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Yesterday, VIA Rail Canada Inc. announced plans to build a new station in Smith Falls, Ontario, and upgrade a line between Toronto and Ottawa, Ontario. The Canadian government will provide $21 million for the infrastructure projects, which are designed to increase service frequency and speed along VIA Rail’s busy Toronto-to-Ottawa route.

To be located north of downtown Smith Falls and completed by year’s end, the station is designed to blend with the city’s “historic character and railway legacy,” which dates back to 1859, according to VIA Rail. The new station will reduce schedule conflicts between passenger trains and Canadian Pacific freight trains that occur at the current site, which is located at a juncture between four CP lines and VIA Rail’s Smiths Falls Subdivision.

VIA Rail also recently began upgrading track in its Brockville Subdivision that’s used by trains moving between Toronto and Ottawa. To be completed by year’s end, the project calls for building two new passing sidings between Smiths Falls and Brockville; installing a new Centralized Traffic Control system; and upgrading protection devices at grade crossings.