Gare Centrale (Montreal)

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Gare Centrale is the primary railway station in Montreal. It is most commonly known by its French name, however the title is officially bilingual and is also frequently referred to by its English name Central Station. The station is owned by CN and is situated in the heart of downtown Montreal at 895 De La Gauchetière St. W. (45°30′0.30″N, 73°33′59.50″W), in the borough of Ville-Marie.

Contents 1 History 2 Intercity transport 3 Commuter rail 4 Connections 4.1 Buses 4.1.1 STM 4.1.2 AMT 4.1.3 Downtown Terminus 4.2 Metro stations 5 Other facilities 6 External links

[edit] History

Gare Centrale sits above and next to the old Canadian Northern Railway's now-demolished Tunnel Terminal.

At the end of the 1920s, the newly formed Canadian National Railways struggled with disparate Montreal terminals (Bonaventure Station, Tunnel Terminal, Moreau Street Station, and McGill Street) and sought to consolidate them. The solution chosen was to take advantage of the Mount Royal Tunnel to bring trains from the north and east through the tunnel to a big electrified central station. Trains from the south and west gained access by a new elevated viaduct. (Interurban electric trains, however, ended up remaining at McGill Street terminal until the service was abandoned in 1956.) The new station plan allowed for the development of air-rights, similar to Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station in New York City.

Construction started at the end of the 1920s, but was halted during the Great Depression. Construction resumed during World War II and the new station finally opened on July 14, 1943 as the first of a series of large-scale urban redevelopment projects undertaken by CNR and the federal government in downtown Montreal. Central Station was designed by architect John Campbell Merrett.

The opening of a 'central' station was part of a consolidation project undertaken by CNR since 1929 with the enactment of the Canadian National Montreal Terminals Act, 1929 by Parliament; this saw the closure of former temporary stations operated by CNR predecessors Grand Trunk (Bonaventure Station) and Canadian Northern.

Gare Centrale was an important passenger station for CN trains from 1943 until the creation of VIA Rail in 1978. Following VIA's full absorption of CP's passenger trains in 1979, intercity rail traffic from Windsor Station was consolidated at Gare Centrale. The station is still owned by CN.

[edit] Intercity transport

VIA Rail runs trains from Gare Centrale along the Windsor-Québec corridor to Toronto, Ottawa, and Quebec City, as well as long-distance services to Saguenay, Senneterre, Gaspé, and Halifax. Amtrak offers daily service to New York City.

Preceding station	VIA Rail Lines			Following station
Dorval		Toronto-Montréal		Terminus
Dorval		Ottawa-Montréal		Terminus
Terminus		Montréal-Québec		Saint-Lambert
Terminus		The Ocean (Montréal-Halifax)		Saint-Lambert
Terminus		The Chaleur (Montréal-Gaspé)		Saint-Lambert
Terminus		The Saguenay (Montréal-Jonquière)		Ahuntsic
Terminus		The Abitibi (Montréal-Senneterre)		Ahuntsic
	Amtrak Lines
Terminus		Adirondack New York City-Montréal		Saint-Lambert

[edit] Commuter rail

Gare Centrale also serves passengers using Montreal's commuter rail service known as AMT. The station is a hub for the Deux-Montagnes and Mont-Saint-Hilaire lines. Gare Centrale is in Fare Zone 1. It is one of the two downtown terminals for Montreal commuter trains, the other being Lucien L'Allier

AMT Commuter Rail: Deux-Montagnes Line

Gare Centrale | Canora | Mont-Royal | Montpellier | Du Ruisseau | Bois-Franc Sunnybrooke | Roxboro | Île-Bigras | Sainte-Dorothée | Grand-Moulin | Deux-Montagnes

AMT Commuter Rail: Mont-Saint-Hilaire Line

Gare Centrale | Saint-Lambert | Saint-Hubert | Saint-Bruno Saint-Basile-le-Grand | McMasterville | Mont-Saint-Hilaire

AMT Commuter Rail: Repentigny-Mascouche Line Line

Gare Centrale | Canora | Mont-Royal | L'Acadie | Sauvé | Pie-IX | Lacordaire Louis-H-Lafontaine | Saint-Jean-Baptiste | Charlemagne | Le Gardeur/Repentigny | Terrebonne | Mascouche

[edit] Connections

[edit] Buses

[edit] STM

• 36 Monk
• 61 Wellington
• 74 Bridge
• 75 de la Commune
• 107 Verdun
• 168 Cite du Havre
• 420 Express Notre-Dame-de-Grâce

[edit] AMT

• 935 Trainbus Blainville / Centreville

[edit] Downtown Terminus

[edit] Metro stations

• Bonaventure (Orange Line)
• Square-Victoria (Orange Line)

[edit] Other facilities

Gare Centrale is located adjacent to CN Headquarters and is an important link in the underground city, with tunnels to Place Ville-Marie, Place Bonaventure, the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, 1000 de La Gauchetière and the Bonaventure metro station.

The station includes Les Halles de la Gare, a shopping and restaurant complex. It also contains two parking facilities, one of which is a multi-level facility that is located above the station.

[edit] External links

• VIA Rail station page for Gare Centrale (Montreal)
• AMT station page (in French)

Montreal landmarks
Buildings	Biodome | Biosphère | Bell Centre | Canadian Centre for Architecture | Montreal Casino | Complexe Desjardins | Montreal Forum | Grande Bibliothèque du Québec | Habitat '67 | Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral | McCord Museum | Montreal Science Centre | Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica | Olympic Stadium | Palais des congrès de Montréal | Place des Arts | Place Ville-Marie | Redpath Museum | Saint Joseph's Oratory | Tour de la Bourse | Underground City | World Trade Centre Montreal
Neighbourhoods	Chinatown | Old Montreal | Old Port | Quartier international de Montréal
Nature and Parks	Jardin botanique de Montréal | Mount Royal
Islands	Île Bizard | Island of Montreal | Île Notre-Dame | Nuns' Island | Saint Helen's Island
Transportation	Montréal-Mirabel International Airport | Montreal Metro | Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport | Windsor Station | Central Station