[citation needed] The bridge was built by the Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway[2][3] in 1880, named for Albert Edward, Prince of Wales.

At that time, it was one of the few crossings of the Ottawa River, and was one of the most valuable assets of the line, which was owned by the Quebec provincial government.

This connection gave the CPR a solid route from their westward line being built from North Bay to the ports of the St. Lawrence.

[5]: 9 In 2005, the bridge was disconnected from the tracks just before its approach on the Ottawa side; this was done for a water line project being built along the Kichi Zibi Mikan as part of the Lebreton Flats revitalization.

In statements, Ottawa mayor Jim Watson asserted that, "We don't have the funds to put rail across to Quebec at this point.

[14] In April 2019 (a federal election year), the Federal Cabinet issued an Order In Council rescinding the Canadian Transportation Agency's decision, meaning that the City of Ottawa would no longer need to appeal the order to repair the rail link,[15] also rejecting a petition from Moose Consortium Ltd., which wanted to use the bridge as part of a commuter rail project spanning the Ottawa River.

[15] The order in council dated April 5 stated that "the agency's decision went against national policy because it would force a railway company to invest in an "unused and non-profitable railway line," or discontinue it permanently",[15] despite the Moose consortium indicating that it actively wanted to invest in this rail infrastructure.

[16] However, in September 2019, Ottawa Mayor Watson declared that the Prince of Wales bridge will “never” be used for interprovincial commuter rail, offering the explanation that it would be "far too congested to have so many people drop off at one of the busiest intersections in our LRT system", though without offering explanation as to why the recently-built station in question, which could have been designed to manage this commuter traffic, was effectively designed to block any future use of the railway.

According to the family's lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, the City failed to take effective steps to prevent the public from accessing the bridge.