The federal government’s Economic Action Plan is contributing $3 million to the project, while capital funding for VIA that the federal government announced in 2007 will supply the other $4 million.

The Canadian National Railways built the current station building on Bloor Street West in the 1960s and VIA expanded it in the 1990s. VIA is currently reviewing designs for the new station and has slated construction to start in 2010.

Building the new station is part of VIA’s $300 million project to upgrade CN’s Kingston subdivision tracks. (.pdf) That project includes adding sections of new main line track and rearranging the track layout in some locations to increase safety, train frequency and service reliability.

The new station would not likely affect service along GO’s 09 Lakeshore East train line or the various GO buses that also serve the station. However, GO is already working on a plan to extend its train service east from Oshawa to Bowmanville. GO trains would likely cross Highway 401 east of the current station and operate along the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Belleville subdivision tracks through Oshawa and Clarington, instead of the Kingston subdivision tracks that it currently uses west of Oshawa.