Summary

Richmond Hill Station was built in 1906 by the James Bay Railway while its construction was progressing south towards Toronto. James Bay was itself a subsidiary of the Canadian Northern Railway, though it was initially built separately from its parent company’s system which was predominantly located in Canada’s prairie provinces. The James Bay Railway’s name was changed to the Canadian Northern Ontario Railway in June 1906, and the first train arrived in Richmond Hill on November 19th of the same year. The station in Richmond Hill followed a standard Canadian Northern design that was used extensively elsewhere on their system around the same time period. It would have contained a waiting room, baggage room and the station agent’s office in between with a large bay window for visibility. Direct service to the west began in 1915 when Canadian Northern completed the last 540 miles from Ruel to Port Arthur. In 1918, just four trains stopped at Richmond Hill on a daily basis and few more would stop there in the following decades.

The presence of the Canadian Northern in Richmond Hill was short lived. Due to the worsening financial situation of the company, the Canadian Northern was nationalized in 1918 and managed by federally-owned Canadian National upon its formation in 1919. The popularization of automobiles during the 20th century combined with the opening of Highway 12 in 1922 resulted in a gradual decline in passenger ridership. Service to Richmond Hill remained relatively unaffected as it turned into a bedroom community of Toronto, and by 1945 a total of five trains stopped there per day. The completion of Highway 400 in 1952 significantly affected Canadian National’s ridership north of Toronto, and service offered by CN to Richmond Hill ended entirely by 1960. It remained a twice daily stop for the Northland, a train that was operated by the Ontario Northland Railway utilizing CN tracks south of North Bay. The station closed to passengers entirely in 1968, and it was subsequently saved from demolition and moved approximately three kilometers away to the Richmond Hill Soccer Club in 1979. The building was restored and readapted into a clubhouse at the south end of Richmond Green Sports Centre and Park.

The provincial government announced in 1969 that commuter rail to Richmond Hill would return, but the plan was changed to bus service by 1970. Eight years later, GO Transit opened their Richmond Hill Line on May 1st, 1978 utilizing a new station on the opposite side of Centre Street.

Condensed Station Info:

Location:	Served By:	Current State:	Date Built:	Date Demolished:
Centre Street East	Canadian Northern (1906 – 1919) Canadian National (1919 – 1960)	Preserved	1906	N/A