Pacific Central Station

Pacific Central Station is where we boarded our Amtrak Cascades to Seattle.
Easily accessible as it is just across from Skytrain Main Street Station.
It does looks grand from the outside and good as a photo stop. But there is NOTHING inside. Maybe I am just spoiled by all the other amazing train stations I had visited around the World but as a «central’ station for a big city like Vancouver I did expect a lot more.
Being small and have nothing inside, it is really easy to find everything. Queue for US Immigration, Security Screening and the Platform. It was not even busy.
So I think I should not be complaining for a Station that is not busy. But luckily, there are tons of restaurants and bars within walking distance.

This place is busy during weekend and day time. I find the building quite interesting. As a tip the benches inside are sticky at times. I don’t think they really wipe it down. Also becareful when parking in their parking lot. Once you drive your car into the stall, the meter lights will turn green and you have a 5 mins grace period to pay. If you don’t pay right away then you get ding with a ticket already and that ticket is being mailed to your house on the same day. Yes very high tech. The meter has a camera in front. So becareful.
Other than that, its a bus stop and train stop. I have taken the bolt bus couple times and this is one of the stop. Its in a very convenient location. I like the fact that its close to a sky train and buses

Functional. We used the station when traveling to and from Seattle via Amtrak.
NOTE: if traveling to US remember to obtain (and fill out) your customs form before getting in line for the train. The forms are available at the self-​serve counter located in the middle of the hall, directly inside the main entrance.
Found one very weak open Wi-​Fi network. My phone could locate and connect; my wife’s could not. (If you have time to burn, consider visiting the excellent Vancouver Public Library one SkyTrain station away. Free internet access for tourists — just checkin at the front desk.)
Wooden benches. Reasonably clean bathrooms but with strong uric acid odor.
Stored our luggage for a few hours; $ 6 Canadien per bag. The (non-​Amtrak) gentleman who worked the ticket counter and took our bags was very slow with a too-​quiet voice. The man who had replaced him when we retrieved our bags a few hours later was eerily twin-​like in appearance and demeanor. However, both met our key criterion: reliability.
A&W restaurant located inside the building.
The front lawn in front of the building which must be traversed to reach the SkyTrain station is sprinkled with homeless men (didn’t notice any women). None solicited us for funds. Our first exposure to solicitation occurred immediately after we passed through the lawn and were waiting at the street crossing. (We were solicited many more times throughout the city during our 3 day stay.)

In August 2015, we took the Amtrak Cascades from Vancouver’s Pacific Central Station to Seattle. The staff (Via Rail and Amtrak) at the station were all very friendly and helpful. The station itself is fairly centrally located, an affordable taxi ride from most points in downtown Vancouver, and boarding the Cascades train is easy.
We paid a few bucks extra for business class on Amtrak, which is well worth it (only around US$ 110 for two people from Vancouver to Seattle), as business class provides priority boarding, seating assignments and baggage check-​in. Plus, business class seats are roomier, and you’re close to the bistro car and computer/​work car.
In high season (summer) be sure to book well ahead.
The Pacific Central Station has clean restrooms and doesn’t feel sketchy. You should plan to arrive at least an hour before departure time and preferably even earlier, especially if you don’t have business class tickets. People line up early. You go through a preliminary baggage screening at the station, but U.S. customs and immigration agents board the train at the border about an hour and a half after leaving Vancouver.
The arrival station in Seattle, in the Pioneer district, has been totally renovated and is attractive. There are plenty of cabs available to meet passengers on arriving trains.
Scenery on the trip is pleasant but don’t expect to be overwhelmed.
The four-​hour train trip from Vancouver to Seattle sure beats flying or driving.

This is the place where you catch the Greyhound and Bolt Bus. The station looks cool on the outside and has been used for many films, however, the inside has a lot to be desired. Even when this place had a McD’s it was cool. It just a boring station inside, barely any shops, no pizzaz… décor makes you feel like you’re in no where land.

welcome komerade to Soviet government, where you must subject to searches before boarding your bus.
Go east to Langley and board the greyhound there if you want to avoid the ridiculous theatre of pretense to security. The bus to abbotsford will be cheaper from there, too– even with the $ 4. you paid translink getting there!
You *may* have missed an arrival in the interim, but it really is no big deal, huh?

Estación antigua, descuidada y sucia. Las dos veces que fuimos (en distintos momentos del día: mañana y tarde) estaba casi todo cerrado. Los baños descuidados también. Tiene una estación del skytrain al lado y muchas paradas de colectivo cerca.
La zona aledaña está llena de basura y de gente viviendo en la calle. No genera una muy linda impresión de la ciudad, así que no tomarlo como referencia!

