I think it’s mostly people that work nearby, and I noticed a lot of people using it after a hockey game because it’s near Bell Centre.
I agree I hope Cominar will think about the future of the station for people taking the train, but as they’re an REIT, I’m not sure how hopeful we can be. Their main goal is to make money, as is true for all developers, but I find REIT’s don’t care about how nice their place is. If Prével owned Gare Centrale, or even Transgesco (owned by STM) I’d be way more hopeful.
Une vraie place publique avec une nouvelle entrée principale digne de ce nom (techniquement c’est l’arrière du bâtiment original), c’est ce qu’il nous faudrait. Ce stationnement étagé est un non sens.
Imagine a project to merge GC and LL into a single station using a fare-free ad hoc “people mover” tram loop… let’s call “ONE GC”, or “Gare Centrale Connexion”
“ONE GC” would be contingent to a) actually having frequent rail service at GC and LL, and b) building one of the René-Levesque tram projects.
Honestly, I’m not sure that I can see the benefit. It is a 5 minute walk at most. I really don’t see how that’s any different from going down to the metro station at Lucien L’Allier and hoping on for just one stop.
More like +8 minutes, unencumbered and abled bodied.
It’s different from the route through 27 meter deep metro station, accessibility challenging, additional fares, and high traffic maze like Montreal underground.
Not quite, it’s 12 minutes if you aren’t walking fast, and 6-9 if you really speed walk. To get home after my 8:15 pm lecture at Loyola campus, I caught a train and had a 10 window to catch the REM to get to the express bus to my home. I had to sprint basically every time I got to gare centrale to get to the platform on time.
That makes two of us. I go from Atwater metro to the Marriott at Bonaventure in about 15-17 minutes. But for the average person who might not be necessarily in good shape, it might take more than that.
As for the idea of a tram loop between the two stations, I don’t wan’t to dismiss the idea but I don’t think it’s beneficial in any way.
Honestly, for such a small distance, you might as well just use one of those pod type peoples mover. It would do the same job without needing the heavy infrastructure that is required by a tram.
I’ll set aside the fact that your interventions here all too often come across as dismissive or overly forceful and engage purely for the sake of exploration.
As mentioned above, this concept depends on a specific scenario where both stations would have a significant number of arrivals and departures, and the central tram network corridor along René-Lévesque would already be built. It’s a solution that could be well-suited for the mixed and dense urban environment of the Quartier des Gares, while also handling potentially high passenger volumes between fully utilized “terminals” LL and GC. It could also leverage an existing standardized tram network, including its garages, maintenance staff, and tracks, creating economies of scale unique to this context.
Regarding personal pods, I don’t know if they could provide the capacity but I’m skeptical about their capacity to handle peak loads between a multi-site regional intercity and regional transit hub. Peaks could be challenging or even unviable. Pods also require some form of dedicated right-of-way, along with storage facilities and support staff, so they’re particularly “infrastructure light” —especially in a downtown core for this specific purpose.
Quite honestly, I don’t have much love for the Bonaventure Complex. I wouldn’t mind seeing it go. It is a labyrinth. At a bare minimum, large portions of the interior need to be torn down to make room for more direct paths. The parking definitely should be torn down to make room for an open checking hall. The proposition to build a tower there would be a massive mistake.
It would be nice if Cominar would do this or something like it, but because they’re an REIT don’t expect anything improved. Look at any company bought by private equity, and it’s essentially what Cominar has done with Gare Centrale since they bought it, slowly lose the life and shops as they increase their shareholders pockets, all while making Montreal’s only remaining central train station an embarrassment compared to any other city in Canada
I would be okay with towers, if they actually made them look nice and would have public renders available for this project. Any developer as far along as they are would share these renders publicly. But looking at what the CCU said, I’m not too hopeful:
Ce serait vraiment l’idéal, mais les promoteurs n’ont aucune obligation de montrer leur projet. Nous sommes juste “chanceux” si une étape d’approbation à l’arrondissement nécessite de présenter ces documents publiquement. Sinon, il faut simplement prier que l’architecte ou le promoteur soit assez magnanime pour nous dévoiler leur œuvre.
Personally I don’t think Cominar cares about their projects in terms of the way they look and urban integration, based on what they shared for Mail Champlain. To go with that I don’t think Cominar cares about their self image to the public too, compared to other developers
installed at LL first
