Central Station (Montreal)
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| Central Station Gare Centrale VIA Rail, Amtrak (Inter-city) AMT (Commuter) Metro, STM (Transit) |
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 Exterior of the original station. |
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| Station statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Address | 895 Rue de la Gauchetière Ouest Montreal, Quebec H3B 4G1 (the block bounded by Rue de la Gauchetière Ouest, Rue University, Boulevard René-Lévesque Ouest, and Rue Mansfield) |
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| Coordinates | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lines | Corridor, Ocean, Chaleur, Abitibi, Saguenay, Adirondack | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Connections | AMT (commuter rail, commuter bus) Montreal Metro (subway) |
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| Structure | At-grade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Levels | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | Below-grade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 14 (covered) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parking | yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baggage check | yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1943 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rebuilt | 1960s (Place Bonaventure) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Electrified | yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accessible |  |
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| Code | MTR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Homburg Invest (since November 30, 2007), CN (1943-2007) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Central Station (French: Gare Centrale) is the major inter-city rail station and a major commuter rail hub in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The station is located on Rue de la Gauchetière Ouest and occupies the entire block bounded by Rue de la Gauchetière Ouest, Rue University, Boulevard René-Lévesque West and Rue Mansfield. The station building and associated properties is owned by Homburg Canada as of November 30, 2007. From the station's inception in 1943 until this date, it had been owned by Canadian National Railway (CN).
Central Station is at the centre of the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor, the busiest inter-city rail service area in the nation (marketed as the Corridor), which extends from Windsor and Sarnia in the west to Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City in the east. Inter-city trains at Central Station are operated by VIA Rail and Amtrak, while commuter rail services are operated by Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT). The station is also connected to the Montreal Metro subway system.
Central Station is one of the busiest VIA Rail stations in Canada. Its station code is MTR.
Contents |
[edit] Services
[edit] VIA Rail
- Abitibi to Shawinigan, La Tuque and Seneterre
- Chaleur to Charny, Rivière-du-Loup, Rimouski, Carleton, New Carlisle, Chandler, Percé and Gaspé
- Montreal-Quebec City to St. Lambert, Drummondville, Charny, St. Foy and Quebec City
- Ocean to Charny, Rivière-du-Loup, Rimouski, Campbellton, Bathurst, Miramichi, Moncton and Halifax
- Ottawa-Montreal to Ottawa
- Saguenay to Shawinigan, Chambord, and Jonquiere
- Toronto-Montreal to Cornwall, Brockville, Kingston, Belleville, Oshawa and Toronto
[edit] Amtrak
- Adirondack to Plattsburgh, Albany and New York
[edit] AMT
[edit] History
Central Station sits above and next to the site of the now-demolished Canadian Northern Railway's 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.
Central Station 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 Central Station.
On September 3, 1984, Central Station was bombed, killing 3 people and injuring 30. The bomb was set by retired American armed forces officer Thomas Bernard Brigham, who claimed to have been protesting Pope John Paul II's visit to Canada.
[edit] Public transit connections
[edit] Metro
- Bonaventure (Orange Line)
- Square-Victoria (Orange Line)
- McGill (Green Line) by way of Place Ville Marie and Eaton Centre)
[edit] STM buses
- Regular routes
| Route Name | Route Map | Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| 36 Monk | Map | Schedule |
| 61 Wellington | Map | Schedule |
| 74 Bridge | Map | Schedule |
| 75 de la Commune | Map | Schedule |
| 107 Verdun (2 blocks west on boul. René Lévesque ouest / rue Peel) | Map | Schedule |
| 150 René-Lévesque (on boul. René Lévesque ouest) | Map | Schedule |
| 168 Cité du Havre | Map | Schedule |
| 410 Express Notre-Dame (on boul. René Lévesque ouest) | Map | Schedule |
| 420 Express Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (on boul. René Lévesque ouest) | Map | Schedule |
| 430 Express Pointe-aux-trembles (on boul. René Lévesque ouest) | Map | Schedule |
| 535 Voie réservée Du Parc / Côte-des-Neiges (on boul. René Lévesque ouest) | Map | Schedule |
- Night routes
| Route Name | Route Map | Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| 358 Sainte-Catherine (on boul. René Lévesque ouest) | Map | Schedule |
[edit] AMT buses
| Route Name | Route Map | Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| 935 Trainbus Blainville / Centreville (on boul. René Lévesque ouest) | Map | Afternoon schedule |
[edit] Connecting facilities
Central Station 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. The Montréal Planetarium is located nearby.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- AMT station page, Deux-Montagnes Line (in French)
- AMT station page, Mont-Saint-Hilaire Line (in French)
- Montreal VIA & Amtrak Station (Train Web) (in English)