A 3-​star rating is just right. I’d give it a 2 for aesthetics and a 4 for functionality. Neither wonderful nor terrible, this structure really deserves a loving historic rehab. The building needs cleaning and façade lighting. A super cheaped-​out approach to details like interior lighting, information kiosks, stanchions and trash cans look SO cheap and diminish what could be a lovely building.
Restrooms are cheap and ugly, and not very well maintained. At lunchtime, they were already pretty trashed. I didn’t see any maintenance staff anywhere in the station during the two hours I was here.
Big, clunky, ugly, talking parking paystations outside seem to be the newest thing on the grounds, but seem out of character with the historic building. They’ll start talking to you if you walk by them. Use the sidewalk adjacent to them and be serenaded by the row of them. Weird.
Functionally, the station works pretty well, and this is the saving grace. Amtrak Cascades comes in (just once a day, I believe) and the bus bays are pretty straightforward (outdoors.) I did observe that many of the buses seemed to ignore the signs limiting the amount of time the buses could idle with their engines on. My bus sat there for more than 20 minutes with the engine running. Yay for the environment! :)
Access to Skytrain within a block would be a big plus if that station weren’t currently undergoing a rehab (September 2014.) The immediate surrounding area is decidedly underwhelming and uninteresting except for an adjacent park that could be very pleasant — it just needs a little more maintenance and a little less homeless camping.

This is a good station to arrive at. And an even better station to leave. One can arrive via Amtrak, the Rocky Mountaineer, or Greyhound. One can leave via the skytrain or bus at the corner of Main and Terminal, or by taxi.
The staff are, against all odds, efficient and courteous.
The bathrooms are disgusting. They look like a great place to get mugged after 9pm.
The building itself has that wistful, a-​great-​lady-​in-​her-​day feeling. It seems the city has tried to restore some of its beautiful turn of the century dignity. It’s a shame they can’t also restore some stability to the neighborhood in which it is situated, ie the Downtown East Side, one of the sketchiest postal codes in Canada.
Do not, under any circumstances, walk through the grass of the surrounding park in anything but safety boots.
And please, don’t judge an Olympic city by its train station.

It is a slice of Vancouver proper’s contrast. The facility itself is alright but that also gives it a ding. If it gets a facelift or restoration similar to Seattle’s King Street Station down here, it would be more along the lines of modern day Vancouver.
The location IS rather decent, though. You have the SkyTrain station across the front lawn park, some buses and slightly farther away north is Chinatown. Perhaps also due to the front lawn space you will encounter bums and unpleasant aromas, occasionally — maybe even the bicyclist with the 3-​cart trailer of cans behind him, as well. Bless you, dude.
As a regular rare occasion traveler through here via Amtrak Cascades in recent years, it is pretty good and customs goes fairly well.
I hope VPCS gets some due TLC in the near future. Ironically, the SkyTrain station is getting one.

There’s nothing here that stands out. It’s typical of what you would see in a movie, at least that’s what I felt like. It was quick to go through the process and to get on the train out of Vancouver and you can stop in Seattle or even Portland. Awesome mode of transportation.

Not a station filled with anything particularly notable. You can get Canadian currency and that’s about it. Overall it’s a decent building in a relatively good location. You can go to downtown, main st, gastown, or Chinatown if you’re not afraid of walking a lot.
Overall i dispute any seedy characterizations of the area. Its not the nicest area of Vancouver but it’s far from seedy or dangerous. Shit, it’s right by some really nice buildings and then adjacent to some crappy ones, like most buildings anywhere. If you read some old reviews online you’d believe you’d need to make a run for it to escape present danger. Maybe a few years ago it was like that but now it’s hardly a scary place.

For a great old building with a vaulted ceiling, tiled floors and gold fixtures that I’m sure hundreds of people pass through to other parts of BC, Canada and the US via Bus and Rail it fails on 3 points:
— Washroom (women’s) facilities are old, antiquated and not always clean.
— There is no Wifi. You have to go across the street to Tim Hortons on Terminal Ave. Or Starbucks on Main St./ Skytrain.
— There are no electrical outlets to re-​charge phones, tablets and lap tops. The THREE I found were covered up, one with paper and tape. Closest is Tim Hortons, Starbucks (which are both always crowded at any given time of the day) and Main St. Skytrain Sta. platform.
3 Stars are for the vaulted ceiling, tiled floors and gold fixtures.

