I have to admit that I did not expect the outcome of this one.  First, I have heard of Bonaventure Station very often since I used to take the Montreal Metro to school and Bonaventure is one of the Metro stops.  In addition, if you need to take the train to major cities, you also get off at Bonaventure Station, but when you do… you actually reach the Central Station, not the Bonaventure train station.

To commemorate the long gone train station, the Metro Station and a plaza were named after the Bonaventure train station.

So don’t be surprised if you need to take the train by Metro that you will get off at the Bonaventure station and this will get you to the Central Station which is the current active main train terminal.

From my research, I found out that the Bonaventure train station did actually exist. It was built in 1887 at the beginning of booming times. However, the building is no longer there, after surviving a first fire in 1916 and a second one in 1948.  The owners realized the complexity of the connections among the stations and the Bonaventure was not adequately positioned for traffic fluidity.  The extensive damage marked the end of the surviving services offered at this place which had already decreased after the opening of the Central Station in 1943. In 1952, Bonaventure Station was completely demolished.

Central Station

As mentioned in the Bonaventure section of this post, I always believed that it was the Bonaventure Station, not the Central Station, but obviously I was wrong.

While I was able to learn more about this active station, I will restrain on providing further comments since, in all honesty, I have not been there for decades.  If I do visit, I will update this post.

I can just say that it is still an active train station that serves many destinations including the United States. If you are traveling from other Canadian provinces, you will likely arrive at the Central Station.

For an overview of Montreal click here.

For all posts on Montreal click here.