Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw the attention of the House to a very important announcement for my riding of Toronto—Centre—Rosedale, for the region of Toronto and for the citizens of Canada. This announcement concerns the redevelopment of Union Station and its partnership with VIA Rail, one of Canada's busiest stations with over 2.3 million passengers per year.
The key elements of this plan include increasing the number of trains operating out of Union Station from 42 to 54, for an increase of 700,000 passengers per year travelling through the station.
The establishment of a high speed air-rail link connecting Union Station with Pearson International Airport is a very important component of this plan. This venture will connect passengers travelling between the two transportation hubs in approximately 20 minutes. As someone who has battled the traffic getting to Pearson airport for many years, this will be a welcome relief.
This major expansion coincides with the current improvements being proposed for the downtown waterfront and will assist in—