George Mathewson
VIA Rail is acting quickly on a promise to repair Sarnia’s historic train station.
Fences went up last week and workers have begun addressing a number of structural issues, including eroded brickwork and roof repairs.
The work was announced when VIA officials came to Sarnia in August to meet with members of the citizen group Rail Advocacy in Lambton, or RAIL.
The three-hour meeting was hosted by Tourism Sarnia Lambton and attended by numerous community partners lobbying for improved rail service to the city.
“We took photographs of the flaws and presented them to (VIA President Yves Desjardins-Siciliano) in June and there was an immediate reaction,” said RAIL executive member Mabel Higgins.
“He told us it would start in the fall and it’s here.”
Higgins said the investment in the station is a hopeful sign that VIA is at least considering improved passenger service to the city.
Currently, just a single daily round trip to Toronto is available.
The station was built in 1891 by the Grand Trunk Railway and is listed on the registry of Canadian historic places.
Known as the “Tunnel Station,” it served as the terminus and depot of the St. Clair River Tunnel, the world’s first international underwater train tunnel.
The station is also a fine example of the work by Sarnia builder George Proctor, for whom Proctor Street was named.
