaining ocean immigration shed...
ocean liner passenger terminal by an overhead walkway that crossed the numerous sidings feedin the ocean terminal sheds. Frequently, CNR passenger trains connecting to ships would operate to the Halifax Ocean Terminal, then back into the Halifax Railway Station afterward, or vice versa. A booking office for immigrants and platforms at Ocean Terminal served as a kind of auxiliary station.
The station saw intensive traffic during World War Two, moving military personnel to East Coast bases and overseas. Station use declined in the postwar period as part of the broad loss of rail passenger traffic. Locals runs, which also served as suburban trains for Halifax, were the first to be discontinued. CN cut one of its three daily Halifax-Montreal trains, the Maritime Express during the early 1970s, leaving only the Scotian and the Ocean Limited, along with various local services to New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
and Sydney
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality....
provided by Dayliners. The Dominion Atlantic Railway
Dominion Atlantic Railway
The Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley....
also gradually reduced departures to a single daily voyage in each direction from the Halifax Railway Station to Yarmouth via Kentville and Digby.
Changes in the late 20th century
In 1978, CN and CP turned over their passenger services to new federal Crown corporation, Via RailVIA Rail
Via Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
. Via Rail replaced the Scotian with a former CP train, the Atlantic which was extended from its eastern terminus at Saint John
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
to Halifax. Budget cuts in 1981 saw the Atlantic service cancelled, however it was restored in 1985 and the Ocean was dropped from Halifax when its eastern terminus was moved west to Moncton.
During the 1980s, Via Rail continued to implement changes to the Halifax Railway Station. The train shed was demolished after requiring major repairs to its roof. The former CN coach yard facilities were closed and the site razed after a Via opened its new Halifax Maintenance Centre in a new building near the turntable southeast of the station; the former CN coach yard property now hosts an Atlantic Superstore
Atlantic Superstore
Atlantic Superstore is a Canadian supermarket chain of 54 stores in the Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island...
. The HMC was responsible for overhauling and repairing the numerous Dayliners and many of the cars that operated on the long-distance trains in the Maritimes
Maritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
.
Major budget cuts were announced to Via Rail in the 1989 federal budget which resulted in over 50% of Via services cut on 15 January 1990. The impact on the Halifax Railway Station included cancellations of Dayliner service on the routes from Halifax to Sydney, Yarmouth, Saint John, Edmundston, and Campbellton. The Ocean was also cut from 7 days/week to 3 days/week, but restored to its eastern terminus at the Halifax Railway Station, and the Atlantic was cut from 7 days/week to 3 days/week, sharing its equipment with the Ocean. At this time, Via's Halifax Maintenance Centre was also closed.
The Halifax station was given federal heritage protection in 1991 when it was designated a Heritage Railway Station under the newly passed Heritage Railway Stations Protection Act
Heritage Railway Stations Protection Act
The Heritage Railway Stations Protection Act was created in 1990 in response to a long-standing and widespread concern that Canada’s heritage railway stations were not being protected enough...
.
A 1994 change to Via Rail routes in the Maritimes saw the Atlantic discontinued and the Ocean upgraded to 6 days/week, however the train frequency at Halifax was not affected. In 2000, the Acadian Lines
Acadian Lines
Acadian Lines, legally incorporated as Acadian Coach Lines LP/Autocars Acadien SEC, is a Canadian coach operator based in Moncton, New Brunswick....
intercity bus company shifted its service from its Bus Station on Almon Street to the Halifax Railway Station, taking over the stub of the station's old baggage and express shed. The station remains connected by an interior walkway to the old Hotel Nova Scotian
Hotel Nova Scotian
The Westin Nova Scotian is a Canadian hotel located in Halifax, Nova Scotia.It was built by the Canadian National Railways. Construction began in 1928 and it opened on 24 June 1930 as the "Nova Scotian Hotel"...
, now the Westin Nova Scotian.