Located in the middle of the bustling construction of condos, this place is looking a little run down. When you exit, you’re within walking distance of W Broadway (where the Lululemon Lab is) as well as Chinatown. I had always thought that Chinatown was a little further away when I was doing my research into Vancouver, but it’s literally a five minute walk. You’re right next to the rail that will take you downtown. Also, there’s a bank willing to exchange your USD to CAD right across the way free of charge.
When you get off the Amtrak, you’re shuffled straight to customs. This is a pain when you’re cold and there’s a super long line. Hey all you people having to go through customs, here’s a tip, be straightforward and direct, and don’t have those shifty eyes that are making the customs officer not trust you. It’ll make the line go faster.
If you’re from the US trying to get rid of that CAD before returning home, the gift store inside is a little overpriced and willing to throw your additional change into their Make a Wish box. Also, if you’re planning on heading back to the US, then make sure that you’ve filled out your customs form before boarding the super prompt train.

We took Amtrak back to Seattle from Vancouver a few months ago, and compared to flying, the process was painless!
Buying tickets only is easy. And unlike flying, if you accidentally purchase tickets for the wrong day (whoops), getting the problem fixed is easy and fee-​free. At this particular station, the layout was straightforward. There was a bit of a cluster waiting to get checked in for the early morning train, but then we got through security and customs quickly. Everyone was friendly, especially considering it was 5 AM.
The location was just a cheap cab ride from downtown, and would have been even cheaper if we’d taken the initiative to figure out public transportation. The building itself is surprisingly pretty, although pretty bare-​bones in regards to amenities. When a big chunk of your customers are there before sunrise, coffee would be a nice thing to offer and would probably make you a lot of money.
Taking the train from Seattle is a great way to get to and from Vancouver, so I’m sure I’ll be back!

«Going to Portland!»
The service we recieved from the conductors and other staff here was really gratefully recieved. Very humourous and kind.
The way in, past customs, was a breeze as well, perfect for us after travelling 8 hours and wanting to get home to bed.

It is an odd one of sorts, as I have been to many train/​bus combo stations in my life outside of my own city, and they seem to offer more of things you would expect when you are a visitor to the city, or in need of something last minute if you are departing. The only real food your getting in here is the McDonald’s which feels hidden where it is located. The lights have that yellow tinge that I’ve talked about in places that are old (or Walmart) and it just makes you feel tired.
From the front, this place looks like it has been around, and it has, and you expect some grand spectacle once you walk in, but you’re left with a small empty hall, in my opinion. Nothing spectacular in here, no cool coffee shop, or small diner in here to pick up a unique snack. Even the McDonald’s in here is so-​so, and you can walk to a better one a block away.
What is good about this station is that it is central. Not too far from downtown, and also the Main St. Skytrain station which makes things real convenient. One odd thing is the parking situation, if you are coming here, there are free spots across the street… marked clearly… and then you have the paid meters. So don’t be lazy, and save some change in your pockets, or end up paying, it’s not worth it, but it is weird at the same time.

Pacific Central Station is where the Amtrak, Greyhound and BoltBus stations are located in Vancouver. It is near Science World and a few blocks from Chinatown and BC Place. There is a SkyTrain station in short proximity to here as well.
The interior of the station is very similar to the Union Stations in Portland and Seattle. Howerver, Pacific Central Station has some retailers and a few eateries which obliterates the other two in offerings.
However having the bus station in the same location as Amtrak makes it a little more confusing for a traveller from the US. There is a door headed for the bus gates, but I wasn’t sure if I needed to go through any security screenings here or not.
I do like that trains and buses are under one roof, but I would have like to have seen better signage of where to go and what to do. Other than that, Pacific Central Station is a decent transit hub.

This station is cool from the outside but the inside is depressing and dated.
I was taking the train from Vancouver to Edmonton and the one anal train worker that weights your luggage was such a downer. He made me pay extra for being 6 pounds overweight. I asked if I could transfer some stuff to my other piece of luggage and he was such a dick that he said if I did that then he would charge me for my other piece of luggage that was 2 pounds over.
If you ever go to this station make sure you watch the movie «Hugo» before and you will see the similarities between the baggage attendant and the character that is played by Sacha Baron Cohen. It’s quite hilarious actually.
Anyways, besides that one employee the trip was quite memorable and well priced. I’d use it again if I had 23 hours to waste.

The building is so grand from the outside that I kind of thought there’d be more amenities inside. Nope. It’s your basic, overstated, cavernous old-​world train station. I guess they want to keep it simple. «Keep moving, nothing to see here…» It also feels under-​utilized.
I expected a crowd where there was none. I snapped a couple of pix before a security guy told me you’re not supposed to take pix inside. Haah! –whatev’s.
Union Stn. in Toronto is a much more interesting place. I can still hear the echoing announcements in my head from old memories.

Vancouver Pacific Central station serves as a transportation hub for VIA Rail Canada and Amtrak rail. It also serves as a bus depot for Greyhound/​Cantrail Coach and Pacific Coach Lines.
For train and bus passengers there are a number of benches to warm your behinds while you wait for your ride.
Though sleepy as heck, we couldn’t help but admire the beautiful
architecture of this old building…