Parliament Station is one of three downtown underground stations along the Confederation Line. This station experiences a high volume of passengers on the O-Train network due to its proximity to many federal government departments and its location in the core downtown business district.
As this station is located underground, station entrances are integrated into several surrounding buildings. The Sun Life Financial Centre has direct access via its atrium into the station, with an additional external entrance located on Queen Street. A second entrance is situated at the corner of Queen and O'Connor Streets, on the facade of 155 Queen (Heritage Place). This entrance also connects to the Winners retailer, offering the store a second entrance to its existing main entrance on Sparks Street, as well as serving as an unofficial entrance to the station. A third standalone entrance, offering accessible access via twin elevators directly to the underground concourse is also available at the corner of Queen and O'Connor.
The station's layout allows the possibility to walk from one set of entrances to another, without passing through the fare gates to do so.
The main concourse is quite impressive, with the stunning multicoloured artwork on the ceiling stretching across the ceiling, to the subdued lighting present throughout. The space is vast and passengers can easily pass through this important area of the station easily at all times of the day.
At the platform level, located 19 metres below ground, the main colour is green, reflected in the accents on the walls, as well as the artwork separating the guideway in two.
Overall, Parliament Station is one of the true highlights of the Confederation Line, with its eye-catching artwork, connectivity to adjacent buildings, and station design and layout.
UNIQUE FEATURES
The unique artwork present in the concourse and the platform levels are extremely eye-catching and at the same time relaxing to see, a unique trait to have for such a busy station. The concourse allows passage to all entrances without needing to pass through a fare gate, a feature which is unique to Parliament in the downtown underground stations. Parliament is also the first O-Train station to have an entrance to a store (Winners) integrated into one of its entrance passageways.
Another interesting feature or "secret" of Parliament Station is the mysterious Level M. While the public is not able to visit Level M, it can be briefly seen while riding the elevators between street level at Queen and O'Connor to the underground concourse. The purpose and contents of Level M remain for the time being... a mystery.
PUBLIC ARTWORK
Artist: Douglas Coupland (Vancouver, BC)
Lone Pine Sunset, reinterprets Tom Thomson's seminal painting The Jack Pine, through its use of colour and formal geometry. The iconic painting is converted into geometric forms which hover beneath the station's ceiling. The space is imbued with the rich, distinctive colourization that was a trademark of both Thomson's work and the Group of Seven in general.
Artwork descriptions provided by the City of Ottawa
Artist: Jennifer Stead (Florenceville-Bristol, NB)
Artwork descriptions provided by the City of Ottawa
- Opening Date: September 14, 2019
- Line: Confederation Line
- Previous Station: Rideau (725 metres)
- Following Station: Lyon (400 metres)
- Platform Depth: 19 metres below ground
STATION RIDERSHIP (November 2019)
- Balanced Boardings: 381,000
- Weekday Average: 16,700
- Weekend Average: 3,400
Balanced boardings are the average number of entries and exits at O-Train stations.
