Central Station (Montreal)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Central Station (French Gare Centrale) is the primary railway station in Montreal, Canada. The station is owned by CN and is situated in the heart of downtown Montreal at 895 De La Gauchetière St. W., in the borough of Ville-Marie.
Contents |
[edit] History
Central Station sits above and next to the site of 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.
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. The station is still owned by CN.
[edit] Intercity transport
VIA Rail runs trains from Central Station along the Windsor–Quebec City 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.
| Previous station | VIA Rail | Next station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
toward Aldershot
|
Toronto-Montreal | Terminus | ||
|
toward Fallowfield
|
Ottawa-Montreal |
|
||
| Terminus | Montreal-Quebec |
toward Quebec
|
||
| The Ocean |
toward Halifax
|
|||
| The Chaleur |
toward Gaspé
|
|||
| The Saguenay |
toward Jonquière
|
|||
| The Abitibi |
toward Senneterre
|
|||
| Previous station | Amtrak | Next station | ||
| Terminus | Adirondack |
toward New York
|
[edit] Commuter rail
Central Station 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. Central Station 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 |
| AMT Commuter Rail: Mont-Saint-Hilaire Line |
|---|
|
Gare Centrale | Saint-Lambert | Saint-Hubert | Saint-Bruno |
|
AMT Commuter Rail: Repentigny-Mascouche Line Line |
|
Gare Centrale | Canora | Mont-Royal | L'Acadie | Sauvé | Pie-IX | Lacordaire |
[edit] Connections
[edit] Buses
[edit] STM, 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 |
[edit] STM Night routes
| Route Name | Route Map | Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| 358 Sainte-Catherine (on boul. René Lévesque ouest) | Map | Schedule |
[edit] AMT
| Route Name | Route Map | Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| 935 Trainbus Blainville / Centreville (on boul. René Lévesque ouest) | Map | Afternoon schedule |
[edit] Downtown Terminus
[edit] Metro stations
- Bonaventure (Orange Line)
- Square-Victoria (Orange Line)
[edit] Other 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 Dow Planetarium is located nearby.
[edit] External links
- VIA Rail station page for Central Station (Montreal)
- AMT station page, Deux-Montagnes Line (in French)
- AMT station page, Mont-Saint-Hilaire Line (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 |
